An Opportunity to Shine | Sunday, January 17, 2021

Faithful through the ages, God of Abraham, the God of covenant and faithful promises. Time and time again, You have proven You do just what You say. Though the storms may come and the winds may blow, I will remain steadfast and let my heart learn. When You speak the word, it will come to pass. Great is Your faithfulness to me. Great is Your faithfulness to me. From the rising sun to the setting same, I will praise Your name. Great is Your faithfulness to me.

Seasons change, but You remain the same. God, from age to age, though the earth may pass away, Your word remains the same. Your history can prove there's nothing You can do. You're faithful and true. Though the storms may come and the winds may blow, I will remain steadfast.

Great is Your faithfulness to me. It never runs out. Oh, He'll never let me down. You'll never let me down.

I won't forget the wonder of how You brought deliverance, the exodus of my heart, and You found me.

You found your free. Good morning, Cross Connection Church, and welcome to church online and at home. In just a moment, we are going to cut over to Pastor Anthony and our worship team. They are going to lead us in worship this morning as we prepare our hearts to receive God's word. I believe that God has a special word for each of us today, and I hope that you will stick around with us as we worship the Lord.

Before we do, would you take a moment to share this message online? Text it to some friends or put it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Hopefully, you haven't been cut out of those platforms in the massive purge of 2021. Share this message on social media because the message of God from His word that we are going to be going through this morning is one that God wants to speak to people both near and far from Him. So, send out that link: live.cccchurch.com.

As we prepare to go to Pastor Anthony to worship the Lord, God bless you. We'll be back with you in just a moment with the word of God.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for this day. We thank You, Lord, that You are an awesome God. You are faithful and true, and Lord, You fight for us; You fight our battles. We are so blessed to be able to sing, to praise You, to read Your word, and to hear from You. We ask that You would speak to us and give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us this morning. We bless You and praise You in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

Let's worship. The dog tried to hide, and death tried to keep You inside of the grave.

The enemy fought, but he lost. You cannot be stopped. When we cried for freedom, you tore down the walls. The weight of our burdens, you carried it all. Fears and our failures hang dead on the cross. Oh, you cannot be stopped; you have triumphed over the grave. Sing hallelujah! Nothing can stand against our God.

Miracle maker, your might is safe, awesome in power, relentless in love. Jesus has triumphed. Nothing can stand against our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing, there is nothing, there is nothing that can stop our God.

No, there's nothing that can stop our God. There is none who can be stopped. Sing hallelujah! A battle is won; nothing can stand against our God. Oh, sing hallelujah! Nothing can stand against our God. Thank you, Jesus.

Hey, welcome! Thanks for tuning in to Cross Connection Church. We are glad that we get to bring you church at home today. If you don't know me, hi, I'm Pastor Garrett. Here at Cross Connection Church, we're all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. So, welcome to Cross Connection this morning! I hope you're ready to hear from the Word of God.

But we have a couple of announcements real quick. First of all, part of living life in connection is that we really do value prayer here at Cross Connection Church. We want to be praying with and for you this year, this week, whatever's going on. So, check out prayer.lifeinconnection.com. That's your easy access point to submit your prayer requests to our pastoral team and prayer team, and we'll be praying for you this week.

Again, prayer.lifeinconnection.com—check that out! We really do love you guys, we pray for you all the time, and we see God answer so many prayers through that portal. It's just a very easy way.

For us to know what's going on as your pastors and prayer teams, please check out prayer.life. We would love to hear from you and be praying with and for you.

This week, we are continuing our "On Mission" initiative, which involves asking you to pray for some of our missionaries and the ways we have been reaching out both around the world and locally here in Escondido. This week's focus is on Josh Taranski and his church in Baltimore. Please pray for Josh as a pastor in Baltimore, as he is dealing with many of the same COVID-19 pandemic challenges that we are facing as a church. As a new church plant, we have supported him recently as he established his church, and we continue to do so as Cross Connection Church.

Additionally, please pray for his wife, who has been dealing with some health issues. We ask that God would heal her and give her renewed energy. So, keep the Taranski family in your prayers.

Now, I have a couple of announcements. First of all, tonight we will be meeting, and I want to encourage you to join us on the patio here at Cross Connection Church. We are moving the time from five o'clock to four o'clock to make it easier for families and couples, as it will be lighter and not right in the middle of dinner time. I would love to see you here at four o'clock. Just remember, it’s four o'clock, not five o'clock tonight.

