Living as People of Peace: Lessons from Jeremiah 29 for Modern Believers

Name: Jeremiah 29:4-11 | Called to Peace | Amos Ngoi | FCC Online
Uploaded: 2026-02-06T09:33:28.445681+00:00
Channel: Faith Community Church
Description: Summary and key takeaways on Living as People of Peace: Lessons from Jeremiah 29 for Modern Believers, covering Introduction The final part of a series on the

Faith Community Church

Feb 06, 2026

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3 min read

YouTube video ID: M4ha_pzt3Xs

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Introduction

The final part of a series on the Old Testament identity of God's people brings us to Jeremiah 29, a passage many have on their walls. In the midst of exile, God calls Israel—and us—to be people of peace.

The Historical Context

Exile as punishment: After centuries of disobedience, Israel was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon, losing spiritual presence, cultural identity, political autonomy, and facing pressure to assimilate.
A national tragedy: The exile meant living under a pagan, hostile power and being cut off from the promised land.

God’s Unexpected Command

Jeremiah 29:4‑11 tells the exiles to: - Build houses, plant gardens, raise families. - Seek the peace and prosperity of the city where they are living. - Reject false prophets promising immediate return. - Trust that after 70 years God will bring them back, with a plan for hope and a future.

Why This Was Radical

Israel had always prayed for Jerusalem’s peace (Psalm 122). Now they were asked to pray for Babylon, the very nation that displaced them.
The command mirrors Jesus’ teaching to pray for enemies, shifting from a mindset of withdrawal to active engagement.

Continuity with the New Testament

Exiles on earth: 1 Peter 2:11 calls believers “foreigners and exiles.”
Heavenly citizenship: Philippians 3:20 reminds us our true home is not this world.
Quiet life: 1 Thessalonians 4:11‑12 urges believers to work diligently, earn respect, and avoid dependence on others.

Practical Ways to Seek Peace Today

Home: Foster a loving, godly family environment; raise children in the fear of the Lord.
Work: Perform duties with excellence, integrity, and kindness; pray for colleagues and the success of the company.
School: Attend classes, study honestly, and pray for classmates and teachers.
Retirement: Mentor, serve, and invest wisdom in the next generation.
Community: Participate in local initiatives, support neighbors, and intercede for the city’s welfare.

The Hope That Powers This Lifestyle

Jeremiah 29:10‑11 promises that after the exile God will fulfill a good plan: prosperity, hope, and a future.
Christians share this hope in Christ’s return (Titus 2:13) while also living out redemption now through everyday blessings.

Avoiding Extremes

Withdrawal: Ignoring society and hiding faith is not the biblical model.
Assimilation: Becoming indistinguishable from the culture erodes identity.
Balanced calling: Like Israel, believers are to be a “kingdom of priests,” influencing the world through ordinary, faithful living.

Final Challenge

Offer your daily routines—job, studies, parenting, friendships—to God as a sacrifice. Let Him use the ordinary moments to bring extraordinary redemption.

Prayer

A closing prayer asks God to empower believers to be blessings in their current season, trusting that His redemptive work is both present and future.

God’s call to seek the peace of the city where we find ourselves transforms exile into a divine assignment; by faithfully living out ordinary responsibilities, we become agents of His present and future redemption.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Why This Was Radical

- Israel had always prayed for Jerusalem’s peace (Psalm 122). Now they were asked to pray for Babylon, the very nation that displaced them. - The command mirrors Jesus’ teaching to pray for enemies, shifting from a mindset of withdrawal to active engagement.

Helpful resources related to this video

If you want to practice or explore the concepts discussed in the video, these commonly used tools may help.

Niv Study Bible Hardcover Recommended

Provides comprehensive notes and maps to deepen understanding of passages like Jeremiah 29, helping believers apply biblical principles today

Amazon →

The Purpose Driven Life Book

Guides readers to discover God’s purpose for everyday life, aligning with the call to be a blessing in ordinary contexts

Amazon →

Christian Devotional Journal With Scripture Prompts

Encourages daily reflection and prayer for peace in one's community, turning routine moments into spiritual practice

Amazon →

Peaceful Living Devotional For Families

Offers family-oriented devotionals that teach how to seek peace at home and in the wider city, echoing Jeremiah 29’s instructions

Amazon →

The Book Of Jeremiah Esv Paperback

Allows direct study of the prophetic text discussed, supporting deeper insight into God’s promises and plans

Amazon →

Links may be affiliate links. We only include resources that are genuinely relevant to the topic.

