Order, Words, & Voices 11.24.24

Order, Words, & Voices – 11.24.24, Jeremiah 36 & 31, Indestructible

Pre/Post Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close

Lighting of Christ Candle Mitch

Songs Come Christians Join To Sing Song # 83253 Lynn/Linda

Passage/Prayer Jeremiah 36:1-8 Isaiah

Song You Are My King (Amazing Love) #2456623 Lynn/Linda

Impact/Message Indestructible Rick

Song All My Hope CCLI Song # 7068805 Lynn/Linda

Community/Closing Peace Rick

Closing Music Glorify Thy Name CCLI Song # 1383 Lynn/Linda

Record message on memory card – leave Room above Speaker’s head

Christ Candle (Slides) (Lynn softly plays near end)

Lord, you have revealed to us, and to our world, the division in our nation.

May we, in this faith gathering place show the world our unity.

A unity centered on You God. A unity dependent on You God. A unity that endures for You God are our core.

Help us to choose faith over fear just as you hold us through the darkest days and the most difficult of circumstances.

The world tells us that we live in chaos, may we instead look for peace.

The world tells us that we are hopeless, may we instead hold to our hope.

The world tells us to hate, may we instead love.

May we recognize your breath in every human being.

May the world recognize the breath that gives them life.

May we fill our treasure chest with all that is You,

Hope, Peace, Mercy, Compassion, Direction, Worth, Purpose, Place, and Sacrifice.

Amen.

Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda

Come Christians Join To Sing CCLI Song # 83253

Verse 1

Come Christians join to sing

Alleluia amen

Loud praise to Christ our King

Alleluia amen

Let all with heart and voice

Before His throne rejoice

Praise is His gracious choice

Alleluia amen

Verse 2

Come lift your hearts on high

Alleluia amen

Let praises fill the sky

Alleluia amen

He is our Guide and Friend

To us He’ll condescend

His love shall never end

Alleluia amen

Verse 3

Praise yet our Christ again

Alleluia amen

Life shall not end the strain

Alleluia amen

On heaven’s blissful shore

His goodness we’ll adore

Singing forevermore

Alleluia amen

Passage (Slides) Jeremiah 36:1-8 Isaiah

In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that, when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.’

Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words that the Lord had spoken to him. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying,

“I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord, so you go, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns.

It may be that their plea will come before the Lord and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”

And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

Join me in the prayer of Jesus,

Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be your name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.

And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Music (Slides) Lynn/Linda

You Are My King (Amazing Love) CCLI Song # 2456623

Verse

I’m forgiven

Because You were forsaken

I’m accepted

You were condemned

I’m alive and well

Your Spirit is within me

Because You died

And rose again

Chorus

Amazing love

How can it be

That You my King

Would die for me

Amazing love

I know it’s true

It’s my joy to honor You

In all I do I honor You

Ending

You are my King

Jesus You are my King

Message Rick [Leave Screen Share up for entire message]

[Title Slide]

Prophets were communicators of Truth and spiritual evaluators of people, peoples, and leaders – evaluating how hearts, minds and behaviors matched up against God’s law and covenants. They warned the people of unfaithful hearts, and served as the harbingers of God’s coming correction. In other words, it was their job to say the things that no one wanted to hear.

[Slide]

“To understand the messages of the prophets, it is necessary to understand their contexts as best we can.”

Steven L. McKenzie, How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature

Prophets knew that truth can be difficult to hear and receive, and therefore knew that people would refuse to listen and to hear.

[Title Slide]

In our passages today we see God’s ‘unwanted’, and ‘unwelcome’ truth. Jeremiah bears the task of speaking these words to the people and to their King. No one wanted to hear these words. The King so despised the truth that he had banned Jeremiah from his presence.

Important context:

[Slide] At this point of this story, the King over Judah (Southern Kingdom) was Jehoiakim, the son of the previous King, Josiah. Josiah was obedient to God, he heard the words of God and led the people to receive the truth. However, Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, the current King, did not share his father’s faithfulness to God. Jehoiakim hated God’s words, he hated God’s prophet Jeremiah, and he refused to hear or heed truth.
[Slide] Isaiah was an 8th century prophet, while Jeremiah was a 6th century prophet
[Slide] Both were prophets to the Southern Kingdom – Judah. Now, 150-200 years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom, Jeremiah spoke to the Judah encouraging them to learn from the conquest of Northern Kingdom and their exile.
[Slide] Both prophets shared the same message from God, ‘Turn back to God before it is too late’.
[Slide] Both prophets were dismissed and their words of truth were ignored.
[Slide] When Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom – Israel, soon after the Assyrians conquered Judah. At first, the Southern Kingdom was allowed to continue to govern themselves with little interference, except their taxes went to the Assyrians.
[Slide] The Israelites made several ill-fated efforts to rebel and break free of the Assyrians, and later against the Babylonians who had conquered Assyria and taken over Judah. Jeremiah had warned the Israelites to not rebel, that they would fail, but these words were ignored and ultimately these rebellions led the Israelites of Judah to be exiled to Babylon where they were enslaved, just as the Israelites of Northern Kingdom (Israel) had been enslaved in Assyria.
[Slide] Jeremiah knew that the Isrealites were not ready to trust God enough to be free or to rebel. Like the Ninevites, their repentance was shallow and did not lead to a full heart and mind faith.
[Slide] Jeremiah 36, takes place as Judah was under the rule of Babylonia and exile and enslavement had begun. So, Jeremiah is speaking to a puppet King who possibly hoped for rescue, but did not want the agonizing truth Jeremiah had to give.