Secondly, if you have been faithfully giving to Cross Connection Church, thank you! We will be emailing out your tithe reports for 2020 tomorrow, Monday. Please check your email. If you don’t see an email from us and you have been giving, check your spam folder. If you do not open that email or the link to print it out at home, we will know on our end that you haven’t opened it, and we will mail you your tithe report without you having to request it. So, if you need that report, don’t worry; it is coming. Just check your email and your spam folder tomorrow.

With that, we are going to go back to Pastor Anthony, who will lead us in a song of worship and praise. As we worship the Lord with our giving, this is for those of you who call Cross Connection Church your home church. You can give in a couple of different ways: first, you can text 84321 on your cell phone; second, you can go to give.lifeinconnection.com; and third, you can simply mail in your tithe offering to the church address.

1675 Seven Oaks Road is here in Escondido. You can also bring it, of course, on Sunday nights. We have our little Agape box out there by the stage.

God bless you guys! I hope to see you tonight at four o'clock. If not, we'll see you next week.

His grace is there. There’s a place. I am. I am.

I am in my Father's house. There is a place in God. Yes, I am. Lord, we do believe that our identity is found in You, found in Jesus, and we're so grateful for that. So, Lord, would You bless our time in Your Word now, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

This last week, a picture came to my mind that, in some ways, helped me to frame what I have been feeling for some time now. For the last eleven months or so, as we have been walking through this truly strange corporate experience, I have had a low-level anxiety that is a result of a general frustration. The picture that came to my mind helped me understand it a little bit better, so let me try to explain what I mean by all this. I think it will become clear as I share with you exactly what this image has been for me.

Every one of us has had this experience: imagine for a moment that it is the afternoon, and you are trying to get somewhere. You need to get across town, but you are caught in afternoon traffic. It feels as though every stoplight you get to...

You are on the tail end of yellow and just switching to red. If you can imagine that picture a little bit, you might even feel the physical indicators in your body of stress and anxiety. You can feel the blood pressure increase; there is that blood pressure increase and heightened anxiety, along with low-level stress, because you need to get somewhere. Every single light that you come to is turning red.

When you are in that situation, you experience that kind of low-level anxiety. You may not typically be an anxious person; I would not consider myself a typically anxious person. However, in that situation, you can feel it build. Even if you're not generally an anxious person, when I use that word "anxiety," you might think, "Well, that's not really who I am." But we've all experienced the situation I'm describing. You can feel the weight of stress, knowing you need to get somewhere while everything seems to be keeping you from your destination.

At that moment, the specific destination doesn't even really matter; you're just trying to get somewhere, but you're being hindered by traffic and traffic lights. Honestly, one of the challenges of presenting my messages in this way and in this format is that when I'm gathered with a group and I share, "Hey, imagine this," I can see your reactions. I can see people shift in their seats, but I can't see that here on video. This whole format is even challenging, and it kind of adds to that level of frustration.

So, imagine yourself in that moment. It's the afternoon, you're trying to get somewhere, and everything seems to be standing in the way. Your frustration and anxiety are building to the point that you are on the verge of boiling over. Your internal frustrations, anxiety, and stress are about to erupt into external demonstrations of anger. Just as that moment arrives, someone...

That isn't in near as much of a hurry as you are pulls into your lane, and you could have made that green light right in front of you. But now it's yellow, and the frustration has become complete anger. It leaks out into a verbal form, and you verbalize your anger with a sigh. You're just frustrated, and then your anger is not only verbal but now it becomes physical as you kind of smash the steering wheel in front of you.

I know that you've had this experience before. If you're a driver, if you've ever tried to get anywhere, you've had this experience. I have had this experience; in fact, I would say I've had this experience probably multiple times in the last 30 days. This image is the picture that came to my mind this last Sunday afternoon.

Like many of you, I got up last Sunday morning, and instead of doing what I feel like I, as the lead preaching senior pastor of a local church, am supposed to do on a Sunday morning, I got up and went downstairs in my sweats and pajamas. I sat on the couch with my kids and my wife. My mom actually came over, and I watched the service online, like maybe you did last week or like you might be doing this week.

