One of the great challenges of every age is understanding how we relate to and enjoy a relationship with the God of the universe. One of the most common responses to this desire is to be religious. Religion is an attempt to engage with and practice devotion to God. But is religion helpful in this pursuit? What is the way to engage with God? In Jeremiah 7 we get a strong warning about the dangers of being religious in pursuit, but being devoid of a relationship with God in practice. In this section of Scripture God gives us a strong warning about the folly of religiosity without a genuine relationship with him.

We live in a world that is full of despair. At a personal, community, and global level our world is full of hardship and difficulty. Our situation, of course, is nothing new. It is in a similar context that God called a prophet named Jeremiah to speak words of judgment and hope. In the opening of the book of Jeremiah we see God’s calling of the prophet and are reminded again, that no matter how difficult our circumstances God’s presence brings us confidence.

The end result of Philip’s preaching in Samaria is summarised in Acts 8:8 “So there was great joy in that city.” As we launch our Blacktown campus today this text challenges us to ask the question, “What will it take for MBM to bring great joy to Blacktown?”

At the end of God’s great redemptive story is the promise of eternal life in heaven with him. But what is the nature of that eternal life? For my people heaven appears boring, mysterious, and vague. In this section of Revelation we get a great vision of God’s glorious plans for his children.

As the Scriptures unfold the picture of God’s plans become clearer. With the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, Christians now have a message to proclaim. It is not a message of self-help, its a message of God’s wonderful offer of forgiveness which now comes through Jesus.

God uses a symphony of testimonies to provide certainty that Jesus is God’s promised king, the one promised to usher in God’s kingdom, and the only hope for humanity.

God speaks through His Prophets to raise our eyes to blessing above and beyond our earthly hopes and dreams.

In God’s unfolding story we continue to see God’s plan coming to pass through ordinary people. In 2 Samuel we see David graciously engaging with king David through promising to establish through him the one who will bring about God’s eternal plans.