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Full Transcript YouTube

Good morning. We are on our final part
of our called series where we've looked
through the Old Testament to see the
kind of people God has called his people
to be. Now, hopefully through this
series, you've seen that there's some
continuity
in who God's people are called to be,
our identity as God's people, that even
in the Old Testament, we've already seen
the blueprints, the prototypes in the
nation of Israel on the kind of people
we are called to be. And today I want to
bring us to Jeremiah 29. We're going to
touch on a very familiar verse that many
of you probably hang on to. It's in your
walls on your in your houses. But in
Jeremiah 29, we see God's people Israel
in actually a very challenging
situation. It's a very unpieful
situation. But in this uncomfortable and
unpaceful situation, God calls his
people to be people of peace. And so
let's go to Jeremiah 29:4-11.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God
of Israel, says to all those I carried
into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Build houses
and settle down. Plant gardens and eat
what they produce. Marry and have sons
and daughters. Find wives for your sons
and give your daughters in marriage so
that they too may have sons and
daughters.
Increase in number there. Do not
decrease. also seek the peace and
prosperity of the city to which I have
carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord
for it because if it prospers, you too
will prosper. Yes, this is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says. Do
not let the prophets and divers among
you deceive you. Do not listen to the
dreams you encourage them to have. They
prophesying lies to you in my name. I've
not sent them, declares the Lord. This
is what the Lord says. When 70 years are
completed for Babylon, I will come to
you and fulfill my good promise to bring
you back to this place. For I know the
plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not to harm
you. Plans to give you a hope and a
future. Let's pray.
Lord, there's a message of
encouragement. There's a message of hope
in this famous in this pivotal passage
in this prophecy you gave to Israel. It
still has relevance today. And so Lord,
I pray that you speak to us, your
people. May you give us eyes to see,
ears to hear, and hearts to receive
the word that you have for us today. In
Jesus' name, amen.
Let's put this in context because this
is a prophecy given centuries ago to
Israel in a very different situation
than we find ourselves in today. So what
was this prophecy? What was the context
this prophecy was given into? So after
years, centuries of disobedience, right,
continual disobedience, Israel had
finally experienced the ultimate form of
punishment. The ultimate punishment was
exile from their promised land, from
their homeland. So they were sent away
from their home. Now why was this a big
deal? Actually, this was a massive deal.
This is a tragedy of the upth level.
Okay, for several reasons. Okay. To
understand why this was such a big deal,
we got to understand that spiritually
the removal from God from the promised
land signaled God's removal of his own
presence from their midst. God had left
them because they had left God, right?
Spiritually, socially, this signaled the
loss of cultural and national identity.
They were now going to be Babylonians,
right? They were now in a foreign land.
They were now going to be pressured to
assimilate into this foreign land.
Right? Politically, this meant the loss
of governance and control over
themselves as a nation. Meaning they
couldn't rule themselves anymore under
their own laws, under their own rules.
Now they were subject to a foreign
power. Not just any foreign power, but
an evil one, a pagan one. Someone that
didn't follow God that wasn't very nice,
wasn't very good, right? Even right. And
they were subject to that. So in every
way possible this was a national tragedy
for Israel. The exile a national tragedy
for Israel. Now when you are going
through right if you put yourself in a
in their situation when you are going
through a challenging situation a
challenging season in your life whatever
they may be right what's the one thing
you hope God will tell you that you come
down for a prophecy you come down for
prayer and someone says I have a word of
the Lord from from the Lord for you.
What do you hope that they will say?
Right? It's breakthrough is coming your
way. Your season's almost over, right?
God has God's got a plan for you and
it's coming right now. Right? It's going
to be over soon. You're going to get
your healing right now. Your
breakthrough is coming right now. That
visa is coming right now. That job is
coming right now. That's exactly what
Israel wanted to hear.
Exactly what Israel wanted to hear. And
that's exactly what some prophets were
telling them. Right? In verse 8 to N9,
that's what it says. Yes, this is what
the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel,
says, "Do not let the prophets and
divineers among you deceive you. Do not
listen to the dreams you encourage them
to have."
These prophets were hearing the people,
the voices of the people of Israel, and
they were going, "We just want to go
back home." And the prophets are going,
"You know what? I just hear from the
Lord that breakthrough is coming your
way, right? You're going to return home
just any day now, right? It's just
around the corner." That's exactly what
