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Jared Huntley

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What Is God’s Will For My Life?

Introductory Remarks

Jen and I are excited to be here, we’ve been looking forward to this day for months

Jen and I are excited to be here, we’ve been looking forward to this day for months.

We’re so excited to get to know you all in the days ahead.

Been praying over this church from Day 1, & you’re living it out

I’m so encouraged by the incredible group that God is already putting together. There’s no doubt in my mind that God is doing something special here.

You are loving one another well // you welcome new faces with genuine hospitality

I’m so excited about the group God is bringing together, and I truly believe we will see God do incredible things in the days ahead.

Introductory story

For years, I didn’t know what God’s will was for my life. I grew up in the church, but I actually wasn’t saved until I was 24 years old. And I remember searching everywhere I could to find purpose in my life.

Introductory story

But a couple of months after I gave my life to Christ, I was sitting in a Wednesday night church service in a town called Florence, TX - population 600.

During the service the pastor read , and it was like everything stopped. God arrested my attention, and as those words were read it was like God himself was speaking directly to me. “I charge you in the presence of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ: Preach the Word!” As I looked at the words on that page, it was like God was speaking right to me. I knew what God wanted me to do with my life.

During the service the pastor read , and it was like everything stopped. God arrested my attention, and as those words were read it was like God himself was speaking directly to me.

Now the details weren’t worked out yet. I didn’t even know what church planting was. I had no idea that God would call me to Toronto and then to Washington, D.C. But I knew I wanted to preach the Gospel. And I knew why I was put on this planet

“I charge you in the presence of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ: Preach the Word!” As I looked at the words on that page, it was like God was speaking right to me. I knew what God wanted me to do with my life.

Transition to Message

“What is God’s will for my life?” That is one of the most frequently asked questions and one of the most important questions you could ask.

Many of you are at important points in your life - a crossroads. Career decisions are looming. Potential marriage. Potential moves.

Transition to Message

You’ve got one life and you’re trying to figure out how to leverage it to serve God and provide for your family. How do you figure out what God wants you to do?

“What is God’s will for my life?” That is one of the most frequently asked questions and one of the most important questions you could ask.

Many of you are at important points in your life - a crossroads. Career decisions are looming. Potential marriage. Potential moves.

There are others of you here who don’t really know why you are here or what your purpose is in the world. Life seems to have little meaning to you.

There are others of you here who are so busy with careers and kids and college and competition that you haven’t given much thought as to what God might have to say about the matter…

You’ve got one life and you’re trying to figure out how to leverage it to serve God and provide for your family. How do you figure out what God wants you to do?

There are others of you here who don’t really know why you are here or what your purpose is in the world. Life seems to have little purpose to you.

You’re going to get answers to this question from all sorts of sources, but not all the answers are good answers. So what we want to do today is go to the right source - God’s Word - and get the answer there.

Turn in your Bibles with me to . We’re continuing in our Bible Reading Plan, and this past week you read as part of that reading. We’re going to be in verses 1-14.

There are others of you here who are so busy with careers and kids and college and competition that you haven’t given much thought as to what God might have to say about the matter…

English Standard Version Chapter 29

These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 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: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 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. 7 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 your welfare. 8 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, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.

10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

The Setting

Turn in your Bibles with me to . We’re continuing in our Bible Reading Plan, and this past week you read as part of that reading. We’re going to be in verses 4-14.

Judah has been judged because of their great idolatry; the temple has been destroyed, Jerusalem is in ruins, many have been killed, and many have been taken into exile away from their home

The Setting

This is exactly what God said would happen if they broke faith with Him; they abandoned God and did not keep His law, turned to idols. READ .

English Standard Version Chapter 25

“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Judah has been judged because of their great idolatry; the temple has been destroyed, Jerusalem is in ruins, many have been killed, and many have been taken into exile away from their home.

Just as God said, Babylon besieged Jerusalem and took the survivors away in chains.

This is exactly what God said would happen if they broke faith with Him; they abandoned God and did not keep His law, turned to idols. READ .

There’s 3 main divisions to this message today:

The Lying Prophets

Just as God said, Babylon besieged Jerusalem and took the survivors away in chains.

The passage we just read is a letter from Jeremiah the prophet to the exiles in Babylon, basically clarifying God’s will for them while they are in exile.

