Sermon Tone Analysis

"A prisoner about to be executed asked to be brought before the sultan.

Granted, in pleading for his life, he said to the sultan, 'If you will spare me for a year, I will teach your favorite black horse to talk.' Intrigued by the idea, the sultan accepted this proposition, and the prisoner was returned to his cell.

When the other prisoners heard of the promise, they ridiculed it: 'How could you make such a promise?

You can't do that.'

To which the man who had been spared responded: 'Wait.

A year is a long time.

In a year, I could die a natural death.

The sultan could die.

The black horse could die.

And who knows, I might even teach the black horse to talk.'" [Context, Mar 1994.]

(IS, A YEAR IS A LONG TIME)

Is there hope in all the circumstances and troubles of life?

With God there is always hope.

Our problem is that many times in the midst of life’s circumstances and troubles life can feel chaotic – and we start thinking – “There’s no hope” - “What’s going on?” “God’s lost control” – and fear begins to take over within us – and we begin to doubt God.

When these times come, we must remind ourselves of two supreme facts: God has a plan for my life and He is in control.

In Jeremiah 29:10-14 , God tells us very plainly these 2 supreme facts!

The context was regarding the 70 years of exile the children of Israel were entering into due to God’s judgment on them for years of repeatedly turning away from Him – false prophets were saying their exile was going to be short – God said it was going to be lengthy, but He reaffirmed to them His love, care, presence and control.

READ.

From this passage, I see 3 vital points.

First...

I. GOD HAS A MASTER PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.

“For I know the plans I have for you...”

A.

Here God shares that He has plans for His people.

- If God created us without any plan or purpose in life – life would be filled with no meaning or purpose – but the beautiful truth is that He does have a plan for everyone of our lives!

- He had a plan for Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Rahab, David, Isaiah, Jonah, Jesus, Peter, Paul...

- And He has a plan for you!

B. What are God’s plans for your life?

These are the things we know for sure…

1.

To be in an intimate, loving, unbroken relationship with Him – salvation and abiding in Christ

2. To love Him with all your being (heart, soul, mind) – Matt.

22:37

3. To love your neighbor as yourself – Matt.

22:39

4. To love one another as He loved us – John 13:34

5. To live by His Word – Joshua 1:8

6.

To experience the abundant life – John 10:10

7. To trust Him – Prov 3:5-6

8. To tell others about Him – Matt 28:18-20

9. To glorify Him in all you do – Psalm 22:23

10.

To be faithful all the way to the very end – 2 Tim 4:7

11.

Re: His specific purpose (plan) for your life – He will reveal it, unfold it as you seek Him to know it – the wonderful truth is He has a specific purpose for you.

TS – 2nd...

II.

GOD’S MASTER PLAN INVOLVES GOOD.

“...plans for welfare and not for calamity...”

- The NLT translates it this way: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD.

“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

A. God doesn’t desire calamity for your life.

- He doesn’t desire for evil, bad, or hurt to take place.

- His ultimate goal is for good to take place (happen) in your life!

B. But we recognize that calamity does come sometimes?

– we’re not immune to it!

And God never promised life without pain, trials or hardships.

What He has promised is to walk with us through them and to help us to get through them.

- As He says in Isaiah 41:10; 43:1-3; Psalm 23…

C.

So why does calamity come in your life? 3 reasons:

(1) To refine you – to help bring about a greater good in your life – to squeeze out the dross (impurities) from within your life.

(2) To test you – to give you opportunities to shine forth for Him – for your faith to glow – and to find out how much you really love Him and trust Him!

(3) To mature you – produce endurance and mature you

- James 1:2-4 says…

APPLICATION

1.

In all these situations, God has ultimate good in mind – as the goal!

- The enemy is the one who wants bad for you – and attacks you.

- But Romans 8:28 is very much at work in the life of the child of God…

- God will take all that He allows (not causes) to come your way in order to work it for good for you!

2. God wants you to experience the abundant life in Him He’s made possible.

3. God wants to give you a future and a hope.

4. God hadn’t forgotten His people even though they were captive in Babylon – He planned to give them a new beginning w a new purpose – to turn them into a new people

– in times of deep trouble it may appear God has forgotten you – but He hasn’t– and He may be preparing you for a new beginning - something greater!

TS – 3rd…

III.

GOD’s MASTER PLAN INVOLVES SEEKING HIM.

(Vs.

12-14)

- The children of Israel were in exile because of their failure to follow God.

- They needed to learn that God was their only hope – and that they needed to turn to Him.

- Israel’s calamity here was to get them to seek God wholeheartedly.

- And the wonderful news was this: God was available and ready to hear them – hear their prayers!

- Jeremiah 29:12-14 …

- What God was doing in their lives – the Exile – was part of His plan to give them a hopeful future!

- Once they would turn to Him – call to Him – search for Him with all their heart – He would be found!

And He would move to restore their fortunes and gather them and bring them home!

- Verse 13 is one of the great evangelistic texts of the OT along with Deut.

4:29: "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.”

- When you seek Him, you will find Him when you want Him more than all else (with all your heart, mind and will).

And He would move!

Conclusion

"Paul Scherer tells about a young woman who for years kept house for her father and mother.

Morning, noon, and night she got their tea out of a can which had a picture of the rock of Gibraltar on the lid.

When she was 32, much to her surprise, she was able to take a trip to Egypt.

On the way, one bright morning, she looked through her porthole of the ship and saw the rock of Gibraltar.

'I almost cried out,' she said.

'I kept whispering to myself, "Then it's real!

It's been real all the time!"' (IS, HOW REAL IS CHRIST TO YOU?)

God is real and He’s real all the time.

And you can have hope today because He is real and because He has a master plan for your life – that He is working out!

Trust Him today...be faithful to Him today...believe Him today: He “knows the plans He has for you...plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”