The Hebrew people were in bondage again. Because of their disobedience God raised up the Babylonians to conquer Israel and take the best of her people back to Babylon into captivity and slavery. This is the same captivity time from which we get the stories of Daniel and the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace.

Jeremiah, God’s prophet, who remained back in Jerusalem sent a letter to those in bondage in Babylon. A portion of that letter is our Scripture base for this morning. It is verse 11 that speaks to us as the people of God: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” A couple weeks ago we talked about God’s vision for His people of the Promised Land and our vision for our church. Last week Phil spoke of a portion of that vision as God works through us to reach peoples in distant lands.

Today we discover that God not only has a vision for us and has given us a vision but that God has plans for us and He has specific plans for us. Most of us are aware of what we call the plan of salvation, but God has plans for us for prosperity and hope and a future. It was a year ago that we discovered that God has a purpose for our lives. Have we forgotten? God has a vision and God has a purpose and God has a plan for our lives and for us as a church.

One of the things we discover about our God is that He is not haphazard, willy-nilly, fickle, and capricious. The promise to those early Hebrews and to us this morning is that God has a plan: “I know the plans I have for you.” God doesn’t reveal those specific plans but He does reveal that He has plans. It is our job to discover what those plans are! The wise sage of Proverbs declares, “Man proposes, God disposes.” We might have great ideas and dreams and plans, but it is God who works His plans and makes them happen.

Now, we want specifics and details…the hows, the whats and the wheres. God however tells us that He has plans for us and then says, “You have to trust me and follow me one step at a time.” That’s the hard part. But that is the basis of our relationship with Him. It is called faith and trust. The Psalmist declared (9:10b-LB), “You have never yet forsaken those who trust in you.” God gives us the promise and then says, “Follow me.” We also read in Psalms 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” We follow our God one step at a time, one day at a time with full assurance and confidence that God knows the specifics of His plan for us and that He will work out those specific plans in our lives.

God does not expect us to follow Him in blind faith, however. He does give us the essence of those plans: “to prosper you, give you hope and give you a future.” This is true for us individually as well as us corporately. As a church we can look back and give testimony that God has blessed us and prospered us. His plans are being realized even now. Our hope is renewed and energized. Our future is brighter than ever before. God has blessed us and we have been faithful and obedient to God’s call. We can look forward to the coming years because we know that God’s plans for us are not to harm us but are for good.

It’s exciting to be a part of a church that is not content to sit on its collective haunches and spiritually speaking, kick back, relax and ‘eat bon-bons and watch soaps.’ It’s exciting to be a part of a church where not only the staff have a vision for what God can do, but that the people, who are the church, have a vision as well and a desire to be all that God wants us to be. We will continue to be a church that is alive, on-fire and growing, as we are obedient to Jesus. In Jer 29:12-13 God says, “I will listen to you when you call upon me and come to me and pray to me. When you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. I will be found by you.” God’s plans for us are for prosperity, a hope and a future. Our part is to come to God, to call upon Him and seek Him with all our hearts.

As a people we are not in physical bondage like the Israelites in Babylon, but we are in our own bondage—a spiritual bondage. We are bound by sin, by wrong priorities. Too many of us are not seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are in bondage to wrong-headed thinking about our own personal involvement in being a servant of Jesus, and bondage to a superficial, casual commitment to Jesus and our church. The work of Jesus is always in bondage to the lack of faith and stewardship attitudes of God’s people whether that be time, talents and/or finances. We are in bondage to our own human limits, as well as to a narrow and limited view of what the church is and what the church is to be about. We are in bondage to the limited physical structures we have. We are constantly struggling to find enough teachers for Pioneer club and then to find enough room for the kids we have. We are maxing out our worship times and Sunday School times. Things we would like to do to reach our community we can’t do for lack of facility and space.

The good news is that through it all, we have God’s great promise of Jeremiah, “’ I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

As we commune this morning let us meditate on this verse that we might see our own bondage and then let us seek the Lord with all our hearts that we might find His will for our lives and His will for our church. Let us allow God’s Holy Spirit to break our bondage and free us to follow Him into the future that He has prepared for us.

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.