First Church of god in Harvey
Sunday Morning – September 2nd, 2012
Let us pray
Welcome….
This is the day, the day before labor day, which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. What a great day to be alive? What a great day to have the Lord Jesus as your friend? What a great day to know the one who holds tomorrow, and to know that he holds your hands? Is this a great day for you? Or are you bogged down by the cares of life, wondering what is going to happen next. We used to sing a chorus in Jamaica that says, smile awhile and give your face a rest, raise your hands to the one you love the best, then shake hands with the one nearby, and greet him/her with a smile (sing)
Rick Warren in his book, ‘The purpose driven life,” wrote these words and I quote, “You were planned for God’s pleasure. The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. He wanted you alive, and your arrival gave him a great pleasure. God did not need to create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. You exist for his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight. Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first purpose of your life. When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant.” Let me say this, you are important to God, and as a child of God you bring pleasure to God, “like nothing else he has ever created.”
People make plans everyday as to what they hope to achieve in life. Many of us set goals with the intention of achieving those goals. As we make plans for our lives, what is God’s plans for you? Is it a plan of peace? Is it a plan of hope? Is it a plan of a great future?
Our scripture reading for today will be taken from Jeremiah 29 verses 11 through 13 and we will all stand and read from the screen from the King James Version and the NIV. P)lease tell someone, God has something for you too.
Our topic for today is, “God’s Plans For You.” It is a plan of peace. It is a plan of hope. It is a plan of a great future.
In Jeremiah 29 verses 1 through 20 the prophet Jeremiah is writing a letter of advice to the captives in Babylon. “This was an open letter to the entire community, not just the leaders.” In our society today, we don’t send too many letters anymore, we now have emails, gmails, and other electronic devices, but in Jeremiah’s time the letter was carried to the exiles in Babylon. Through the letter, the Lord speaks to the exiles, and they were told to be fruitful and multiply. They were in captivity, but it was alright for them to take wives, have children, and allow their sons and daughters to be married. They were free to build houses, live in them, and plant their gardens, and eat the fruits from their gardens. They were told not to be deceived by the prophets and diviners that were among them. God’s people were called upon to be on the alert, because these false prophets were not sent by him. They were informed that they would be in captivity for awhile, for seventy years. Seventy years is a lifetime, three score and ten.. Some of you are still young, but all of us here are heading towards 70, or have gone passed 70 years, and some of us are wishing to be young again, and so we are always talking about those good old days. I have some startling news for you, those good old days are gone. I said those good old days are gone, and all we can do is talk about those days. I can think about life in Jamaica in my younger days, but those days are gone. I can think about running around with my friends, but those days are gone. I can think about playing soccer, cricket and running the cross country, but those days are gone, and so many of us today are living on those good old days, but those days are gone.
So here we have God’s people in captivity, and they will be there for awhile. In the midst of their captivity; in the midst of their doom and gloom, Jeremiah had a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future. “Jeremiah had repeatedly warned the people of judgment to come should they refuse to repent.” Guess what, they refused. So here we find God’s people in the midst of a bad situation. Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a bad situation where you are depressed, helpless, hopeless, and just don’t know what to do? God’s people were in a bad situation, , and God used the prophet Jeremiah to bring a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future.. The way how things are going in the United States of America where it seems nobody can trust anybody, we need a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future. The way how things are going on in our schools, we need a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future. The way how things are going on in our neighborhoods, we need a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future. The way how things are going among God’s people, we need a message of peace, a message of hope, and a message of a great future.
Tell me Jeremiah, what is the message? What is that message of peace, hope and a great future? The message is in our text. “For I know..” “Here Jeremiah’s message is presented in its most beautiful form.” God’s prophet has quite often spoken of divine judgment, “but here he speaks of a purpose behind all divine judgment,” that God may give his people peace, hope and a great future. What is God’s plans for you? What do you think God has in store for you? In the midst of all that you might be going through right now, what is God’s plans for you? Do we ever think about God’s plan for us, or do we over-ride, and just think about our plans. “It is so very easy when thinking about God’s plans for our lives to have the attitude,” it’s all about me.
