What Is Your Ministry
Notes
Transcript
God’s Plan
God’s Plan
Jeremiah 1:4-10
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
At the very center of our faith is this recognition of who God is. There are three important attributes attributed to the Lord, omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. Jeremiah receives the word from the Lord that points Jeremiah’s heart to the central truth of God’s omniscience. The Lord knows all things. He is outside of time and space. He has a plan that arches through all of time that points to His glory.
We have talked about this many times before that God is intimately involved in our everyday lives. He has written each one of us into His plan for life and salvation and in the same vain, the Lord has a plan and desire for each one of us to impact the lives of others for His glory, this is while we are here.
I do not believe that it is a big stretch to attribute the same words that the Lord said to Jeremiah to God’s words to each one of us.
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
God continues to reveal the sovereignty of His plan and His continued provision in His plan as Jeremiah begins to question his qualification to be a part of God’s plan.
Our excuses speak more about our view of God than our view of ourselves. God’s plan can not be completed through us. No matter how hard we try we can not do the work of God on our own. We are inadequate and ill-equipped.
This is the purpose of the Holy Spirit. God in us to qualify us, equip us and make us more than enough. It is God who fulfills His plan. What God is allowing us to enter into is to fulfill our role in His plan and experience His power in our surrender.
The Message
The Message
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”
“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”
The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.
“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.
Jeremiah 1:10-16
Jeremiah sees two visions that would define his ministry. First an almond tree budding. This was the sign of spring. It was the announcement of truth that there was a change. For generations, the prophets of God has preached to the nation the need for change and repentance. The northern kingdom has been taken into captivity by the Assyrians as a judgment for their unfaithfulness. Judah had held to their false security that they were not subject to God’s judgment in the same way. God had revealed to Jeremiah that once again he would send a messenger.
Jeremiah sees a second vision, this one is one of judgment. The cleansing would come for the nation from the north. The nation of Judah would fall to Babylon as a judgment for once again not heeding the words of the prophet and repenting and turning to the Lord.
Jeremiah was considered a failure by the standards of the world for very few listened to his words and the nation did not repent. Jeremiah would see the nation fall and Jerusalem overrun. The house fo the Lord would be destroyed before Jeremiah’s eyes.
But in the eyes of the Lord, Jeremiah was a great success because he was faithful to give the message that he had been given. God desires our faithfulness. Our hearts become so wrapped up and concerned with the outcome and we allow our inadequacies to achieve the outcome that we allow ourselves to be paralyzed and end up doing nothing. God delighted in Jeremiah’s faithfulness. He exalted Jeremiah for answering the call.
What Is Your Ministry
What Is Your Ministry
“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
We have been given breath today to be the messengers of the Lord to a fallen and broken world. We have a message and a ministry to share the hope and love of Christ to this world. We are called to show repentance and preach change to a world doomed to judgment.
How will we respond? Jeremiah could have easily responded to the calling of God by saying what is the point? No one is going to listen so why even try?