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Does God’s Patience Ever End? 1:4-15 Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions January/February #1

This is the first in the Jeremiah series Hope In The Rubble. It is a book rich in one-liners and application. Having never done a series on Jeremiah, I now have a new hero – him. I cannot imagine a more relevant book for the pressure of political correctness; it was the same in Jeremiah’s day. He did not buckle despite the price he had to pay for speaking up for God.

1. Please read :1-15 several times for reading comprehension. • In a couple of sentences sum up what these verses tell us about him.

• What verse is the most encouraging or interesting to you and say why.

• What does verse 1 tell us about Jeremiah’s status? What is he?

2. Consider the following quote: Jeremiah’s ministry began in 626 B.C. His preaching ministry spanned more than 40 years. He repeatedly warned God’s people that their moral choices would one day produce RUBBLE if they did not change. But they didn’t listen. They were having too good a time. And then God’s patience ran out and He lifted His favor from , and the armies of Babylonia came and leveled and the Temple. Solomon built this Temple for God in about 1000 BC. For 400 years it had stood as one of the 7 Wonders Of The World. The people thought God would never allow His temple to be destroyed. But they were wrong. God had a higher purpose. It was to build a faithful people. A people surrendered to His Word….who would be light to the world. And if that required turning their lives to rubble to wake them up, so be it. The nation was in moral chaos. Sin had been normalized. What was wrong in God’s eyes had become politically correct just like in America today. The people moved farther and farther away from God. That is happening in America. Did you know that atheism is the fast growing religion in America? And as more and more of us stop worshipping the God of the , is it any surprise that doing what is wrong in God’s eyes has become politically correct? It is GALLOP POLL morality. Morality by the numbers. The attitude is that if it is politically correct, if most people are doing it, it can’t be wrong…………Gallop Poll morality….morality by the numbers. Jeremiah stood alone. Preachers of the day said God is forgiving. His patience is inexhaustible, unlimited, unending. But they were wrong. Very wrong. God’s people backslid to the point that God’s patience ended. As they did wrong in God’s eyes more and more, they moved away from God, and of course lost the favor of God. Don’t you think it is silly to believe we have the favor of God even if we are doing what is wrong in His eyes? They believed the patience of God is inexhaustible, but they were wrong…,very wrong, and the armies of Babylonia came and turned everything in their life to rubble. Jeremiah is saying in this book: You can’t make the same mistake twice. The 2nd time it is no longer a mistake, it’s a stubborn choice, and choices have consequences. Stubborn, intractable, pig-headed, defiant…against what was right in God’s eyes, and God’s patience ran out…and the rubble came. Some people create their own storms, and then get mad at God when it rains on them. • Underline the most important sentence and say why? What is the application for you in our society?

• God’s people depended on ‘false security’ – The which they thought God would never allow to be destroyed, and therefore there would be no consequences for their behavior. God would not punish sin because His Temple stood in their midst. What does “sin had been normalized” and “Gallop Poll morality” mean? And give at least 2 examples in America.

• Can you think of anything today that for some Christians is like the Temple was when Jeremiah was warning of consequences coming? Anything people think is protection against consequences and a ‘free pass’?

• Preachers said God is loving and forgiving so don’t worry about consequences. Cheap grace always produces immorality. God’s people thought God’s grace and patience was inexhaustible, but they were wrong

• “You can’t make the same mistake twice. The 2nd time it is no longer a mistake. It is a stubborn choice, and choices have consequences.” Interact with that. How is that true? What is the application to us, especially if we are prone to apologizing but not repenting? No change. You know: professional apologizers.