[Slide] God’s call to Jeremiah was to, ‘pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’

[Slide] God’s call was not only aimed at the enemies of Judah. Actually it was a message of pain and loss, to his own people. Still, Jeremiah held tightly to a vision of a hope-filled future for God’s people. These are the two conflicting passions of Jeremiah – and it is these two seemingly contradictory truths that God embedded in the heart of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah juxtaposed judgment and hope, which tells that God’s “anger and wrath” do not mean that God is in the business of punishment and retribution. Instead, we see that God’s will is for things to be set right, for restoration and redemption to take place.

[Slide] God’s actions are always motivated by love. Misery is never what God wants to do or what God wills to happen. Rather, God’s corrective misery is what results when God’s protective will is ignored.

[Slide] God’s will is set on saving us from that which harms us.

[Slide] This is a radial perspective, a radical clarification of our usual perspective of God. In our self-centeredness, we often unconsciously paint God as being a God only of fire and pain, of a desire to make us live a life of continual regret, but, God is actually our loving father who does everything possible to woo us back before the need to correct and redirect is the only option. God continually seeks to rescue us. Simply put, 7 decades of slavery in Babylon is acceptable if it means the Israelites will come out with eyes to see and ears to hear, empowering an eternal trust in God.

[Title Slide]

So, the people and their King, in this time of hopelessness as they were in the process of being exiled and enslaved, were fed up with the prophet Jeremiah who was relentless in his words of ‘repent’ and ‘turn back to God.’ From the King to the commoner, no one wanted to hear the truth. After all, in their minds, ‘God just didn’t understand how difficult being human can be’.

So, Jeremiah made one last effort to convince them to hear truth. He dictated to his secretary Baruch the words of God to take to the people and then to the King. The people, and the King’s, hardened and closed hearts rendered them unable to see or hear the truth. When Baruch finished, the King, in his arrogance, took the scroll and a penknife and began to cut out every section and every word that he did not like, burning the rejected pieces leaving almost nothing of Jeremiah’s message.

[Slide] Jeremiah and Baruch knew the truth by heart, because truth is Indestructible, it was emblazoned on their mind. That is where truth is kept when it is received. They rewrote the words and attempted to speak them to the King again, but again, the King & people were unhearing.

The inevitable happened – final destruction, final defeat, final exile, and final slavery.

[Slide] Truth can be perverted, twisted, abused, hidden, and even diluted in the mess of the world, but, in the end, truth will eventually rise above all the mess and be found. And, there will always be someone, like Jehoakim’s father Josaiah, who with an open heart is ready to see, hear, and receive truth.

The problem for the Isrealites was the same problem for all of humanity. The problem of eyes and ears, minds and hearts, that had no trust. They allowed others, rulers and even religious leaders, to guide them down paths of deceit. God gave them opportunities but the people were unwilling to make the sacrifice to do the work. So, now, in slavery, it would take some time, it would take humility and repentance to finally see that there was still hope to be seen and experienced.

[Slide] The prophets spoke a risky truth not only of misery ahead but, even more, of the hope ahead, and if there is hope ahead there is hope now.

Hear Jeremiah’s words that came 7 chapters earlier…

[Slide] “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 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.

[Slide] Seek the welfare of the city Babylon where I have sent you into exile, pray on Babylon’s behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Do not let the Israelite false prophets among you deceive you, for they are not prophesying in my name; I did not send them.

When Babylon’s seventy years are completed I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back home. For I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Because then, when you finally call upon me, you will come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

When you finally search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

Jeremiah 29:4-14

Let us Pray

Music Slides Lynn/Linda (slides 2nd half only)

(First time through no slides/Lynn & Linda only, then Lynn will invite congregation to join in and will sing with slides – No Bridge on 2nd time through)

All My Hope CCLI Song # 7068805

Verse 1

I’ve been held by the Savior

I’ve felt fire from above

I’ve been down to the river

I ain’t the same a prodigal returned

Chorus

All my hope is in Jesus

Thank God that yesterday’s gone

(Yes) All my sins are forgiven

(Oh I’ve) I’ve been washed by the blood

Verse 2

I’m no stranger to prison

I’ve worn shackles and chains

But I’ve been freed and forgiven

And I’m not going back I’ll never be the same

That’s why I sing

Bridge

There’s a kind of thing that just breaks a man

Break him down to his knees

God I’ve been broken more than a time or two

Yes Lord then He picked me up and showed me

What it means to be a man

Come on and sing

Chorus

All my hope is in Jesus

Thank God that yesterday’s gone

(Yes) All my sins are forgiven

(Oh I’ve) I’ve been washed by the blood

Community (Slides) Rick

Next Sunday, 12:01.24, We Need a Little Christmas…Right This Very Minute, Simple Advent, ‘You Have Been Found”, Next Sunday – Luke 1:26-55

We Need A Little Christmas, Simple Advent. December 1
Advent Luncheon/Budget Vote, December 8 following worship
Advent Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship, December 24 (time?)

Closing Peace (Slides) Rick (Slides)

Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Closing Music Lynn/Linda

Glorify Thy Name CCLI Song # 1383

Verse 1

Father we love You

We worship and adore You