they wanted to hear. But verse 9, they
are prophesying lies to you in my name.
I have not sent them, declares the Lord.
That's crazy if you think about it. In
this situation, the one word they wanted
to hear is the one word that was a lie.
The truth, the truth was
when 70 years are completed for Babylon,
then I will visit you. then I'll fulfill
my promise and bring you back to this
place. Meaning that
breakthrough is going to come. Sure, you
are going to return back home, but
it's going to be a while.
But it's going to be a long while. 70
years. The practical reality of that
number 70 years is that there going to
be some people, a lot of you that are
alive, a lot of you that are old enough
to remember Jerusalem are never going to
see it again.
That's the practical reality of what
this number means. Most of you who are
old enough to remember what Jerusalem
looked like are never going to return
back there again.
feel the weight of this prophecy. It's
not a nice prophecy to hear. This is not
the prophecy they wanted to hear. This
is not the prophecy anyone wanted to
hear. Right? And if you put yourself in
that situation, this would not be the
prophecy that you would want to receive
either. Right? If you're going through
this kind of season is not the prophecy
you wouldn't want to receive.
So this is how it meant. This is what it
meant to be in exile in Babylon. Now,
there is a continuity here. There's a
continuity between the people of Israel
and the people of God because we too are
called exiles on earth, right? We too
are called exiles on earth. 1 Peter 2:1,
dear friends, I urge you as foreigners
and exiles, he refers to as exiles. We
are exiles. This is not our home. This
is this earth is not our home. We have a
heavenly dwelling that is waiting for
us. We are going to return there soon,
right? That's why it says in Hebrews
11:13, "These all died in faith, not
having received the things promised, but
having seen them and greeted them from
afar and having acknowledged that they
were strangers and exiles on the earth."
Our citizen citizenship is not here, is
in heaven. Philippians 3:20, but our
citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly
await a savior from there, the Lord
Jesus Christ. We as a people of God, as
the church, we are in a state of waiting
as exiles. Very similar to Israel. We
are waiting for those 70 years to be
over, for the perfect time to come when
God will come back and deliver us and
bring us back home to our heavenly home.
So in this place of exile, okay, in this
place of exile, what are we called to
do?
How are we called to faithfully live in
exile? And that's what we see in
Jeremiah 29, right? What was Israel
called to do in exile? Build homes and
settle down. Plant gardens and eat what
they produce. Marry and have sons and
daughters. Find wives for your sons and
give your daughters in marriage so that
they too may have sons and daughters.
Increase in number there. Do not
decrease. Also seek the peace and
prosperity of the city to which I have
carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord
for it because if it prospers, you too
will prosper. What were they called to
do in exile? They were called to seek
for peace.
Seek for the peace of the city to which
I have sent you or I've carried you into
exile. Seek. That word seek can be
translated more as work to see. It's a
very active word. It's a pursuit. It's a
pursuit active pursuit to see the peace
of the city. That word peace as you can
guess some of you can guess is the word
shalom which is a very broad and deep
word which means not just absence of
conflict, absence of relation conflict.
It means wholeness. It means prosperity.
It means you're thriving. You're
thriving in life. You're succeeding in
life.
To put simply, the Israelites were
called to work to see their lives and
the lives of this foreign community
thrive, prosper, and flourish.
Now again to put it in context,
this would have been a tremendously
difficult thing for the Israelites to do
because
all their life they've been told to seek
for the peace and pray for the peace of
one city,
Jerusalem.
Right? That's what been told they've
been told to do. This is the first time,
this is the first time they've ever been
told to pray for the peace of a foreign
city. Okay, in Psalm 122:6-9, right? It
says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
May they be secure who love you. Peace
be within your walls and security within
your towers, for my brothers and
companions sake. For I will say, peace
be within you for the sake of the house
of the Lord our God. I will seek your
good." That is what they were told all
their life. This is what their mentality
was. I'm going to seek the peace of
Jerusalem. But now Jeremiah is telling
them, God is telling them through the
prophet Jeremiah. Yeah, you're not going
to do that. Right? Don't look towards
Jerusalem and pray for its peace. Look
to the city that you are in right now
and pray for its
peace.
Now, this to them would have sounded
like a national, political, spiritual
betrayal. Jeremiah, are you telling us
to give up? Not only that, are you
telling us to pray for these Gentiles,
for these foreigners, for the people
that kicked me out of my own home, for
the people that separated me from my
family? You're telling me to pray for my
enemies? Literally enemies.
Yes. exactly what he's calling them to
do. And doesn't that sound eerily
similar to what Jesus commanded his