3. What does verse 5 tell us about Jeremiah? • (Thinking deeper question). What does it teach about abortion?

4. Consider the following: So God sends a baby to turn Israel back to God. God says in Jeremiah 1 verse 5 “Before you were born I had plans for you, I called you to be a (to speak up).” You see, a prophet in the Bible is not primarily one who predicts the future. A prophet in the Bible is a preacher, one who stands up for God, one who speaks up for God in the moral darkness of a country. Jeremiah didn’t want the job! He knows that people won’t want to hear what is right in God’s eyes. And they don’t! Jeremiah is beaten up, tortured, put in prison. Jeremiah was no crusader. He was an introvert. He didn’t want to speak up, so he made excuses. I’m too young. I don’t speak well. Favorite excuses for not speaking up today are….I’m only a housewife, I don’t know enough, I’m too busy. But excuses don’t fly with God. We claim that we are inadequate; God says we are not inadequate because He is by our side. You see, in the , and in our country today, there is a war going on. A spiritual war. It is all out war between Satan who wants to turn lives and marriages and families into rubble…..and God who wants to save us from choices that produce rubble! As C.S. Lewis put it so well – There is no NEUTRAL GROUND in the universe. Every square inch of it is being fought over by Satan and God. So the only question is: Whose side are you on? Gandhi said, “To believe something and not speak up is dishonest.” Is that true? If you are a Christian, you carry the name of Christ. makes it very plain that, like Jeremiah, all of us are called to speak up for what is right in God’s eyes, to speak up in the darkness of our time. So Jesus says in , verse 14 “You are the light of the world.” “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this sinful world, I will be ashamed of him when I come again.” (Mark 8:38) C. S. Lewis was a professor at Oxford University and an atheist but he became a Christian and he began to speak up for Jesus. He paid a price. He was denied the full professorship though his lecture hall was the only one in the university that had standing room only. Students crowded in to hear him speak up for , for his words that were light in the dark university. And he paid a price. He would not shut up and so academia denied him a professorship which he deserved. He had scars because he stood up for Jesus. In a politically correct world where people are ignoring what God says is right, if you speak up you can expect scars. But nothing compared to the scars Jesus has because He died for you on the cross. I read this last week that - - When we get to heaven, God will not measure us by how popular we were, or awards we were given, or our bank accounts. He will measure us by our scars. • Underline the most important sentence and say why.

• Jeremiah did not want to speak up for God in a politically correct society. He knew he would sufferer if he did, and that is exactly what happened. He experienced massive rejection and criticism. He had some excellent excuses. List his excellent excuses.

• Give at least 2 excellent excuses Christians use today for being silent.

• What do you think of the Gandhi quote? Is it true? If not, argue against Gandhi.

5. Consider this quote. Don’t speed read. We are trying to develop skills as a Christian and that means learning ways to challenge Gallop Poll morality and PC ethics. The 2nd message of Jeremiah: It takes courage to be a Christian. It takes courage to speak up in darkness. Cowardice is not the opposite of courage. The opposite of courage is….CONFORMITY. Being politically correct takes no courage. GALLOP poll morality takes no courage. Even a dead fish can go with the flow. Lying is epidemic. Will Rogers once joked that if TRUTH WAS ever injected into politics, it would no longer be politics. On my vacation I read a powerful book entitled THE DEATH OF TRUTH. The author is a left wing academic but she is very concerned that truth is dead in America. People don’t care what the truth is. Truth has been replaced by personal opinion. Feelings are more important than facts. And because everyone has a right to their opinion, it means there is no such thing as true truth. There are no absolutes morally. Everyone makes up their own mind about what is right and wrong for them. It is all personal opinion. Which of course means the death of morality, which is exactly what we are seeing in our country. She writes that academics in pretentious prose are defending the indefensible. Defending the indefensible. I see that all the time. Want an example? A person who believes that there is no such thing as moral absolutes, that right and wrong is what each person decides for themselves. Imagine someone who does not believe in moral truth in line to buy tickets to a 49’ers game. They have been in line 30 min and see a guy come out of nowhere, ignore the line, and walk right up to the ticket booth. What does this person do who says right and wrong is personal opinion? Does he say, “Well God bless you. It must be right for you to cut in line even though I have been waiting half an hour”. Is that what he says? No. He yells, “You dirtball. Cutting in line is wrong. The line starts back there you moral moron” Those who say there is no such thing as moral truth cannot actually live that opinion. It is indefensible. If a man rapes our daughter, we don’t say “That must be right for him” No. We send him to jail. If we are lied to and cheated, it doesn’t matter if the whole country believes lying is normal. Suddenly we believe there are moral absolutes. Political correctness is indefensible logically. If there is no moral truth, if everything is opinion, then get ready for rubble. It is coming. Jeremiah kept warning that the rubble was coming but no one listened…and it came. There is moral truth and absolutes regardless of what politically correctness says. • Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why.

• Summarize in a few sentence the argument in this quote against the idea that there are no moral absolutes, that you can never say something is wrong. Write in your own words why political correctness is indefensible logically and, in fact, no one can actually live by it. It is a self-defeating idea because no one can actually live by it.

6. Eventually God’s patience ended; the Temple did not protect people against consequences. Consider the following quote: After 40 years God’s patience came to an end. We read in Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 14 “The Lord said to me, ‘From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,’ declares the Lord. ‘Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of .’”