The Lasting Promise

The Lord’s Purpose

There’s 3 main divisions to this message today:

The Lord’s Purpose

The Lying Prophets

But lying prophets were telling them that God was not going to make them stay in exile...

The Lasting Promise

The Lying Prophets

What were the lying prophets saying then? → (The Jerusalem Dream)

The Lord’s Purpose

We’ll take these one at a time… Jeremiah was called by God to go and warn Judah that their sin would lead to exile. They didn’t appreciate Jeremiah’s message, so they persecuted Jeremiah.

What are they saying today? (The American Dream)

God doesn’t want you to suffer

READ

God wants to bless you with material gain

There were others who claimed to be prophets who called Jeremiah a liar and said that God would not send His people into exile.

Well, that didn’t work out well, because they did in fact get besieged by Babylon just like the Lord said through Jeremiah. But the lying prophets kept it up.

“God wants you to be happy” - this is true in a sense, but He wants you to be happy in HIM, not in your circumstances

“God will not judge us for our sin” - that’s what the whole point of the exile is! Yet God is merciful, doesn’t bring a full end to Judah

The Lying Prophets

What were the lying prophets saying then?

You don’t need to be afraid of judgment for sin - God will let us all into heaven in the end

God will give you the marriage/job/etc you want if you pray hard enough.

Although God said that Judah would stay in exile for 70 years, the lying prophets were telling the people of Judah that God was going to immediately free them from exile. READ .

The Lasting Promise (The Future Hope)

The false prophets were preaching a message of restoration without repentance. They were preaching what I would call “The Jerusalem Dream”

What was the future hope for Israel then? →

“God doesn’t want you to suffer - He wants to bless you with material gain!”

Although the exile would not end right then and there like the false prophets claimed, it would come to an end, and God did have a good, redemptive purpose for it. Judah just needed to trust Him and obey.

“God will not judge us for our sin - we keep the Sabbath & offer sacrifices! Everything’s going to be fine. Don’t listen to this fire & brimstone Jeremiah. He’s crazy”

What is the “future and hope” for us today? → ;

What are the lying prophets saying today?

It’s the same for us today. While those who propogate a “live your best life now” message are liars, there IS coming a day when God will wipe away every tear. There IS coming a day when death will be no more. There IS good news.

There’s still no shortage of people today lining up to tell you that YOU are the center of the universe. That God’s will for your life is that you be happy, never suffer hardship, and experience material blessing.

But God is not interested in being a means to an end in our lives. That’s called idolatry. It’s using God to get something that we really want more than God. It’s worshipping, serving, and desiring something God has made more than God Himself.

That was the whole reason Judah had gone into exile. It was that exact mindset.

Though we’re guilty of sin and deserving of death, God has graciously chosen a remnant and given us a heart to fear & love Him.

Jeremiah foretold of this in & 32!

The people of Judah said they worshipped God. They went to the temple. They brought sacrifices. They said prayers. But they had also polluted the land with idols. They had allowed a bunch of other things to come before God.

There may be some of you here who would say you are worshipping God, but let me ask you: Are you worshipping the God of the Bible or the god of the lying prophets? Is it a god who is supposed to give you the career & family you want as long as you are a good person?

How could God make a covenant like this with sinners? The Gospel! Though we don’t deserve anything but wrath from God b/c we’ve broken His law, God sent His Son to fulfill the law for us and to be the propitiation for sin

New Creation

Or is it the God of the Bible who is sovereign and whose plan comes before your plan?

One way to figure it out is to ask some diagnostic questions

Jesus came the 1st time as the Sacrificial Lamb; He will return with a trumpet blast. He came riding on a donkey’s colt the 1st time; He will come on a white horse the 2nd time.

What does my mind gravitate to when I’m bored?

And He will make all things new. The New Jerusalem will be established; no more death, no more sickness, no more separation from God. We will see Him as He is.

What do I spend all my time on? My free time on?

THAT is the motivation that enables us to ignore the lying prophets who tell us to seek our own good and our own welfare; who tell you it’s not worth it to lay your life down for the sake of the Gospel

The Lord’s Purpose (God’s Will For Your Life)

What do I spend my money on? If people looked at my transactions, what would they conclude is most important to me?

Transition

Seek the Lord

This momentary exile is used by God to refine you; seek His face!

While the lying prophets were wrong in saying that God would end the exile immediately, God did have a future & a hope for Judah. In 29:11 He clearly explains that the purpose of the exile was not to get even with His people, but to restore them.