disciples to do, us to do? Pray for your
enemies. Pray for those who persecute
you. Does it sound familiar? Yeah.
We see it here. Israel is told to do
that, too.
Now, what we see here is not a new
command to Israel. What we're seeing
here is a shift. There's a shift in the
kind of redemptive um
in how God is going to use Israel to
redeem the world. There's a shift that's
being made. Okay. Now, if you were here
for the first sermon in this called
series, we covered we talked about Jere
uh Genesis 12. In Genesis 12, we saw
that Israel was called to be blessed to
be a blessing. That's what they were
called to do, right? They were blessed
to be a blessing. Um I will make you
into a great nation. I will bless you
and make you famous and you will be a
blessing to others. All the families on
earth will be blessed through you. So
from the from the very beginning, Israel
was called was chosen not merely to be
blessed but to be a blessing to others.
However, before the exile, Israel
largely understood this calling as okay,
the nations will be blessed by coming to
us. Right. The assumption was that other
people, other nations would come to
Israel, adopt Israel's culture, adopt
Israel's style of worship, adopt
Israel's way of life. Essentially,
you're going to become a Jew, and when
you become a Jew, live in Jerusalem,
then you're going to be blessed, right?
That was their mentality. That was the
redemptive framework that they had,
right? That's how you're going to be
blessed.
But exile shattered that framework. It
shattered that perspective. Now God was
not drawing the nations to Israel.
Now God was sending Israel to the
nations.
And as they were sent to the nations,
they were called to be a blessing.
Israel now was called to be a an agent
of God's blessings within a foreign,
secular, even hostile society. again.
Doesn't that sound familiar?
Doesn't that sound familiar?
That we are not
the method of being a blessing to the
world is not by getting all the world to
come and flock to the to this church. Is
it right? That's that's one way they can
be blessed. But we are called sent out
into the world, out into your
workplaces, out into your communities,
out into your families, out into your
schools, out into your communities.
We're sent out
to be a blessing. That's exactly what
Israel was called to do here. That's
exactly what we're called to do as well.
And God tells them this blessing would
take shape in two concrete ways.
Firstly, you're going to work for peace.
You're going to work for peace. build
houses, settle down, plant gardens, eat
what they produce. For Israel, what
would have that looked like? It would
literally have looked like this. Plant
gardens, be a blessing to community,
contribute to their economy, increase
their be a blessing to your community.
Literally, physically, tangibly, be a
blessing. Right? It meant working for
the betterment and prosperity of
Babylon. It meant dedicating their lives
to see Babylon
filled with people that they held as
enemies thrive and prosper
in every way. That's what it meant. Then
it meant interceding for peace, praying
for peace. Pray to the Lord for this
city.
Israel was called to be a kingdom of
priests. The entire kingdom was meant to
be an an uh they were meant to function
as the intercession the intermediaries
between the nations and God right and
originally they were meant to be a
beacon of light a lighthouse for the
nations to see the glory of God and
still that's true to this day I mean
here
but now instead of saying God I pray for
the peace of Jerusalem as you prosper
Jerusalem let all nations flock to it
now
God, I'm going to I'm going to act as a
as a priest here and pray to you on
behalf of these people that do not know
you, that do not believe in you, that
are far from you, that are enemies of
you. I'm going to pray for their peace.
I'm going to pray for their prosperity.
I'm going to pray that they will succeed
for when they were at peace, when the
communities are at peace, when the
cities are at peace, they would be at
peace, too.
So, Israel's not called to withdraw or
assimilate, but something completely
different. Now, there's a couple of ways
that there a couple of ways that
Christians
think about engaging with society. I'm
going to paint two extremes for you,
okay? These are extremes. One extreme is
complete withdrawal from society,
disengagement from society. One extreme
is to think, well, I'm just going to
withdraw from society. I'm completely
completely disengaged from every c from
all of culture, right? Because it's all
evil. It's all evil. It's all of the
devil and and and it's all going off in
flames anyway. I'm going to I'm just
going to secretly work to get as many
people to Christ as possible and we're
just all going to go go home, right?
When when when the end comes. Okay. So
maybe I'll go into a monastery or I'll
go or just completely disengage, right?
Complete withdrawal.
That's one extreme. The other extreme is
complete assimilation.
I reckon if we have a problem with any
of these extremes is probably this one.
Okay, complete assimilation. When we see
when we hear, hey, marry, plant gardens,
give your daughters in marriage, give
find wife to your sons. Some Israelites
were going easy. You You're telling me I
just need to do nothing. I just need to
live. Great. And one way Christians can
see this is you're just telling me I
just got to live and prosper in society,
get rich, build a big family.
That's great. I just work hard.
Fantastic. Complete
