In Jesus there is hope today for Chicago and all the people who live in this beautiful city. There is a future for us and our families if we hear the Word of God to Jeremiah and obey it.
SERMON TEXT
Jeremiah 29:4-14, “4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
HOW TO RECEIVE GOD’S HOPE AND FUTURE
- Seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of Chicago according to God’s Word, v. 7.
- Do not be deceived by those who have not heard from God, v. 8.
- Believe in God’s promise to bless us, vs. 10-11.
- Pray and seek God with all your heart, vs. 12-14.
TEN SINS OF CHICAGO THAT OUR TAKING AWAY OUR HOPE AND FUTURE
- Abortion: The murdering of unborn children in their mother’s womb.
- Addiction: Alcoholism, drugs, gambling and food.
- Broken Families: Unbiblical divorces, fatherless homes and abuse.
- Dishonest Businesses: Stealing from the employees, unfair wages and greed.
- False Religion: Roman Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, New Age (horoscopes), Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Black Hebrew Israelites and Liberal Christianity.
- Idolatry: Sports, entertainment and money.
- Political Corruption: Briberies, stealing, lying and injustice.
- Sexual Perversion: Homosexuality, pre-martial sex and gender mutilation.
- Racism: Whites against minorities, Minorities against whites and ethnic nations against other ethnic nations (African Americans vs Mexicans).
- Violence: Murder, outbursts of rage and fighting.
- Proverbs 15:29, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”
- Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.”
THE CHOICE IS YOURS… HOPE or DESPAIR; a FUTURE or DESTRUCTION?
Isaiah 59:1-20, “1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. 8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