They had strayed far away from Him, and they would not repent. And God loves His people so much that He will do whatever it takes to bring us to our knees and make us come to our spiritual senses!

God uses the exile to sanctify us () so that we will love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength

The purpose of God allowing Judah to experience hardship was so that they’d return to Him, because that is God’s highest priority for each one of us: that we be in a right relationship with Him.

Ironically, this very verse gets used in pop-Christian culture to support the opposite message for which it was intended. It’s not a pick-me-up meant to make us hopeful that God will make all our dreams & plans come true.

Seek the Welfare of the City

It’s a promise that God has a better plan than our plan, even when we don’t understand what He’s doing…. So what does that better plan look like?

We are to be a blessing to the nations; we are to be ambassadors

Our city desperately needs us to be a blessing. During vision team meeting we had a discussion about the biggest needs and the spiritual climate in DC, and I wrote this in my journal as a sort of summary:

The Lasting Promise (The Future Hope)

“Washington, D.C. = Angry, lonely, divided and exhausted”

The “future and hope” for Israel then

For Judah, the future hope was coming in part in 70 years. →

It’s heartbreaking to think about how broken people are - from the most powerful politicians to the homeless on the streets.

There’s a twofold promise here. God promised to 1) Change their heart and 2) Change their fortunes. God loves His people. And because of that, He wants them to have a heart that loves & trusts Him, because that’s what is in our best interest.

The greatest way to bring “welfare” (“shalom”) to DC is to share the Gospel with them. Only the Gospel can cure what ails people

God promised to bring Judah back to Jerusalem in 70 years, but He had something even better in mind for His people. It involved a New Covenant. And it involves you and me.

But we should also serve our city & be a blessing to our city in other ways; we should be godly neighbours, and godly PTA members, and godly co-workers; we should permeate Babylon with the aroma of Christ as we seek to abide in Christ!

And we should BOLDLY proclaim the Gospel to all who will hear!

The “Future & Hope” For Us Today: New Covenant

Under the old covenant, it was “obey the law and be blessed, disobey and be cursed”. The problem is that we are slaves to sin. No matter how hard we may try to be good, we still can’t be perfect. Just ask Israel. Read the OT and it’s apparent we just can’t keep the law.

Our hearts are prone to wander. So God has graciously chosen a remnant and given them a heart to know and love Him, so that they won’t turn away from Him. READ .

How could God make a covenant like this with sinners? The Gospel! Though we don’t deserve anything but wrath from God b/c we’ve broken His law & dishonoured Him, God sent His Son to fulfill the law for us and to die for our sins as our substitute.

The “Future & Hope” For Us Today: New Creation

God has also promised a new creation. While lying prophets who claim that God never wants you to suffer are misleading, there IS coming a day when God will wipe away every tear.

God hates cancer & sickness & death & injustice. And He will bring an end to it. People have asked me, “If God is so loving, why doesn’t He do something about all the evil in the world?”

My answer? He has. He’s demonstrated His righteous judgment against sin and evil by pouring it out onto Jesus, while also demonstrating His mercy by withholding it from deserving sinners like you & me. And He is giving people time to repent….

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” -

Jesus, the holy God of the universe, came the 1st time as the Sacrificial Lamb to die for sinners. He will come the 2nd time with a trumpet blast on a white horse. And on that day He will rescue His people, make all things new, and expel all evil & evildoers into eternal darkness.

That future & hope is what enables us to live out God’s will for our lives.

So what is that? What is God’s will?

The Lord’s Purpose (God’s Will For Your Life)

Look with me again at 29:4-7… God tells Judah, “Go ahead and unpack your bags. You’re going to stay for a little while.” Rather than do what Judah wanted, which was to get away from the pagan Babylonians, God left Judah in their midst so they could be a blessing.

Seek the Welfare of the City

God said, “Build your life here. Pray for these people. Seek their welfare & serve them!”

This highlights the clear teaching all throughout the Bible that God calls His people to be a blessing to the nations. We are His ambassadors.

The message of the lying prophets was, “God wants you to be back home where it’s comfortable and easy!” God had different ideas. God wanted Judah to be a blessing and a witness for Him to Babylon!

Church, this notion that we are supposed to be comfortable - that God’s will for you is to pursue your own happiness and freedom and abundance - is antithetical to the Gospel.