assimilation.
And we may think, look, it's not that
I'm giving up. It's not I'm giving up my
faith. is that you know this is how I
engage with culture as I become like
them I become a bridge for them right
that's how I become relatable to them
you know the Israelites that did this
there were some Israelites that did this
they never returned back to Jerusalem
when the time came
when 70 years were over Babylon fell
Persia came to power and God moved in
that ruler's heart to send his the
people of Israel back. Not all Jews went
back
because they were Babylonians. They
weren't Jews anymore. They forgot that
they were the people of God. They are
now completely Babylonian. You know when
we in an effort to
to gain acceptance with culture
oftentimes we'll be end up being shaped
by the culture and losing our identity
as people of God. Instead of shaping the
culture the culture will shape us.
Instead of influencing the city we will
slowly be absorbed by it. The command
here is not complete assimilation.
The command here is not don't become
Babylonian. That is not the command here
by God. Right? They were not to worship
Babylon Babylon's gods. They were not to
adopt Babylon's values nor forget their
common identity as a people of God.
Israel was actually commanded to neither
these approaches. Not withdrawal,
not complete assimilation. They were
called to something completely other.
And just like Israel, we are called to
something completely different. That is
not withdrawal nor assimilation. And I
think first Thessalonians chapter 4, I
know New Testament passage, but first
Thessalonians chapter 4 describes this
quite well. I think sums up what Israel
and the church are meant to do instead.
First Thessalonians 4 11-12, make it
your ambition to lead a quiet life.
You should mind your own business and
work with your hands just as we told
you.
So, so that your daily life may win the
respect of outsiders and so that you
will not be dependent on anybody.
Live a quiet life.
Live a quiet life. You know, we may
think, "No, no, Christian life is not
meant to be quiet. It's meant to be
loud. It's meant explosive fire,
flaming fire." Right. Right. That's why
we're meant to be. A city on a hill.
Right. Right. That's what we're meant to
be. So, we're meant to supernaturally
heal the sick. Just go around laying
hands on people. People just getting
healed. Fire. That's what we're meant to
do, right? We think that we're just
meant to be preaching the gospel to
every single person. Just going, "Do you
know John 3:16? Do you know John 3:16?
That's how we meant to save the world,
right? Go loud or go home." Right? We
think it's about serving in ministry.
You're not serving in ministry, you're
not serving God, right? We think that.
We can think that. That's not what First
Thessalonians 4 says. And that is not
what Jeremiah 29 says either. Because
the equivalent would be, right?
Imagine if God told Israel, "Okay,
here's what you're going to do, right?
In Babylon, I want you to secretly build
me a temple." So, every now and then,
you're just going to carry a stone. Just
going to plunk it here and just walk
away. Right? And after a while, if each
of you faithfully carries a stone, plung
it here. After a while, oh, there's the
temple. Here's the temple, Lord God. And
this is going to be a beacon of worship
to Yahweh God. And this is going to be
an influence. We're going to politically
and socially and spiritually influence
the nation for that way.
God didn't tell them to do that, right?
He told them just live
in that community and be a blessing
there.
Be a blessing practically
also spiritually. Pray for them. Pray
that they'll succeed. Pray that they'll
be blessed.
That means really being a Christian that
brings the peace of God that redeems
lives and communities is not just about
doing these overtly spiritual things.
but about simply being a good
contributor to society.
Be a blessing to people. Don't be a
menace.
Don't be a burden to society. Can you do
that? Let's not be a burden to society.
Work to make people's lives better. So,
for example, if you're studying, seeking
for peace means being a diligent,
honest, humble student.
It means not cutting corners, not
cheating. It means even maybe thinking
about your future and what you're going
to do. Consider careers that not just
about accumulating wealth, but about how
can I bless others. How can I use my
career and my job to be a blessing to
the community in some way, right? What
businesses I know there's an
entrepreneurial spirit that is now in
the next generation. What businesses can
I do to not just build my influence but
bolster the communities around me?
So now your classroom right is not just
for you to grow in your knowledge to get
ahead in life. It's a preparation to be
a blessing to the society.
If you're a parent, what does seeking
the peace mean? Seeking for peace means
raising children who love God, love
people, serve others.
It means not raising brats,
right? Training them, disciplining them,
raising them in the fear of the Lord
means forming them into future citizens
of God's kingdom who will be a blessing
to the world rather than a burden on it.
And your home, our home is the hub
becomes the hub of peacemaking where the
shalom peace of God can be cultivated.
Working. If you're working, seeking for
peace means doing your work with
excellence and integrity.
Means being the kind of employee,
manager, leader who makes the workplace
a better place. So now your Monday to