I can't even express to you how much of a frustration that is for me. Every Sunday, I go through this, whether I'm watching Pastor Garrett preach online, like he did last week, or I'm watching myself preach online. I might be doing this morning again, which is kind of weird. I have that feeling that this is not where I'm supposed to be right now, and I'm trying to get back to somewhere where I'm supposed to be. But there are red light after red light, so I can't even fully express the frustration of what that is for me. It feels like trying to get somewhere and being stuck behind a slow driver in afternoon traffic, watching every light in front of you turn red. The rational portion of my brain is trying to remind myself to take a deep breath so that I can perhaps calm the lower portion of my brain.

Down a little bit, everything of the last ten or eleven months feels as though we are stuck in traffic, trying to get somewhere. Polling suggests that I'm not the only one feeling this way. Many people throughout our society have acknowledged a heightened level of stress and anxiety, even those who wouldn't generally consider themselves to be anxious or stressed. All the things that have been going on in our culture have contributed to this heightened level of stress and anxiety for these many months.

It's a challenge to have that cumulative stress over time. You're stuck at red light after red light, behind a slow driver, trying to get somewhere in the late afternoon before the destination you're trying to reach closes, and you miss a deadline. That's the picture that has been in my mind, and this has been our continuous experience for at least ten months. With each new compounding event, it's as if there's another slow driver and another red light.

Two weeks to slow the spread flows into two more weeks of shutdown, and it's another red light. No toilet paper—another red light. Mask mandates—another red light. George Floyd—red light. Protests, riots, Black Lives Matter, wildfires, political campaigns—red light, red light, red light. Election day, election uncertainty, stay-at-home orders through Thanksgiving, stay-at-home orders through Christmas, the Georgia election—red light, red light, red light. January 6th in Washington, D.C.—that's not just a red light; that's like a road closure and detour.

A year ago, I began teaching through the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. Admittedly, I have not gotten nearly as far through the book as I expected I would be by this point. In my defense, the last year has been anything but typical. I was thinking about Deuteronomy this last week, and the children of Israel, along with Moses, the leader of the children of Israel through those wilderness wanderings. Their wilderness wanderings were basically...

After 38 years of stop-and-go traffic, red light after red light, Moses had some steering wheel outbursts along the way. Moses wasn't perfect, and neither are we. At the end of 2019, I shared publicly on a number of occasions that I thought the year 2020 would be a year of chaos, and it certainly was. When you throw something like that out and then it happens, people start to ask you, "Okay, what do you think is going to happen next, Pastor?"

That has been one of the questions I've been getting a lot in the last month or six weeks. I said in 2019 that 2020 would be a year of chaos, and it turns out that it was. So, people are asking, "What's your word for this coming year, 2021?"

Let me begin by saying that I am not a prophet, not in the sense that I believe I can tell the future. However, sometimes it is relatively easy to see how certain things are converging and what the potential outcomes are going to be from this convergence. You can see that there's going to be a collision because this is happening.

In fact, there are a whole bunch of videos online from dash cam footage in Teslas. All of you who have been a part of Cross Connection Church for a little while know that I kind of like Teslas. There are these dash cam videos from Teslas where the car avoids an accident or alerts a driver just a fraction of a second before the accident happens. You can hear the alarm, and the car beeps at the person that there's going to be a problem. Then, a fraction of a second later, the accident happens.

Some people are amazed by the apparent supernatural prescience of the car, that it is able to predict these things. But really, what is happening is that the car's computer control system, with sonar, radar, and all the video information from about eight cameras around the car, is able to predict, by just physics, what is about to happen. That is kind of what I was doing as I looked at 2019; I could just see the convergence of a number of things, most specifically that it was going to be a presidential campaign season.

All you had to do was look back in history to see that the lead-up to President Trump's election in 2016 was chaotic. If you go back even further, 2012 was chaotic, and before that, 2008 was chaotic as well. You don't have to be a prophet to figure out what is coming. So, to say at the end of 2019 that 2020 was going to be a chaotic year was simply observing the cultural trends.

I'm not a prophet, but I will tell you this: we live in a broken and chaotic world. By saying that, I am not sharing anything with you that you don't already know. You have been impacted by the brokenness and chaos of this world many times, even before 2020 and before COVID-19. The current conditions of the world suggest that chaos isn't really letting up. We are stuck in traffic, and there is an anxiety that comes with that. You feel it, and I do as well.

