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Living Stones Church, Red Deer, Alberta - March 26, 2023 - Chosen and not Rejected (A Word of Restoration in a Time of Discipline) - Pastor Paul Vallee

March 26, 2023 - Chosen and not Rejected (A Word of Restoration in a Time of Discipline) - Pastor Paul Vallee

06/21/23 • 57 min

Living Stones Church, Red Deer, Alberta

Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah Series

Sin shatters our sense of self-identity. What others do to us, what we do to others, and finally, what we do to ourselves distorts the image of God in our lives. Sin, followed by failure, loss, rejection and abandonment, causes us to wonder who we are and where God is in the equation. The exile shattered the nation of Israel. The questions that came to the surface in their minds were: Are we still God’s chosen people, or are we rejected? To this issue, God wanted to reassure His people that they were not rejected but that a transformation was about to occur in their hearts that would change everything. When God wants to reassure people of what He is about to do, He speaks again. Here we see that God is reaffirming to Jeremiah what He is about to do, so we see that God’s word came to Jeremiah again.

Jeremiah 33:1-3: While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The hidden things God will reveal to Jeremiah are yet to come. They lie in the future. So, what is God about to do? How should we respond to the future God has planned for us? Is there any response we should have when God makes promises to us? Matthew Henry, the puritan devotional writer, says: “Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer.”5 We need to act on God’s promises by praying they will be enacted in our lives. God makes promises for a brighter tomorrow. God begins in the nations painful present to encourage a better day ahead. We discover what God reveals to His servant and messenger, Jeremiah, a message of hope and future blessings. So, what was God revealing?

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Jeremiah 33, Jeremiah Series

Sin shatters our sense of self-identity. What others do to us, what we do to others, and finally, what we do to ourselves distorts the image of God in our lives. Sin, followed by failure, loss, rejection and abandonment, causes us to wonder who we are and where God is in the equation. The exile shattered the nation of Israel. The questions that came to the surface in their minds were: Are we still God’s chosen people, or are we rejected? To this issue, God wanted to reassure His people that they were not rejected but that a transformation was about to occur in their hearts that would change everything. When God wants to reassure people of what He is about to do, He speaks again. Here we see that God is reaffirming to Jeremiah what He is about to do, so we see that God’s word came to Jeremiah again.

Jeremiah 33:1-3: While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

The hidden things God will reveal to Jeremiah are yet to come. They lie in the future. So, what is God about to do? How should we respond to the future God has planned for us? Is there any response we should have when God makes promises to us? Matthew Henry, the puritan devotional writer, says: “Promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer.”5 We need to act on God’s promises by praying they will be enacted in our lives. God makes promises for a brighter tomorrow. God begins in the nations painful present to encourage a better day ahead. We discover what God reveals to His servant and messenger, Jeremiah, a message of hope and future blessings. So, what was God revealing?

Previous Episode

undefined - March 19, 2023 - When Everything is Darkest, a New Day will Dawn - Pastor Paul Vallee

March 19, 2023 - When Everything is Darkest, a New Day will Dawn - Pastor Paul Vallee

Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah Series

One of the most quoted texts of Scripture is Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Yet, we can struggle with this idea, especially when everything we see, hear and experience difficulties, pain, and loss; it seems God is telling us to trust Him in that season of darkness. Jeremiah had been prophesying God’s upcoming message of disaster upon the nation for years, and now it was taking place. The Babylonians were outside the city walls with their siege ramps. Jeremiah is a prisoner in the king’s prison. His words were seen as unpatriotic or, worse treasonous. F. B. Huey states: “Jeremiah probably was kept under arrest because his calls for surrender were demoralizing the will of the people to resist the enemy.”

Then God says something so unexpected that it causes Jeremiah to wonder what it means. He needed a word of reassurance. While imprisoned, he is told that his uncle is coming to sell a piece of property, and Jeremiah is to buy it. God is giving a prophetic picture to reassure the people that they will return to the land one day.

Next Episode

undefined - April 2, 2023 - The Impact of Understanding Jesus' Identity and Authority - Pastor Paul Vallee

April 2, 2023 - The Impact of Understanding Jesus' Identity and Authority - Pastor Paul Vallee

Mark 11

There has never been more information poured into our lives than now. But what is actual reality and truth, and what is fiction? What do you believe? And why do you believe it? What we think shapes our decisions, ultimately affecting what we do and how we do it. Jesus, in talking to his disciples after they had witnessed many miracles and listened to Jesus explain many things, asked the most critical question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ The answer to that question shapes a person’s life. Yet, that question needs to be understood in light of His authority and our response to that authority. If we believe Jesus is who He has revealed Himself to be, it will affect who we are, who we will become, and ultimately where we will spend eternity.

It’s interesting reading the gospel writers explaining the various moments in the life of Jesus. One of the more moving accounts is in the final days of Jesus’ life as He enters Jerusalem, which the church celebrates as Palm Sunday because of the Palm branches placed before Jesus as He rode into the city. Matthew described the event this way in Matthew 21:10: “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’”

Luke also reported that the city was stirred, and the term used there is where we get our term “seismic.” There is a sense from both of these writers of the amazing excitement and anticipation that Jesus was about to do something significant.

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