Jeremiah is writing to these captives in Babylon to let them know “that although they’re not where they would have expected, nor where they would have asked God to place them, God has not forgotten them and he still has a plan for their lives.” Aren’t you glad that God has not forgotten you? Aren’t you glad that God still cares about you? Aren’t you glad that despite all that you have gone through, and is still going through that God cares about you? God cares so much about you and about me, that even the very hairs of our head are numbered. That is caring. When we go to sleep at night, and all is peaceful and still, God watches over us, that is caring. When there is no food to eat, and no money to buy the food, God make a way out of no way, that is caring. Many of us have forgotten where we came from. Many of us have forgotten what we used to be. Many of us have forgotten the lifestyles we used to live, but look at us now, we have been changed, transformed by the power of God, that is caring. I remember going to school in Jamaica, I had no shoes for my feet, but now I have shoes, not just one pair, but more than one pair, that is caring. Many of you can identify with what I am saying, because God cares about you. The songwriter penned these wonderful lines, “O yes , He cares , I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief; When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.” Thank God my Savior cares. The songwriter then ask the question, “Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed to resist some temptation strong; When for my deep grief I find no relief, Tho my tears flow all the night long.” He answer the question, O yes , He cares, I know He cares….
I want somebody to know today, that despite what you might be going through, God has a plan for you, it is a plan of peace, a plan of hope and a plan of great future. When Jeremiah wrote this letter, God’s people were in captivity, they had lost their homes, they had lost their land, they had lost their independence. Things were not looking good, but in their bad situation, Jeremiah gave them a message of hope. Maybe today as God’s child you are in the midst of a fiery trial, whatever that fiery trial might be. You are at a crossroad, and you just don’t know which way to turn. Today God has a word for you. God has plans for you, and they are good plans, they are not plans to harm you. God is able to look beyond your circumstances, and no matter what you are going through, God has plans for you.
In Jeremiah’s day there were false prophets ready to deceive God’s people. They were saying thus saith the Lord, when God did not say anything. They were using God’s name in vain, when God did not send them. We get shaken up when somebody says the Lord says. We get shaken up when somebody says thus saith the Lord. We get shaken up when somebody starts using the scripture, and sometimes they were not sent by God. We turn on the radio, we turn on the television, we turn on the internet, and we hear so many false teaching, but unless we know the truth for ourself, we will say that is the truth. Last Sunday we were told to study to shew our selves approved unto God. We were told to know the word of God for ourselves. So often we are lulled to sleep by soft messages that make us feel good. So often we get caught up with a prosperity gospel of wealth and health, and less and less is said about sin. So often we go home having no idea what the message was about, and it is business as usual, but today Gad wants to change things because God has a plan for you.
Even though Judah, the people of God was being chastised for her sin, God still had a plan for Judah. Even though we have failed God, and “even though we may have to eat the bitter fruit of our self-willed ways, God is planning good plans for each of us.’ I said, God is planning good plans for each of us. Let me send out a warning, the God whom we serve does not change. The Bible says in Malachi 3 verse 6, “For I am the Lord, I change not…” God does not change, but sometimes his plans change. You remember the story of king Hezekiah (relate story)
It is said that, “The only thing that can stop God’s plans for you is you.’ You and I, can hinder God’s plan by the things we do, and the things we say. When we try to take matters into our own hands, we are hindering God’s plans. “As God looked beyond the captivity of the exiles to offer them a word of hope, he looks beyond our trials and sees the plans he has for us.” Each day, 24 hours a day, “.we stand at the crossroads and we have a choice to make. Will I serve God and do things his way, or will I go on in my self-willed ways? There are people today who know they are doing wrong, who will continue doing wrong, willing to do things their way instead of God’s way. Today God is calling all of us to go beyond our selfishness and self-will, and let the Lord set the course as we follow him, allowing him to work out his plans for us.
Once we have placed ourselves to know God’s plans for our lives. Once we have yielded our stubborn wills to him . Once we have said like the song writer, “My stubborn will at last hath yielded, I would be Thine, and Thine alone, And this the prayer my lips are bringing, Lord, let in me Thy will be done.” If that is our prayer, we should be able to say, “Sweet will of God, still fold me closer, Till I am wholly lost in Thee; Sweet will of God, still fold me closer, Till I am wholly lost in Thee.”
Having yielded our stubborn will to the Lord, it is only then we will be able to apply verses 12 and 13 of our text, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” As God’s people, when selfishness and self will is out of the way; when it is no longer all about me, when we want nothing but God’s will, it is at that time we will find him when we call upon him, and he will answer. When we call upon God from a heart that is truly seeking after God, then the Lord will hear and answer our cry. Have you ever tried praying to God, and you find your prayer is going no where? You then come to realize that something is wrong, something is not yielded to God, and so you have to get it right. In our text it says “with all your heart.” This “means with your entire mind and all your will..” “Seeking God with your whole heart is to seek him with singleness of purpose..” It is not seeking God and trying to watch TV at the same time. It is not seeking God, and trying to surf the internet, but it is to intensely seek God’s will,. and earnestly desiring to seek the plans for our lives.
