An Opportunity to Shine | Sunday, January 17, 2021

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 will 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, so 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 post 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 will 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 will 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.

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.

Jesus has triumphed over the grave. Nothing can stand against our God. We stand on Your shout, and we praise You. Miracle Maker, Your might is safe.

Jesus has triumphed over the grave. Sing hallelujah! Nothing can stand against our God. There is nothing that can stop our God. There is nothing, there is nothing that can stop our God. No, there is nothing that can stop our God.

There is nothing that can stand against our God. Jesus has triumphed over the grave. 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, and 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.

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, and whatever's going on.

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.

So, prayer.lifeinconnection—check that out! We'd love to hear from you and be praying with and for you. After that, we are on mission this week.

We are usually having an "On Mission" each week, and that's just us asking you to be praying for some of our missionaries and the ways that we've been reaching out around the world and locally here in Escondido. This week's "On Mission" is Josh Taranski and his church in Baltimore. Be praying for Josh as a pastor out there in Baltimore. They are dealing with a lot of the same COVID-19 pandemic challenges that we are as a church. As a new church plant, we supported him recently as he planted his church, and we continue to do that as Cross Connection Church supports him in his efforts in the city.

Please also pray for his wife, as she has been dealing with some health issues. Pray that God would heal her and renew her energy. So, be praying for the Taranskis in Baltimore.

With that, I have a couple of announcements. First of all, tonight we are going to be meeting, and I want to encourage you to show up at our patio here at Cross Connection Church. We are moving the time from five o'clock to four o'clock to help facilitate families and couples, making it a little easier since 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, again, four o'clock, not five o'clock tonight. I hope to see you there.

Secondly, if you have been faithfully giving to Cross Connection Church, thank you! We are going to be emailing out your tithe reports for 2020 tomorrow, Monday. Please check your email tomorrow. If you don't see an email from us and you have been giving to Cross Connection Church, check your spam folder. If you don't 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 actually 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.

Now, we are going to go back to Pastor Anthony, who is going to lead us in a song of worship and praise. When 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. Third, you can simply mail in your tithe offering to the church address: 1675 Seven Oaks Road, Escondido. You can also bring it, of course, on Sunday nights, where we have our little agape box out by the stage.

God bless you all! Hope to see you soon.

Tonight at four o'clock, if not, we'll see you next week. I was lost, but He brought me to know His love for me. Oh, His love for me! Yes, I am. Jesus died for me; yes, He died for me. There's a place for me, not against me. I am set free.

I am. There's a place. 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 that we have all been experiencing, I have had this 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'll 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, and you are caught in afternoon traffic. It feels as though every stoplight you get to is on the tail end of yellow and just switching to red. If you can imagine that picture a little bit, you might even feel kind of the physical indicators.

In your body, stress and anxiety can manifest in various ways. You may feel your blood pressure increase, accompanied by heightened anxiety and low-level stress. This often happens when you need to get somewhere, and every single traffic light you encounter turns red. In such situations, even if you are not typically an anxious person—like myself—you can feel that anxiety build.

When I mention the word "anxiety," you might think, "That's not really who I am." However, we have all experienced the situation I am describing. You can feel the weight of stress as you realize you need to get somewhere, yet everything seems to be keeping you from reaching your destination. At that moment, the specific destination doesn't even matter; you are simply trying to get somewhere, but traffic and red lights hinder your progress.

One of the challenges of presenting my messages in this format is that, when I am gathered with a group, I can see your reactions. I can observe people shifting in their seats, but I cannot see that here on video. This format adds to the level of frustration.

Imagine yourself in that moment: it’s the afternoon, and you are trying to get somewhere, but everything seems to stand in your way. Your frustration and anxiety build to the point where they are about to boil over. Your internal stress is on the verge of spilling into external demonstrations of anger. Just as you reach that boiling point, someone who is not in nearly as much of a hurry as you pulls into your lane. You could have made that green light right in front of you, but now it’s yellow. The frustration has escalated into complete anger.

It leaks out into a verbal form, and you verbalize your anger without realizing it. You become frustrated, and then your anger is not only verbal but also physical; you might find yourself smashing 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 likely faced this situation. I have had this experience, in fact, I would say I've had it multiple times in the last 30 days.

This image came to my mind last Sunday afternoon. Like many of you, I got up last Sunday morning, and instead of doing what I feel I am supposed to do as the lead preaching senior pastor of a local church, I went downstairs in my sweats and pajamas. I sat on the couch with my kids, my wife, and my mom, who actually came over. I watched the service online, like maybe you did last week or like you might be doing this week. I can't even express how much of a frustration that is for me.

Every Sunday, I go through this, whether I'm watching Pastor Garrett preach online, as he did last week, or I'm watching myself preach online, which I might be doing this morning. Again, that's kind of weird, but I have this feeling that this is not where I'm supposed to be right now. I'm trying to get back to somewhere where I feel I should be, but there are red light after red light, so I can't fully express the frustration of what that is for me.

