Seek the Prosperity of the City

In one paragraph

Pastor John opened the service by reflecting on fourteen years of ministry at First B, and on helping a new family move to the area, before turning to the passage that a missionary had preached on the very first Sunday John sat in this church. The message was built around Jeremiah 29 and what God told the Israelites to do while they were in exile in Babylon. The nostalgic prologue was intentional....

Read together

1. Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount commanding love for enemies and prayer for persecutors, used as New Testament parallel to the Old Testament passage
2. Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, used as part of Jeremiah greatest hits introduction
3. Jeremiah 1:8 Do not be afraid of their faces, I am with thee to deliver thee, used to encourage preachers facing a congregation
4. Jeremiah 6:16 Stand at the crossroads, ask for the ancient paths, walk in it and find rest, cited as example of good in the Old Testament tradition
5. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, used frequently in marriage counseling context
6. Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed, save me and I shall be saved, cited as expression of dependence on God alone
7. Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love and drawn you with unfailing kindness, cited alongside note that God's kindness leads to repentance
8. Jeremiah 33:3 Call out to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things, called god's telephone number by a pastor in Mexico
9. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, noted as second most googled Bible verse, the verse the whole sermon builds toward
10. Jeremiah 29:1 The words of the letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the exiles, the primary sermon text introduced as the first message the preacher heard at First B
11. Jeremiah 29:4-7 God commanding exiles to build houses, plant gardens, marry, multiply, and seek the prosperity of the city where they were sent
12. Jeremiah 29:10-13 God promising to visit after seventy years, fulfilling plans for prosperity and hope, and hearing prayer from a whole heart
13. Psalm 137:1-9 By the rivers of Babylon the exiles wept, hung up their harps, refused to sing, and called for retribution against Babylon, used to show the emotional state of the exiles contrasted with God's command to seek the city's prosperity
14. Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable, cited as part of Psalm 137 context
15. Psalm 16:5-8 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, the Lord is my portion, I will not be shaken, read at the close to express gratitude for where God has placed the preacher

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan talked about how Jeremiah served forty years with virtually no results and kept at it anyway. When have you had to keep going with something even when it felt fruitless, and what did that do to your faith?
2. God told the exiles through Jeremiah to build houses, plant gardens, and put down roots in Babylon, the very place they did not want to be. What does it look like practically to put down roots somewhere you did not choose or would not have chosen?
3. Psalm 137 captures the raw anger and grief of the exiles, including the wish for vengeance against their captors. How do you hold that kind of honest, ugly emotion alongside the command to seek the prosperity of the city and pray for its welfare?
4. Pastor Nathan pointed out that God says 'I sent you into exile' even though Nebuchadnezzar was the one doing the conquering. How does holding both of those things together, human responsibility and God's sovereignty, affect the way you look at a hard situation you are in right now?
5. Jeremiah 29:11 is the second most googled Bible verse, but Pastor Nathan put it back inside a letter written to people told they would be in exile for seventy years. Does reading it in that context change what it means to you, and if so, how?