Jeremiah 29:10-14

“A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight.”
- Luke Skywalker

Hebrews 11:13, 12:1-2

There are a thousand GENERATIONS of Jesus-followers in you.

“When SEVENTY years are completed for Babylon.” (v. 10)

Cheap OPTIMISM is not a good alternative to COSTLY hope.

God hasn’t abandoned you even when God’s on a different TIMELINE than you.

“For I know the PLANS I have for you...” (v. 11)

Exile will not be WASTED.

REFRAME your exile.

“Call on me and come and pray to me...” (v. 12)

“Seek me and find me...” (v. 13)

Jesus may seem HIDDEN, but he can always be FOUND.

Jeremiah 29:1-7

“I don’t know if I want to bring a kid into THIS world.”

Build HOUSES and settle down.

“Do not conform.” (Romans 12:2)

You can be present in the world without ASSIMILATING to the ways of the world.

Plant GARDENS.

Gardening is a HOPEFUL act.

Maybe the world might not be different when we have kids, but what if our PRESENCE and our work as parents in the world now meant a different world for our grandkids.

Psalm 105

Get married and have BABIES.

Maybe one of the greatest acts of resistance in our world that you could do is getting MARRIED.

Maybe one of the greatest acts of resistance to our world that you could do is starting a FAMILY.

Deuteronomy 20:5-7

Seek the PEACE and PROSPERITY of the city.

Romans 12:14-17

John 1

Keep hope alive, join the REBELLION.

What happens when we are longing for things to be different:

We try to ESCAPE.

We SETTLE in.

As Christians, do we look any different from the WORLD around us?

Psalm 137:1-4

How do we sing while we're in exile?

Jeremiah 24:1-7

They became like BABYLON before they were ever in Babylon.

The GOOD figs are the ones in exile.

The BAD figs are the ones with power.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

Fig Trees and Flipping Tables

Ephesians 2:19-22

Jesus didn't come to tweak the old system, he came to flip it UPSIDE DOWN.

John 14:1,15, Matthew 7:24-29

“Jesus said, Trust in God, TRUST also in Me.” John 14:1

“If you love me, you’ll OBEY what I command.” John 14:15

These verses are an invitation to a GROWING relationship.

“God’s KINDNESS is intended to lead you to REPENTANCE.” (Romans 2:4)

“God sent Jesus to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be JUST

The problem with OBEY is this: It requires you to DO something.

Not to EARN My love. I’m telling you this BECAUSE I love you.

Jesus’ point in this parable:

Not when you get to Heaven. In THIS life.

Matthew 7:24-29 (pg. 1,506)

v.24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into PRACTICE,

Obeying Jesus’ teaching is the equivalent of making a decision you’ll never, ever, REGRET.

v.25: “The RAIN came down and the STREAMS rose and the WINDS blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.”

What happens to your LIFE when you have TROUBLE?

v.26: “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does NOT put them into practice is like a FOOLISH person who built their house on SAND.”

This parable is going to strike all of us in one of three ways:

John 6:60-69, 14:1,15, Romans 3:21-26

“Jesus said, Trust in God, TRUST also in Me.” (John 14:1)

“If you love me, you’ll OBEY what I command.” (John 14:15)

You’re never going to have a GROWING relationship with someone that you don’t trust.

“God’s KINDNESS is intended to lead you to REPENTANCE.” (Romans 2:4)

The path from ‘Trust’ to ‘Obey’ always runs through BELIEVE

Romans 3:21-26 (pg. 1,750)

v.21 “But now a RIGHTEOUSNESS from GOD apart from the LAW has been made KNOWN,

v.22 “This righteousness from God comes through FAITH in JESUS Christ to all who BELIEVE. There is no difference.”

v.23 “Because all have SINNED, and all fall short of the GLORY of God.”

‘to sin = to MISS the mark’

‘NOBODY’S perfect.’ There is a PERFECT, that NOBODY is.

v.24 “And all are JUSTIFIED FREELY by His GRACE thorough the redemption that by Christ JESUS.”

v.25 “God received Him as a SACRIFICE of ATONEMENT through faith in His blood.

v.26 “He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be JUST

God is JUST, somebody got to pay.

God is the JUSTIFIER, Jesus decided that HE would pay.

John 14:1,9,15, Matthew 9:9-13, Hosea 6:6

“If you love me, you’ll OBEY what I command.” - John 14:15

“Jesus said, Trust in God, TRUST also in Me.” - John 14:1

“Anyone who has seen ME, has seen the FATHER” - John 14:9

Jesus came into this world to invite us into a relationship with God based,

That’s why the vision of our church is: We want to bring Jesus into every RELATIONSHIP.