It feels like trying to get somewhere while being stuck behind a slow driver in afternoon traffic, watching every light in front of you turn red. The rational portion of my brain tries to remind me 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 10 or 11 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 community share this sentiment.

Society has acknowledged a heightened level of stress and anxiety, even among people 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 many months. It is a challenge to deal with that cumulative stress over time.

Imagine being stuck at red light after red light, behind a slow driver, trying to get somewhere in the late afternoon before your destination closes. You miss a deadline. This has been the continuous experience for at least ten months. With each new compounding event, it feels as if there's another slow driver and another red light. Two weeks to slow the spread turns into two more weeks of shutdown—another red light. No toilet paper? Another red light. Mask mandates? Another red light. The George Floyd protests, riots, Black Lives Matter, wildfires, political campaigns—red light after red light.

Then there was election day, followed by election uncertainty, stay-at-home orders through Thanksgiving, stay-at-home orders through Christmas, and the Georgia election—red light after red light. January 6th in Washington, D.C., was not just a red light; it felt 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 to be by this point. In my defense, the last year has been anything but typical. I was thinking about Deuteronomy this past week, reflecting on the children of Israel and Moses, their leader during those wilderness wanderings. Those wanderings were essentially thirty-eight years of stop-and-go traffic—red light after red light after red light. Moses had some steering wheel outbursts along the way because he wasn't perfect.

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, "Okay, what do you think is going to happen next, Pastor?" That has been one of the questions I have 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. Now, 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 might be from this convergence. You can see that there is 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. Those 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 where the Tesla 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 beeping at the person, indicating that there is going to be a problem. Then, a fraction of a second later, the accident occurs. Some people are amazed by the apparent supernatural prescience of the car, thinking it can predict these things.

In reality, what is happening is that the car's computer control system, using sonar, radar, and video information from eight cameras around the car, is able to predict, based on physics, what is about to happen. That is kind of what I was doing as I looked at 2019. I could 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 know that the lead-up to President Trump's election in 2016 was chaotic. If you back up even further, 2012 was chaotic, and before that, 2008 was chaotic. You don't have to be a prophet to understand this pattern.

At the end of 2019, I could see that 2020 was going to be a chaotic year. Observing the cultural landscape, it was clear that we live in a broken and chaotic world. By stating this, I am not sharing anything 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 suggest that chaos isn't fully 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 the events of 2001, specifically the terrorist attacks on September 11. They wanted to know what that experience was like. It's strange to realize that they have no personal knowledge of that event; our oldest was born in 2008, so he is far removed from it. However, you may remember the general feeling of anxiety and uncertainty that followed the attacks. There was a pervasive sense of "What's next?" You probably feel that same anxiety 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. Many people have reached out to me through texts, emails, or in person, asking if I have a word for 2021. I can tell that many of them are hoping for a more positive message than chaos, and understandably so. It makes perfect sense that people want some level of optimism as they look toward the future.

I appreciated that Pastor Mark shared a message a couple of weeks ago, where he brought up one of our...

The beliefs section of our website, lifeinconnection.com, outlines our core values. The first value 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 for Christians to recognize and understand that we have this optimistic vision, which has Christ seated on the throne, ruling and reigning forever. We will be ruling and reigning with Him in a reign of righteousness where there is no sorrow, pain, suffering, or sickness. None of that will be present.

We have an optimistic vision of the future, but 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, it is as good a time as any to share with you the impression I have had as we find ourselves at another stoplight, beginning 2020. When I say I have an impression, I am not claiming it is a word from the Lord, as in "thus saith the Lord." Rather, it 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 do not have just one word to share; I actually have two words.

If I previously 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 before He ascended into heaven. He instructed us to go into all the world, make disciples of all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I was at this missions gathering at Saddleback Church in Orange County, where Pastor Rick Warren shared a message on that mission as Christians. In his message, he made a statement that resonated with me.

I will have an impression of a word as I'm reading my devotions, whatever it is, 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. I was at a conference where Pastor Rick Warren was sharing, and he made this 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, that it was going to be a challenging year. So, when Pastor Rick Warren shared that word, it really caught my attention, and I wrote it down. 2020 ended up being a year of chaos, and as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, that moment hasn't really changed. The conditions of our world are such that the brokenness and chaos are going to continue, and we're stuck in that traffic that I was talking about 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're reading or in the Bible.

I think this is so important because when there is conflict in our lives, personally or individually, or when there is chaos around us, we can get into a pessimistic, repetitious place—a cycle of pessimism where we are just 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 as we have seen conflict and chaos at nearly every level. We have seen conflict and chaos in the news media, in politics, in market volatility, in law enforcement, in race relations, and in the tech sector.

And medicine within our families, in relationships with people that are friends, neighbors, or co-workers, we have seen conflict and chaos. We have had our share of that, but 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 "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'm 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. 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? I guess maybe 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. What might God be saying, and if in fact He is the one impressing these words upon me, what does He have for us?