I remember a few months ago when my kids were talking with me about 2001 and the terrorist attacks on September 11. They wanted to know what that was like, and it’s strange to realize that they have no knowledge of it. Our oldest was born in 2008, so he is far removed from that experience. However, you may remember that after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, there was a general feeling of anxiety and uncertainty about what was next. You probably feel that right now, and that is the current climate we are living in.

Given this reality, I have been trying to figure out how best to respond—as an individual, as a follower of God, as a husband, a father, a pastor, a leader, and simply as a friend or neighbor. I have had a number of people text me, email me, or ask me in person if I have a word for 2021. I can tell that many of those asking have been hoping for a more positive word than chaos.

Understandably so, I think that makes all the sense in the world. People want some level of optimism as they look to the future. I was appreciative that Pastor Mark shared a message a couple of weeks ago. He brought up one of our core values, which you can find in the beliefs section of our website, lifeinconnection.com. The first thing we have there is that we want everything we do to be done with joy because we have an optimistic vision of the future.

It is so important that Christians recognize and understand that we have this optimistic vision. That vision has Christ seated on the throne, ruling and reigning forever, and us ruling and reigning with Him in a reign of righteousness where there is no sorrow, pain, suffering, or sickness. None of that exists in this vision. So, we have an optimistic outlook for the future. However, in the short term, people want to know what sort of optimistic word we have.

As this is my first message of the new year, I guess it is as good a time as any to share with you the impression I have had as we find ourselves at another stoplight here at the beginning of 2020. When I say I have an impression, I am not claiming that this is a word from the Lord, as in "thus saith the Lord." Rather, this is the impression I have received while praying, reading the Scriptures, interacting with people, and listening to other Bible teachings or news. The impression that keeps coming to me is this: I don’t have just one word to share; I actually have two words.

If I shared that the word coming into 2020 was chaos, I have a couple of things that have been impressed upon me as we sit here on the 17th of January 2021. Normally, when I have an impression of a word, phrase, picture, verse, or passage, it gets confirmed repeatedly to me in various ways. That is what has been happening, as I mentioned, through reading and interacting with people.

On December 4th, 2019, I was at a gathering, a missions gathering focused on finishing the mission of carrying the gospel to the world, just as Jesus commissioned us to do just before He ascended into heaven: "Go into all the world, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit."

I was at a missions gathering at Saddleback Church in Orange County, and Pastor Rick Warren shared a message on that mission as Christians. In his message, he made a statement that resonated with me. I often have an impression of a word while reading my devotions, and then it gets confirmed. This is what happened on December 4th, 2019. I have it written down in a little notebook that I carry with me.

During the conference, Pastor Rick Warren shared a comment in his message: "Wherever there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to move." I was already thinking and seeing that 2020 was going to be a year of chaos and that it would be a challenging year. When Pastor Rick made that statement, it really caught my attention, so I wrote it down.

2020 ended up being a year of chaos, and as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, the conditions of our world have not really changed. The brokenness and chaos are going to continue, and we are stuck in that traffic I mentioned earlier.

So, what then? Wherever there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to move. If you are one who takes notes, that might be worth writing down. You could even put it on a little card that you will see in your bathroom in the morning. Tape it to your mirror, put it on the table next to your bed, or use it as a bookmark in whatever book you are reading or in the Bible.

I think this is so important because when there is conflict in our lives, whether personally or individually, or when there is chaos around us, we can fall into a pessimistic, repetitious cycle. We start looking for the next bad thing that is going to come at us. What I want to emphasize here is that when there is conflict and when there is chaos, God is getting ready to move. We should be asking, "Lord, what are you doing? What do you want me to be aware of?" I have kept that in my mind.

For more than a year, we have seen conflict and chaos at nearly every level. We have witnessed conflict and chaos in the news media, in politics, in market volatility, in law enforcement, in race relations, in the tech sector, in medicine, and even within our families. This turmoil has affected our relationships with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. However, wherever there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to move.

This is key. If this is true, and if you believe it to be true, then when you see that conflict and chaos, you should immediately start to say, "All right, the Lord is doing something." You might consider asking those questions: "God, what is it that you are doing? And not only that, God, what is it that you would have me do in this situation?" I think that is really important. I know it is important for me, and I believe it is important for anyone listening to this message. God wants us to respond to the things happening around us and in our world in a proper way. How shall we then live in light of all the things that we are seeing?