We are not at home. It’s not supposed to always be comfortable here. It’s comfortable in glory. We aren’t there yet. A servant is not greater than His Master.

Jesus Himself said in , “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many”.

Does that mean Jesus calls us to be miserable as Christians? Of course not! When I say seeking comfort is antithetical to the Gospel I’m talking about seeking comfort in the temporal things of the world.

God has given us His Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter. He brings us a peace & joy that this world doesn’t have. A peace and joy doesn’t depend upon our circumstances.

And in the meantime, because we’ve got all eternity in the new heavens & new earth to look forward to being comforted, we can lay this life down for the glory of God & the good of our neighbour.

Our city desperately needs us to be a blessing, church. During vision team meeting we had a discussion about the biggest needs and the spiritual climate in DC, and I wrote this in my journal as a sort of summary:

“Washington, D.C. = Angry, lonely, divided and exhausted”

It’s heartbreaking to think about how desperate people are - from the most powerful politicians to the homeless on the streets…. So how can we seek the welfare of the city?

Share Jesus with them

The most important thing we can do is share Jesus with people. And you know what that means?

It means you may get treated like Jeremiah did. Some people may not like your message about Jesus. They may even hate you or try to malign you or get you fired.

But it is worth it. It is worth a thousand rejections just for one person to come into the Kingdom. Will you commit to do this? We’re going to train you. We’re going to give you the tools.

We’re going to be a church that has evangelism flowing through our veins. And God wants to use you - even if you feel inadequate. Especially if you feel inadequate.

Serve Them

God also called Judah to serve Babylon - the very people that took them captive. He called them to pray for them & “seek their welfare”.

Are you praying for your city? Are you praying for the Gospel to spread? For injustice to end? For sin to be exposed and turned from, and righteousness reign?

What about this: what are you doing to serve the city? So many people move to Washington, D.C. to use it. It’s a stop on a career or educational path. Are you looking at the city and the people here as a means to serve your end, or are you working to seek its welfare?

As a church, we want to be a tangible blessing to this city. In the days to come, we want people to know our name for all the right reasons. “That’s the church that just loves to serve other people and can’t stop talking about how wonderful Jesus is”.

Stay?

One final thing here. As I was praying through this text, the Lord laid this on my heart. We’ve been talking about how to seek the welfare of the city, and the big question we’ve been asking about is “What is God’s will for my life?”

And it may be that, for some of you here, part of God’s will is that He’s calling you to stay in a difficult place and plant your life here instead of retreating from it as soon as you can.

The people of Judah didn’t want to stay in Babylon. But God had a better plan that they couldn’t fully see. Perhaps He’s got a plan for you that you can’t see, too? There may be someone here and your plan was to move, but God may be calling you to stay and help us plant this church.

If He does, will you obey?

The Lord’s Purpose: Seek The Lord

The most important part of God’s will for your life is found in 29:12-13…

God wanted Judah to have repentant hearts that would turn to Him wholly. God used the exile to humble Judah so they’d realize life without Him was not in their best interest.

Sometimes God will allow us to remain in difficult situations to teach us to rely fully on Him. For those of us who are Christians, there should be a strong sense of yearning for home.

The brokenness in this world often brings a painful reminder that things have not been made new yet. Sometimes God allows us to endure suffering, but it only heightens our hunger to be home with Him.

But even in the midst of that pain we can seek the welfare of the city & seek God with our whole hearts, because we’ve got a Lasting Promise.

Maybe you are here this morning & you are in a spiritual Babylon. At one time you sought the Lord, but you’ve strayed from God and you are experiencing the painful consequences of idolatry and disobedience.

But did you know God actually wants to use those consequences to restore you and turn you back to Him? You can do that today. You can turn from going the wrong way and cry out to God with all your heart & He will forgive & restore you.

says “If we confess our sins, God is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Maybe you’ve never sought the Lord before. You can call upon Him for the first time today.

While Judah was judged for their sin with 70 years of exile, Jesus paid the greater price even though He was sinless. Jesus paid off the entire sin debt for everyone who trusts in Him on the cross when He died for our sin.

And we know it was sufficient payment because God raised Him from the dead. He’s alive. And because of His death & resurrection you can come to God this morning.

We’d love to pray with you and talk to you about how you can start a new relationship with God. We’ll have a couple of our leaders at the back…

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