Hi friends! Welcome back into the land of the prophetic books as we begin Jeremiah (the bullfrog) today. While it may not seem any different from the other prophets we've read yet, Jeremiah is considered a prophet "of the exile", so most of his directive and laments against the people are going to be aimed during their bondage whereas the other prophets were considered "prophets before the exile." Today will more a prologue than the standard content of Jeremiah, but there are still some nuggets of goodness in there. (mmmm nuggets)
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity?
How does Jeremiah's prologue to the exile differ from other accounts? How is it similar?
- My Thoughts -
I'm going to keep this short again because there is an overview video to watch with this one as well, but I have a sweet spot for Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the 5th book I ever read in the Bible (after the 4 gospels) when I was 12 years old and first feeling the desire to be a pastor. I read that opening chapter and remember it like yesterday: "Jeremiah, do not say to me that you are too young. You must say what I tell you and go where I direct you. Do not be afraid of the people for I will go with you." My heart raced and I suppose in some ways I accepted my own calling from that point. My age as a pastor has been a blessing and a curse. I often joke with churches that everyone wants a young pastor till they get one. We're passionate, we're overconfident in our abilities, we are super naive and inexperienced, and many of us have young families that require more of our time than a senior pastor could give a church. On the other end of the stick, many churches have a a hard time taking a younger pastor seriously. "Am I really gonna let this boy lecture me about marriage or should I go down there and smack his butt back into his mamas womb?" I get it. On my most frustrated or defeated days I return to Jeremiah again & again to read those sacred, holy, and beloved words - "Do not say that you are too young for I will go with you."
Whatever it is in your life that you might feel too young or too old to start something new...you've now see a case where God works with the old to a great forefather (Abraham and Moses) and you've now seen an example of God working through the young. If God wants to work through you for the betterment of this world..there is nothing that can stop that, not even your doubts. So let your heart come alive in faith and go the places that God is calling you to go!
Overview Video
Prayer
Our prayer today is inspired by hymn 168 in our United Methodist Hymnal - At the Name of Jesus. I invite you to hum, sing, or recite the words aloud as you make them your own today.
Today's worship service is the Second Sunday in Lent and part 3 of our series Again & Again: A Lenten Refrain. Pastor Nick will be sharing a message on the theme of "we are called to listen" and SOS will be introducing the theme song for this series. We hope you'll join us by clicking the video below! Service starts at 10:00am and can be rewatched anytime after that.
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