Let me tell you what I know God does not want me to be doing when I am in the traffic jam of conflict and chaos. He doesn't want me to be losing my cool and spiraling into stress and anxiety. If the fruit of the Spirit involves gentleness, patience, and self-control, then these are the qualities that should be present in my life. So, He doesn't want me to be losing my cool or spinning out of control with stress and anxiety.

What does He want, then? As I mentioned, I have a couple of words that have been impressed upon my mind and heart. Are they words from the Lord? Perhaps they are; at the very least, I have been impressed that they are important. What I want to do is read a number of verses in which these words appear and then try to make some application this morning from these passages of Scripture regarding what the Lord may be wanting to speak to us.

In our present situation, I wonder what God might be saying. If He is indeed the one impressing these words upon me, I seek to understand what He has for us. As I've shared, I have been frustrated throughout this whole experience, and I think you can probably relate. That general frustration causes a low level of stress and anxiety, much like the feeling you get when you're late getting somewhere and everything hinders you from arriving on time.

I had somewhere I wanted to be in 2020. At the beginning of the year, our pastoral team and church leadership had plans and visions about where we thought we would be at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. However, I feel like I have hit every single red light and encountered major detours along the way. Sometimes, I have felt like, "Lord, we are further from our destination at the beginning of 2021 than we were at the beginning of 2020." Perhaps you can relate to that.

In all of this, I keep reminding myself of a verse that I have found myself gravitating to many times when I feel frustrated. This isn't just a verse for 2020 or the beginning of 2021; I come back to it often. For some of you, this might be a familiar verse, while for others, it may be new. I believe it will be an encouragement to you. In Galatians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul writes, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

This has been a verse I have returned to many times over the years. When I feel like I'm caught in traffic, stuck at a red light, or dealing with a slow driver in front of me, nothing seems to be moving in the direction it should. The Lord often reminds me of this truth: let us not grow tired, weary, frustrated, angry, or irritable when we are doing the good and right things that we believe the Lord has called us to do—leading the church, preaching the gospel, doing outreach, or whatever it may be.

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, at the right time, we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart. As I mentioned, I have come back to this verse many times.

Many times, it has been a real encouragement to remind myself not to lose heart and not to give up. For some reason, like we so often do, I have way too frequently pulled that verse out of its context during challenging times. When I am going through a difficult time, I remind myself, "Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not." However, that verse doesn't stand alone; there is more that comes after it.

Over the last couple of weeks, I found myself reading a little further. In Galatians 6:9, we read, "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Then verse 10 says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

In the book after Galatians, Ephesians, the same author, the Apostle Paul, writes, "Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." We live in a broken and chaotic world; we all know that. In the midst of what might be described as evil days, just as Ephesians 5 talks about, we need to be careful and circumspect. This means having our eyes wide open and our ears attentive, keeping our heads on a swivel, as they say, paying attention to everything going on around us. As my dad says, "If you're paying anything, pay attention."

We need to be careful, circumspect, and wise in the way that we live and walk, redeeming the time and making the most of every opportunity. As we have opportunity, as stated in Galatians 6:10, we should do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith—the church.

Chaotic times are opportune times, and we need to really understand this truth. We are in the midst of challenging and chaotic times, and wherever there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to move. I have allowed my frustrations during this year of chaos to get the best of me at times—way too many times. I have had to remind myself to recognize that.

This is a time of opportunity. Now, you may ask, "Opportunity for what?" It is an opportunity to wisely and circumspectly redeem the times, to make the most of every opportunity to do good, and to not grow weary while we are doing good. We are planting seeds that are going to bring forth fruit if we don't give up. Galatians 6:9 says, "And the temptation is to give up and throw in the towel and forget it. I'm not going to do this." We have to fight that temptation to give up.

So, there's the first word for 2021. Maybe you can identify it in both those passages: Galatians 6:10 and Ephesians chapter 5. What is the word? At least one of the things that I'm holding on to as we come into 2021 is this word: opportunity. This is an opportune time in the midst of conflict and chaos because God is seeking to do a work in me personally, through my life, through your life, and through our church to our community and to the world. God is seeking to do a work.

The first word that I hope you'll think about is the word opportunity. The second word, and for this we need to turn to the Old Testament and to one of my favorite books, is the book of Isaiah. I have taught this book probably five times in a college setting, a Bible college setting. Isaiah chapter 60 is what I'd like you to look at with me, beginning at verse 1.

