Prophetic Series Weekly Summary

Intro

When covid started it our world felt like it slowed down and our daily pattern of life changed quite a bit. We were brought into new patterns of life, new norms, and new ways of being. This moment in history is unique to us, but this experience of displacement is not. The people of Israel were exiled as well, and brought into a new land and a new pattern of being. When they were they were led by prophets. Prophets spoke words of hope about the way things could be, and were not afraid to call out the way things were wrong. They were creatives and used their own God given voice, emotions, and platforms. In this sermon series we look into some of their stories as we ask what it means to live prophetically in Ankeny Iowa.

October 17th-18th - Prophetic Blessing - Genesis 12:1-7

We start our series at the beginning of the Israelites story where God tells Abraham that he is a blessing and that he will be the father of a nation that is a blessing. Sometimes we can forget that God made us to be a blessing to those around us. You are a blessed child of God. God made you so that you could bless others through your presence.

October 24-25th Prophetic Peace - Jeremiah 29:4-7

No one signed up for pandemic. Most of us didn’t even want to be in this situation, and here we are. When the Israelites were complaining about the new realities that they faced that they didn’t choose God spoke to them through the prophet Jeremiah. Even though they were not where they wanted to be God had called them to that present reality to make peace with their new neighbors. They were called not to grumble or to argue, but instead to seek the welfare or the peace of those around them. This week we explore what it means to seek the peace of those around us even when we want to grumble and argue.

October 30th-November 1st Prophetic Offering

The Israelites know that part of being faithful people is that they make offerings to God, but they begin to ask the question of what is right amount to give to God? They start to ask what they would have to give to be pleasing to God and the Prophet Micah responds to them with a deeper understanding of offering. He says that the only thing that the Lord requires of you is to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) This week we join with these prophetic words to imagine together all of the ways that our offerings might be prophetic for the world around us.

November 7th-8th Prophetic Confession - Isaiah 59:8-13

Isaiah is confessing not just personal sins but social sins. He is bringing to the Lord both how systems have caused iniquity in the world and admitting that he is a part of those systems. He takes at least some responsibility in confessing them. What if a confession was more significant than just the personal sins that I have committed, and breached into the systems I participated in? What might I have to confess both for myself, but also the world around me?

November 14th-15th Prophetic Anger - Jeremiah 7:5-11

Let’s face it; we all get angry sometimes. Anger doesn’t have to be a bad thing either. When we are mad about something, it tells us that we care about that thing a whole awful lot. In some ways, anger is like an emotional check engine light for us. In this week’s passage, Jeremiah cares so deeply about his people that he gets angry when they mess up once again. This week we will explore what sorts of things make us angry and if there is such thing as righteous anger. After all, this is the exact passage that Jesus quoted when he was flipping over tables and yelling at people in the temple.

November 21st-22nd - Prophetic Hope of Jesus - Isaiah 53:11-12

When the Israelites are just beginning to make sense of the new reality they are in, Isaiah comes along to deliver some fantastic news. Isaiah describes the coming savior. This news was incredibly hopeful news that God would completely understand the suffering that the Israelites were going through. As we begin to look forward to the arrival of Jesus at Christmas time, we remember the message of tremendous and prophetic hope that our savior carries.