Friday or whenever you work, right, is a
time when you're not just earning a
salary, you're not just earning a
paycheck, you are contributing
to society,
whether to the economy, that's great, or
whether it is just your being there as
an an encouragement to your colleagues,
to your managers.
But I can't forget the retirees.
If you're retired, and I know there's a
lot of you here, you're retired. You
made it. You've made it. You've done.
Work is over, isn't it? You're done,
right? You're done. But seeking for
peace means using your time,
your wisdom, your experience
to bless others. And I can humbly
suggest it means mentoring, serving,
praying, and investing in the next
generation.
Retirement is not a withdrawal from
purpose.
It's redeployment
for a different purpose.
You can still seek for peace even in the
season of retirement.
You see, the amazing thing about
Jeremiah 29 and 1 Thessalonians chapter
4 is that I'm not taking anything away
from this spiritual stuff, from this
overtly spiritual things like um praying
for miracles, seeing the sick healed,
evangelizing, mission work, and all that
stuff. Those stuff is necessary and
good, but I think we often
look down on the normal and ordinary.
your Monday to Friday. What can God do
with that? Simply by showing up at your
work on time, by being a good citizen of
this country, you can be a blessing.
That is what God's people are called to
do. That's part of what it means to be
called to peace.
So, how do we live like this? How did
Israel
live like this? Well, they had a hope in
redemption. Remember, this was not an
easy thing for many of the Israelites to
do.
Working for a foreign nation, praying
for its peace and prosperity was not an
easy thing to do, but it was anchored
upon this hope in redemption. This was
the theological anchor that they held on
to. Verse 10 to 11, this is what the
Lord says. When the 70 years are
completed for Babylon, I will come to
you and fulfill my good promise to bring
you back to this place. For I know the
plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not to harm
you. Plans to give you hope and a
future.
Okay. Corporately, all of God's people,
church, are all in a season of waiting.
We are all exiles in this world. This is
not really our home. Things aren't as
they should be. Things are not as they
should be. We are under foreign powers
that exert their influence over us
leading to suffering, sickness, death.
This is not how things should be, right?
This is not all peaceful. And so we are
all corporately in this age where we are
waiting to return back to our home where
we will experience true peace, complete
peace. And this is the hope that all
Christians have. Titus chapter 2:13,
while we wait for the blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God
and Savior Jesus Christ. And this is
hope in Christ's return when he
completely restores us and bring us back
home. That it can that empowers us to be
both in the world yet not of it. To be
immersed in the world yet distinct from
it. However, however, God's redemptive
plan is not just found
when we are taken out of the world when
Christ returns.
It starts right now where we are placed.
God's redemption is through you being a
vessel of his peace and his wholeness
and his healing and his flourishing
where he has placed you right now. Not
just when he's going to bring you back
home. That's not just the promise of
restoration then. Promise of restoration
is now. The promise of restoration of
for redemption is right now through you
being a vessel of that redemptive power
to the place to the communities that you
are placed in now. God's promise to
restore Israel was not just looking
ahead to when they returned back to
Jerusalem. All right, but also the
redemption and blessing they would
experience in Babylon as they worked and
interceded for its peace and prosperity.
In the same way, God's blessing of
restoration is not just found in our
future when Christ returns and make all
things new. It is found even now in the
little pockets of redemption that flow
through us when we seek the peace and
prosperity of our communities,
workspaces, and relationships.
So this is the key thing that I want to
end with
is that the season of exile that Israel
experienced was not a mistake
nor was it just a punishment from God.
It was an assignment from God.
In Jeremiah 29:7 in the ESV version, it
says, "But seek the peace of the welfare
of the city where I have sent you into
exile.
I have sent you there. I have sent you
there." This time in exile was not a
mistake. It was an assignment by God.
Israel had been sent by God to Babylon
to both redeem them, Israel, and to
redeem Babylon as well.
There was a there was a redemptive work
that God was doing in Israel in this
time of exile but also through Israel.
They were sent to be a blessing even in
exile. And in the same way, there is a
redemptive work that God is doing in
your life and through your life in the
season that he has placed you in right
now.
I want to speak
to those of you who may feel that
you're in this season of exile in a very
real way. It's a very personal thing for
you. Not just corporately, we are all in
the season of exile, but personally, you
feel like you're in this season of exile
where you're waiting until the season is
over and then you can really make a
spiritual impact for God. Like maybe the
job that you're in right now, you just
cannot see how God can use this for his
glory. Maybe in the season that you're