The prophet Isaiah says this: "Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people, but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles, non-believers, shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather together. Unbelievers, kings, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy."

This is an important passage of Scripture, and I think one of the many things it teaches is this: in the midst of deep darkness, God calls.

Upon His people to arise and shine. How do we do that? Well, Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapters five, six, and seven. He taught this in a rather familiar passage in the Gospels. Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, verse 14, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Our good works shine brightly, bringing glory to our Father in heaven.

The prophecy of Isaiah 60 was a word from God through the prophet Isaiah to a people who were going to be in the midst of severe difficulty—a dreadful trial of darkness. This was because of their failures and their sin. They would end up exiled in Babylon. If I'm going to give any sort of predictive word about where we're going, I would say this: we are going to increasingly feel like we are outsiders in the culture, just as the children of Israel felt when they ended up exiled in Babylon.

In the early part of the sixth century BC, specifically in 586 BC, the city of Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the children of Israel were led away as captives to Babylon. There they remained for over 70 years, and they were outsiders in a culture. I would say that we are going to increasingly feel like we are exiles in Babylon, that we are outsiders to the culture around us. They were exiles in the midst of an antagonistic and paganistic people, and we are going to feel like exiles in the midst of an antagonistic and paganistic culture.

In the midst of that antagonism and paganism, God said to His people, "Arise and shine. Shine the light of God." Isaiah spoke this word, or he wrote this word, to the children of Israel probably around 700 BC, 701 BC, to somewhere maybe around 690 BC. During that decade period of time, Isaiah wrote those words.

After Isaiah prophesied those words, Jerusalem would be besieged by Babylon, and the inhabitants of the city would begin their exile in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, just as Isaiah told them it would happen. In the midst of that, about a hundred years after Isaiah wrote those words, the prophet Jeremiah would give a word to the people as they were about to go into captivity. This word is applicable to us because, while we are not going into captivity, we are going to find ourselves living as outsiders among an antagonistic and paganistic culture. This is the reality of what we see with the convergence of events happening in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.

The prophet Jeremiah, about a hundred years after Isaiah, spoke a word to the people who were about to enter that period of captivity. I believe this message is relevant for us today. I hope you have a Bible and can turn there; of course, we'll put it up on the screen. Let's look at Jeremiah chapter 29. Even in mentioning Jeremiah 29, some of you watching this right now may think, "One of my favorite verses is in that passage: Jeremiah 29:11."

Context is really important when studying the Scriptures to understand what is going on in this passage. In Jeremiah chapter 29, we read in verse one, "Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem." Jeremiah was in Jerusalem during the time after the Babylonians had come. This was after 586 BC, when, in August of that year, Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the temple and led away a very large group of people captive to Babylon.

After that point, Jeremiah the prophet remained in Jerusalem and wrote a letter to the captives who were in Babylon. The letter was addressed to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive, to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.

We have an equivalence here between us at this moment. Even though we are not led away captive, we find ourselves in a culture that is increasingly godless, paganistic, and antagonistic. That is where these people were at that time. These are the words that the prophet wrote to those people 2,500 years ago, and I believe they are, in some ways, also a word that God would speak to you.

To me, living in a culture that is against Him and against you, because it is against Him, is challenging. Jeremiah 29:4 states, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon." This is God's word to those who are in captivity. Notice that God said, "I have caused you to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon."

Here is God's instruction: Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased there in captivity and not be diminished. Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace, in the peace of that city, you will have peace.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners, who were called at that time soothsayers, deceive you. Do not listen to your dreams which you have caused to be dreamed, for they prophesy falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them, says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope, an expected end.

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive.

Those are powerful words. Something in them about God's sovereign rule in sending the people of Israel into the darkness of captivity is jarring. God says, "I have caused you to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon," and He emphasizes it again: "Seek the peace of the city where..."

I have caused you to be carried away captive. They would be in captivity among the nations because God would drive them there and cause them to be carried away captive. Four times in those eleven verses, God makes clear that their plight was according to His plan. You might want to write that down: their plight was according to His plan.

Why would God allow His people to be in such a fix? There are potentially many good answers to that question, but I want to give you one important consideration. The brightness of God's glory shines greatest from the darkness of our captivity.