Is there anyone that you have a GROWING relationship with, that you don’t trust?

Matthew 9:9-13 (pg. 1,509)

v.9: “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named MATTHEW sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Follow ME, Jesus told him.”

v.11: “When the Pharisees saw this they asked His disciples, WHY does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

v.12: “On hearing this Jesus said, It’s not the HEALTHY who need a doctor but the SICK.”

v.13: “But go and LEARN what this means: ‘I desire MERCY, not sacrifice.’” (Hosea 6:6)

For I have not COME TO CALL the righteous but sinners

Jesus is inviting you to either: FOLLOW Me...or...PARTNER with Me

Three important takeaways for us individually and especially as a church:

RULES do not make a relationship, LOVE does.

“God’s KINDNESS is intended to lead you to REPENTANCE.” - Romans 2:4

John 13:34-35, John 10:10, Proverbs 4:23, Judges 4-5

Are there days you wish you could DO OVER?

The good news of the gospel is: “God’s GOODNESS is not wrapped up in your GOODNESS.”

Sure Been Good to Me (by Elevation Worship)

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the love of Christ.” - Ephesians 3:17

The primary role of a mom is to illustrate the GOSPEL to our children.

And when we fall short, to ask for FORGIVENESS from God and from our kids.

“...God is more powerful than our sin, and He's strong enough to make us want to do the right thing.”

“Above all else, guard your HEART, for everything you DO flows from it.” - Proverbs 4:23

“Once these women knew Jesus, they needed to know they were called to share His love.”

“Mothers and the motherly are keepers of traditions, sustainers of cultures, pillars of support, creators of beauty, backbones of communities, protectors of dreams, and conduits of love.”

2 Timothy 1:4-8 (pg. 1,855)

Lois and Eunice, Timothy’s grandmother and mother Had an influence far beyond their life time.

Acts 6:7, 9:1-15, 10:13-45, 11:1-21

The resurrection of Jesus is the FOUNDATION for everything we DO and everything we BELIEVE as followers of Jesus.

It’s only when you no loner fear personal loss that you become:
SELFLESS. COMPASSIONATE. GENEROUS.

“The word of God SPREAD. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a LARGE number of PRIESTS became OBEDIENT to the faith.” - Acts 6:7

Acts 9:1-15 (pg. 1,706)

9 v.1: “Saul was still breathing out MURDEROUS threats against the Lord’s DISCIPLES."

9 v.4: “Saul, Saul why do you persecute ME?”

9 v.5: “Who are you, Lord? I am JESUS, whom YOU are PERSECUTING, the voice replied.”

Not only did Saul regain his PHYSICAL sight, his eyes were also opened with extraordinary clarity about the NEW COVENANT launched by Jesus.

Saul began his mission with the goal of PURGING HIS nation from the influence of Jesus, to Paul’s ambition of REACHING EVERY nation with the message of the RESURRECTION of Jesus.

10 v.14: “Surely not, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything IMPURE or UNCLEAN.”

Has God changed His MIND? God changed COVENANTS.

“Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to FULFILL them. Not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law UNTIL everything is ACCOMPLISHED.” - Matthew 5:17-18

10 v.28: “GOD has SHOWN me that I should not call any person IMPURE or UNCLEAN.”

10 v.34: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but ACCEPTS those from EVERY nation who WORSHIP Him and does what is right.”

To minimize the difference between these two COVENANTS is to minimize the difference that JESUS makes.

The resurrection of Jesus is the FOUNDATION for everything we DO and everything we BELIEVE as followers of Jesus.

The RESURRECTION of Jesus is the reason we have the BIBLE and it’s the reason why there is a CHURCH.

Acts 1:21 pg. 1,692

1v21 - “...it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the WHOLE TIME the Lord Jesus was living among us.”

1v.22 - “Beginning with John’s baptism, to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a WITNESS with us of Jesus’ RESURRECTION.”

2v.6 - “When then heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one HEARD them speaking in their OWN LANGUAGE.”

2v.24 - “But God, RAISED Him from the DEAD, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for DEATH to keep its hold on Him.”

2v.38 - “Peter replied, REPENT and be BAPTIZED.”

2v.39 - “The promise is for YOU and your CHILDREN and for all who are FAR OFF, for ALL whom the Lord our God will CALL.”

The very first Christian sermon was not about what Jesus TAUGHT. It was about the RESURRECTION of Jesus.

3v.15 - “You KILLED the author of life. But God RAISED Him from the dead, and we are WITNESSES of this.”

If you’re a follower of Jesus, WHAT should be the foundation of YOUR faith?

4v.10 - “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you CRUCIFIED, but whom God RASIED from the dead that this man stands before you healed.”

You know why FEARLESS matters?