in right now, maybe you're studying and
you're going, I'm just doing exams and
assignments. How is this making any
impact for God? Your heart is just, I
just want to do something great for God.
I want to be a burning flame for him.
Right? Maybe you're a stayhome parent.
Maybe in this season you're a stay home
parent, right? Well, how can I? I have
no time. I have no time. How can I be a
blessing to anyone right now?
And you're doing all these things, your
job, studying, parenting, or whatever it
is may be, right? You're doing all these
things to the best of your ability, but
you can't see how this is glorifying
God, extending his kingdom.
And it's almost like you feel as though
I'm just waiting until this season is
over and then I'll really step into my
calling and destiny. then things will
really take off. Then I can really be
freed up, released to to really be a
blessing to people, for God.
Maybe you hold this dichotomy in your
mind where
there's a difference, there's a
distinction between what you do Monday
to Friday and what you do on Sunday,
right? There's this is I serve in church
and this is where all my spiritual
impact comes. But Monday to Friday is
just to earn a paycheck or just to do I
need a business as usual, right?
You know that's what I that's the
mentality I held for the longest time
when I was in my previous job, right? Um
so many of you know I worked as an
engineer for a little bit and in that
time
I just felt as though this was all a
waste of time. I felt as though what am
I doing with my life? Monday to Friday,
I'm just going there looking at Excel
sheets, documents, drawing lines. That's
all I'm doing. It's not doing anything
for God. Not doing anything for his
kingdom. And so really, my life was
divided into two sections. There's my
work life that's just I'm just waiting
for it to be over. And then there's my
church life where it's I'm serving in
church. I'm a connect group leader. I'm
doing all this stuff. I'm a volunteer
and this is where I'm doing all my
spiritual stuff. This is where all the
spiritual impact is coming from. Right?
And so really I saw, you know, my
business you my Monday to Friday as this
is just in the way. I'm just trying to
get through it. And I pray to God, God,
get me out of this time. get me out of
here so that I can be released to do
more of this stuff, to do more of this
stuff.
But that's quite the opposite of what
Jeremiah 29 is telling Israel. That's
quite the opposite of what First
Thessalonians chapter 4 is telling the
people of God.
Serving God didn't have to wait until
you get back to Jerusalem.
Right? Israel is not told, "Wait for 70
years and then you can serve me. wait
for seven years, then you can be a
blessing. No, you can be a blessing
right now. You can be a blessing right
now. I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord.
Yeah. Not just future plans, not just
plans after seven years are over.
His plans are for you right now in
exile. Right now is part of his plan.
This exile is part of his plan. This
season that you're in is part of his
plan.
What are you going to do with it?
You are called to bring be a blessing to
bring the peace of God. Not just on
Sunday, not just at your connect group,
not just when you volunteer, not just
when you're on your mission trip,
but tomorrow as well. Tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
And I'm not saying that it necessarily
needs to look like right
storming into your workplace and just
starting to preach.
That's not what Israel was called to do.
Israel is not called to start a
revolution. That's not what they were
called to do. They were called to
just pray
for the people of your city. Just work
to see their lives better in your
workplace. What if you turned up and
started on your way to work just prayed
for your company, pray for your boss,
pray for your manager, pray for your
colleagues? What if you just worked
hard? Just work hard. You just want me
to work hard. Yes, just work hard. Turn
up on time and work hard. That's it.
Start with what you have. Because I
think what many of us forget is that God
can do a lot with very little.
God can do a lot with very little. And
God specializes in using very ordinary
things for extraordinary purposes. He
does it all the time. We look down on
the ordinary. We look down on the
normal. We look down on the mundane. But
God specializes in using those things
for his glory. Moses only had a staff in
his hand. It's just a wooden stick, but
God used it to perform miracles and set
his people free.
A young boy had five loaves and two
fish.
That's nothing. It's just food. But God
used it to feed thousands
of people that day for a miracle. David
had five stones in his sling. God needed
only one to kill the giant Goliath.
What do you have in your hand? What do
you have in your season of life right
now? I have nothing. No, you have
something.
You have something. Well, I have no
gifts to offer God. Well, don't worry.
It's fine. Do you have a job? Start
there.
Do you have your family? Start there. Do
you have friends? Start there. Be a good
friend. Be a good friend. And if you
think I'm being very like I'm telling
you things that are common sense,
I actually think
we forget how God can use these common
things for his glory.
Just by being a good employee, a good
parent, a loving spouse,
a good student. Hey students,
why don't this year
you turn up for your lectures?
I know, waste of time, right? I get it.
I get it. But hey, as someone who