There were, 2,500 years ago, many false soothsaying prophets, just as there are a lot of false prophets who have prophesied that the political situation in our country would be different than it currently is. Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which cause you to dream, for they prophesy falsely to you, not in My name. I have not sent them, says the Lord. That is not a popular word, is it? But this is the situation we are in.

We are, at the moment, in an increasingly godless, paganistic, and antagonistic culture, just as the captive people, the exiled people of Israel, were 2,500 years ago when they were carried away captive to Babylon. We are in the midst of Babylon, and God calls upon His people to live in the midst of that captivity, to build houses, to plant gardens, to have children, to have grandchildren, and to have great-grandchildren. We are to maintain our place as the people of God in the midst of that.

I believe that this is a word for us today, and this is part of the reason why our focus on small groups, community, and connect groups has always been so important. We, the people of God, can be connected to one another even if we live in the midst of darkness, and we can shine as bright lights in a dark world.

This is an opportunity, even though it may not feel like a good opportunity. This is God's opportunity that He has given to us. It's an opportunity for you and for me, the people of God, to shine the light of the glory of our Father.

By our good works, let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. These are the two words that have been impressed upon my heart by the Lord as we come into 2021, out of a chaotic and challenging time, perhaps into another chaotic and challenging time. The situation in our culture is not the way we would choose for it to be.

The two words are opportunity and shine. God has given you and me an opportunity in the midst of conflict and chaos. Any time there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to do a work, and He wants us to make the most of that opportunity. He wants us to shine. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Before I pray and close, I want to reiterate something I mentioned in the announcements two weeks ago. I talked about being on mission for that week, where I encouraged you to reach out to your neighbors. Perhaps you could get them a gift card to a local business, make them cookies, or simply give them a card inviting them to join us online. We need to be the community of God's people, still knit together as the gathering of God's people, the church, even though we are not gathered corporately in a large area.

The children of Israel, 2,500 years ago, when they were exiled in Babylon, could not gather in their own place as a large assembly because they were separated from Jerusalem and the temple. They found themselves in a culture that was antagonistic, paganistic, and against them. Yet, they thrived. God's people have continued to thrive in harder circumstances than we are experiencing right now.

We may not like these circumstances—I certainly do not—but this is relatively good in comparison to what some Christians are facing in the rest of the world today. This is an opportunity for you and me to shine. I hope and pray that you, the people of God, members of Cross Connection Church, or anyone who stumbles upon this video on YouTube, would make the most of this opportunity.

This opportunity comes even though the days are evil, and I pray that you would shine brightly in a dark world. May people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. Father, that is my prayer for us, your people. Would you pour out your Spirit and quicken us? Enable us to shine brightly during these challenging times, Lord, and help us to make the most of this opportunity to redeem the times.

Even though the days are evil and things sometimes seem to be against us, we can choose to be pessimistic, frustrated, stressed, and upset, like we're sitting in traffic. Alternatively, we can realize that you have us in this situation, that you have allowed it, and that you have purposed it because you have a plan in the midst of the plight we are going through for your glory.

So, God, shine in and through your church. May we be, in many respects, like the moon that has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun to a dark world. Would you help us to reflect your light and not be eclipsed by the things of this world that can cause us to be so discouraged? Lord, help us to get into a position where we shine your light the greatest.

God, do that work in us, your church, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. My God, right in the darkness, my God, that is who You are.

You are. That is who You are. You never stop working, even when I don't see You working. Even when I don't feel like You're working, You never stop. You never stop working.

God is who You are.

Light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are. Who You are, and that is who You are.

Father God, even though we are distanced from one another and not gathering together necessarily in the way that we would like to or hope to, we find ourselves in a difficult situation right now. Much like the children of Israel, who were separated from their homeland and from the temple—everything that was comfortable and normal to them—for seventy years, we too are facing challenges. I pray, God, that You would help us to maintain joy as we set our focus upon You. Shine Your light on us so that we may shine to a dark world. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your church and bless Your church this week, we pray, in Jesus' name.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

I hope that you would consider, if you're able or willing, to come out and join us on a Sunday night. Tonight at 5 PM, we will be gathering together for a time of worship. It will be socially distanced, and most people will be wearing masks. This is just another option for you to gather and worship the Lord and to get into the Scriptures.

Of course, we will continue to upload messages online, so make sure you check out all the other things that we're doing. Go to lifeinconnection.com to see what's happening at the church. God bless you, and we'll see you next week.

I can't uncut these.