It is said, and I quote, “We can frustrate God’s plans through action or inaction.. We frustrate his plans through action when we act on our self-will. We frustrate his plans through our inaction when God motivates us to a course of action and we make excuses and don’t act.. If we prepare ourselves to carry out God’s plans, if we seek him with our whole ehart, nothing can stop those plans from being realized. God has given you free will, and you must will to obey his word if you want to see his plans come to fruition in your life.” End of quote.
What is God’s Plans for you? Is it a plan of peace? Is it a plan of hope? Is it a plan of a great future? Pastor you don’t understand, I am getting up there in age, what possible plan could God have for somebody like me? Most of us here today are under 80 years old, but it was at 80 years old that God had a plan for Moses to lead his people. Moses was a murderer. Moses was a man in hiding, but God had a plan for Moses, and used him over the next 40 years. People might think you can’t cut it anymore, but God has a plan for you. People might say you are limited in the things that you can do, but God has a plan for you. People might say you don’t associate with the right circle, but God has a plan for you. People might say you are always running with the wrong crowd, but God has a plan for you. People might say, I really can’t stand you, but God has a plan for you. People might say you just don’t fit in, but God has a plan for you. What is God’s Plans for you?
Paul might have taught he was doing alright persecuting God’s people, but God had a plan for his life. Paul who was called Saul had no thoughts of becoming a Christian, that was the farthest thing from his mind. He never dreamed that one day he would switch sides. I want somebody to know today, that when God has a plan for your life, God will do whatever it takes to fulfill that plan in your life. It might be putting you on your back for awhile. It might be bringing you through some financial crisis. It might be taking you through some hard times. It is quite possible if Paul had known God was planning to meet him that day as he travel the Damascus road, he might have taken matters into his own hands, and take a different route. God met Paul as he was doing is own thing, and his life was not the same any more. Like Paul you too was out there doing your own thing, whatever your own thing might be, but because God had a plan for you, he changed the way you were going.
As we close, what is God’s Plan for you? Rebecca Jordan wrote five simple steps to discover God’s Plans for your life:
1. Ask. You want wisdom? James 1:5-6 says to ask God for it. Most of us I would say, have a tendency to figure things out on our own. We read the manual as a last resort. God is saying, I am right here, I made you, trust me.
2. Be faithful where you are. “God will not give you greater opportunities or responsibilities if you aren’t faithful with what He’s already entrusted you in the smaller areas of your life. Serve Him cheerfully, gratefully, faithfully, wherever you are, no matter what your lot in life may be right now.”
3. Listen. “Continue to study and pray, watching for insights from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit..” Listen to this,” God will not tell you to do something that is against His righteous character or contrary to the principles of His Word. His Word is powerful, bringing instruction, correction, training, and equipping us thoroughly for every good work.. Trying to make decisions without consulting God or His word is like trying to find our way through a dark tunnel without a flashlight.”
4. Wait. ‘Waiting is not always easy.’ Many of us as Christians just do not like to wait, we just like to rush things.” Is that true? We want to have what we need to hsve right now, not tomorrow, not next, not next year, but right now.
5. Obey. “…simple keep doing what you know to do. Day in and day out.Stay faithful, kjeep growing, stop worrying, and obey God with the light He has giveb you,
Maybe right now you are going through your testing time, and even in your testing time, God has a plan for you. The plan God has for you is a good plan. How do I know it is a good plan, because God’s plans are always good. Maybe for you things might seems hopeless, but even in your hopelessness God has a plan for you, and it is a plan of hope. In your eyes the future might seem bleak, it might not look so good, but God has a plan for you, and it is a plan of a great future. God’s people were in captivity, they would be there for 70 years, but God said after the 70 years were accomplished he would visit them, because he know the plans he has for them. Today God speaks to you and to me. He speaks to us right where we are. He speaks to us in our given circumstances whatever they maybe. He speaks to us loud and clear, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all our heart.”
Your hope is in God, your future is in God, will you trust Him?
Let us stand
Call to discipleship
Closing song/prayer