attended all his lectures, let me tell
you. No,
but seriously, when when
your lectures, if you attend them right,
you're actually having to go to uni.
You're having to walk through the
campus. You're having to meet people
that you don't know.
You may actually find out some
interesting things about your
classmates.
Why don't you use that time as you walk
through the campus to pray for the
campus?
This season that you're in is not just a
waiting time. It's not just a transition
time until you get to work.
It's a time when you are placed there by
God to do a redemptive work in that
space.
What can God do with your ordinary? A
lot. You know, I'm reminded I'm I think
I've shared this before, but I'm
reminded of um you know, my wife, she
came here when she was for for to study
um for college uni. She w she wasn't a
Christian back then. Um but she became a
Christian and then slowly one by one um
her siblings became Christians as well.
And her her parents, man, they're lovely
people. They were totally totally fine
with it. They were not really against
her becoming Christian, but they didn't
really understand it, right? They didn't
really get it, right? And when she
started serving in church more, they
were like, "Shouldn't you be studying?
That's okay. As long as you don't fail,
we're cool." And then when she started
going for camps, like this is a lot of
money. 100 bucks for just spend time
with friends. Oh, I don't know about
that. But they were cool with it, right?
But they didn't really get it. They
didn't come become Christian for many,
many, many years.
And it's not like my wife nor her
siblings were like Bible bashing her the
parents, right? They weren't like
hardcore evangelists. Nor did they have
all the answers of the Bible. Nor did
they engage in hardcore apologetics
answering all their questions of the
faith. No, none of that actually was the
reason why their parents, my in-laws,
eventually came to faith and they are
Christian right now. The reason why they
came to faith and this is when what I
asked them, right? What what what
brought you that what what got you
interested? They me they said this is
what they said.
was they said that they looked at their
children's lives. They saw the friends
they had saw the jobs they had. They saw
the life that they had here
and they compared it to other friends
and families and nieces and nephews and
all that stuff and you know and I'm like
there's something different about this.
There's no drama here. There are no
issues here. It's just a quiet life in
the best possible way. You get what I
mean? is dramaree.
Their dramafree life is what drew them
into the kingdom.
Okay, it wasn't it wasn't their biblical
knowledge nor supernatural encounter. I
mean that came after, right? But it was
started with this quiet life that won
the respect their respect. How powerful
that can be. How powerful that can be
when we simply live this quiet
life
as a church. The one call I want to make
today is
for those who want God to use your
Monday to Friday, your business as
usual, your studies, your school,
your parenting, whatever it may be, for
his redemptive purpose. You want him to
shape that and bring extraordinary
extraordinary things into out of your
ordinary circumstances.
And so, um, can we all stand? Can we all
stand?
And if that's you, if you
are looking forward to Monday and going,
it's just a going back to my job again.
School's starting, going to have school
again soon, right? You're looking at
that business as usual. You're going,
"What can God do with this?" But you're
believing, you know what? I can start
with this. I can start with my job. I
can start with my family. I can start
with my friends. You want God to redeem
that and use it for his redemptive
purposes. If that's you, as I pray, can
you just raise your hands and offer your
Monday to Friday to him? Offer it to him
and let's see what God can do with that.
Just offer, raise your hands as a sign
of surrender, as a sign of submission to
offer it to the Lord as a sacrifice to
him to see what he can do with your
ordinary.
Let me pray for you. Lord,
thank you for our jobs. Thank you for
our families. Thank you for our friends.
Thank you for um our studies. Thank you
for everything that you have given us.
Thank you for your the gifts, talents,
or whatever it is. Thank you for the
season that you have placed us in.
Whether it's good, bad, whether we like
it or not, thank you for it.
Lord, I pray, oh God, that you would use
it for redemptive purposes.
I pray, oh Lord, that as I if I look at
our lives, do we have much? Even if we
have very little, Lord, we pray, oh God,
I pray, oh Lord, that you will use it
to be a blessing to others. Show us, oh
Lord, move in us, Holy Spirit, even now
bring to mind and rest it in our heart.
Convict us, oh Lord, of what you want us
to do. Whether it's just I need to be a
diligent worker, then let's be the best
employee we can be. If it's just be a
good friend, let's be the best friend we
can be. If it's just to be a good
parent, let's be the best parent we can
be.
Lord, I pray, oh God, that as we live
this quiet life, as we be a blessing, as
we seek the peace of the season that
we're in, of the place that we're in,
may we see your redemptive work flow
through us through the power of your
spirit. So may we go now in the
love of the father, the peace of his
son, Lord Jesus, and the power and
presence of the Holy Spirit in Jesus
name. Amen.
>> Amen. And God bless you church. We'll
see you next week.