As I've shared, I have been frustrated through this whole thing, and I think that...

You can probably relate to that general frustration, which causes the low-level stress and anxiety you feel when you're late getting somewhere and everything hinders you from getting there. I had somewhere I wanted to get in 2020. At the beginning of the year, we began with plans as a pastoral team, as a church leadership team. I had some ideas and visions about where I thought we would be at the end of 2020 and at the beginning of 2021. However, I feel like I have hit every single red light and major detour in the process. 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."

Maybe 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'm frustrated over the years—not just in 2020 and at the beginning of 2021, but I come back to this verse often. For some of you, this might be a familiar verse; for others, you may have never heard it before, and I think 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 that I have returned to many times over the years. When I feel like I'm caught in traffic, stuck at a red light, or have a slow driver in front of me, and nothing seems to be moving in the direction it should be, 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, 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 said, I've come back to this verse many times, and it has often been a real encouragement. Don't lose heart; don't give up. For some reason, like we so often do, I have way too frequently pulled that verse.

Out of its context in those challenging times, I remind myself not to 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." Following Galatians, in Ephesians, the same author, the Apostle Paul, writes in Ephesians 5, "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, 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 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 in the midst of a 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're 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." 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. 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, for this we need to turn to the Old Testament and to one of my favorite books, a book that I have taught probably five times in a college setting, Bible college setting: the book of Isaiah. 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 that it could teach 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 5, 6, and 7. He taught this in a rather familiar passage in the Gospels. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, 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 am going to give any sort of predictive word about where we are 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 6th 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 or wrote this word to the children of Israel probably around 700 BC, specifically between 701 BC and 690 BC. During that decade, Isaiah wrote those words. About a hundred years after Isaiah prophesied those words, Jerusalem would be besieged by Babylon, and the inhabitants of the city would begin the 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 who were about to go into captivity, there is a word that I think is applicable to us. We are not going into captivity, but we are going to find ourselves living as outsiders among an antagonistic and paganistic culture. This is the reality of what we see—the convergence of things that are happening in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. This is what we are witnessing at this moment.

The prophet Jeremiah, about a hundred years after Isaiah, spoke a word to the people who were about to enter that period of captivity. As I said, I think this message is applicable for us today. I hope that you have a Bible and can turn there; of course, we will 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, "Oh, one of my favorite verses is in that passage—Jeremiah 29:11."

Context is really important when we study the Scriptures to understand what is going on in this passage. In Jeremiah chapter 29, we read this in verse 1: "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 carried away 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 they are, in some ways, also a word that God would speak to you and to me, living in a culture that is against Him and, consequently, against us.

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 carried away. Notice that God said, "I have caused you to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon." So here's God's word: 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—what were called at that time soothsayers, who would give false words to soothe the people—deceive you. Nor 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 and something in them speaks of God's sovereign rule in sending the people of Israel into the darkness of captivity. As jarring as it is, God says, "I have caused you to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon," and He says it a second time: "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.

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.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, there were many false, soothing prophets, just as there are many false prophets today 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.

At the moment, we are 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, and to have grandchildren and 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 when 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. So, in the stop-and-go traffic of strange and chaotic times, let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Lose heart. These are my two words that have been impressed upon my heart by the Lord as we come into 2021, out of a chaotic, challenging time and possibly into another chaotic, challenging time. The situation in our culture is not the way that we would choose for it to be. The two words are this: opportunity and shine. God has given you and me an opportunity in the midst of conflict and chaos because anytime there is conflict and chaos, God is getting ready to do a work. He wants us to make the most of that opportunity, and 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 before we close, I want to reiterate something I mentioned in the announcements two weeks ago. I was talking 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 give them a card inviting them to join us online. We need to be reaching out to our neighbors during this time.

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 big gathering because they were separated from Jerusalem and the temple. They were 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 don't like them either. However, this is relatively good in comparison to what some Christians are experiencing in the rest of the world right now. 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, even though the days are evil. Shine brightly in a dark world so that people would 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. Help us to make the most of this opportunity to redeem the times, even though the days are evil. Things may sometimes seem to be against us, and we can feel pessimistic, frustrated, stressed, and upset, like we're sitting in traffic.

However, we can also 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 to a dark world and not to be eclipsed by the things of this world that can cause us to be so discouraged?

Lord, help us to get in the 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.

Keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. You are the Way Maker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are.

Every heart is in the darkness. My God, that is who You are.

That is who You are. Even when I don't see You working, You are a miracle worker, a promise keeper, and the light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are.

Father God, even though we are distanced from one another and not gathering together in the way that we would like to, we find ourselves in a difficult situation right now. Much like the children of Israel, who were separated from their homeland and the temple for seventy years, we are facing challenges. I pray, God, that you would help us 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. We 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 delve 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. Visit lifeinconnection.com to see what's happening at the church. God bless you, and we'll see you next week.