The was God’s discipline. When I see a person ignoring what God says is right, when I see a person living in stubborn disobedience and moving farther and farther away from God, a person who makes excuses for their temper or for their mouth or for their refusal to forgive other people, all I can say is they are taking a big risk. At a certain point God runs out of patience. He has sent sermons for us, He has sent people who say something that reminds of what is right to do, He gives a conscience that once in a while speaks up, but if we continue to do what is wrong….there comes a point where only RUBBLE will sober us up. Just as a parent disciplines their child out of love, to prevent worse things happening, so God’s discipline is His love for us. It’s a risk you don’t want to take. • Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why.

• Jeremiah spent almost 40 years warning that the people were taking a big risk in their rebellion against God’s Word. They didn’t believe him and then it was too late. They were like the guy who insists gravity does not apply to him and jumps off a 30 story building. For 29 floors he says ‘So far so good. I told you that I am exempt from gravity!’ and then………….That consequences have not come does not mean they will not come. So….what is the big risk this quote speaks off?

• Can you think of someone you know (no names please) or someone in American history who thought consequences would never come but they did. Tell us their story and false confidence.

• (Personal and private so be honest with yourself). Think about your life in the last year. Is there anything you know is wrong but you keep doing it and never consider you are taking a big risk because a loving parent (Our Father in heaven) will eventually discipline their child. I’m not talking murder or any of the biggies. What we consider ‘tiny’ disobedience is still disobedience in God’s eyes and risky because His aim is to make us a replica of Jesus. 90% obedience is 10% short in God’s eyes. It is still living as a rebel. So….is there anything you need to admit and seek His power to change?

When God Said “Do Not Pray!” :1-24 Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions January/February #2

1. Please read Jeremiah 7:1-24 slowly for comprehension. Underline in your Bible anything you want to remember. Turn your Bible into a library; underlining helps you find things a year from now. • In the first 8 verses what is the ‘false security’ of the people?

• How does God assess the behavior of His people and yet they still think consequences will not come?

• What does God say their biggest mistake is in 7:12-14?

• Then in one of the most shocking verses in the Bible, God tells Jeremiah not to pray for these people. Why?

2. Consider this quote: It’s about 700 BC. For 10 years Jeremiah has been pleading with God’s people to change, to stop doing what is wrong in God’s eyes. But the people did not listen. In fact, they got worse. God declares in verse 24: They went backward and not forward. Do you know anyone who is sliding backward morally and spiritually? Maybe some of us have been sliding backward. Israel was still worshipping in God’s Temple on the sabbath, but God says they were sliding backward in their behavior. Going to the Temple did not stop them sliding backward in their behavior. They knew better but they didn’t want to behave better. And when someone doesn’t want to behave better – they don’t stop gossiping or being divisive, they don’t forgive, then what happens? They keep on BACKSLIDING. They go backward and not forward! Whatever we practice, we get better at, and that includes repeating bad behavior. We OSSIFY. Our conscience hardens until we don’t think how we are behaving is wrong in God’s eyes. We lose touch with reality. That was God’s people in Jeremiah’s time. They were calling wrong….right. In fact, a sure sign that a person is backsliding is what God said of Israel in chapter 6, verse 10, “The Word of God is offensive to them.” When the Word of God in a sermon becomes OFFENSIVE to us, that is not a good sign, is it? • Summarize in a couple of sentences what that quote says.

• The Word of God became offensive to them. Is that America today? People leave a church because of a moral stand taken and go find a church that never says anything that is offensive to them. The new thing in our universities and culture in general is that no one is to be offended. If someone is offended, we must stop saying or doing whatever offends them. This is a sneaky way to silence Christianity because all one has to say is “That offends me” and we are supposed to go silent. The politically correct idea of offend no one is an attack on free speech and thought. Free speech inevitably means sooner or later we will hear something we do not like or disagree with. So political correctness is actually an attempt to control us and eliminate challenges. What is sad is Christians claiming they are offended and closing their ears to biblical teaching. Actually, we should EXPECT God’s Word to occasionally, even often, offend our old nature! Being offended by God’s Word is actually a good sign, a sign we are hearing truth, and it is a tip that perhaps we need to do some soul searching. • Underline what you think is most important and say why.

• What would you counsel a Christian who is leaving a church because a sermon offended them?

3. Consider this quote The latest polls show that 81% of Americans believe morality is a personal decision. Right and wrong is a matter of personal opinion. And since everyone has a right to their own opinion, what happens? That’s right. No one can say that what someone is doing is wrong. Why? Because they have a right to their own opinion. Moral chaos develops. And a country deteriorates. And the result is the death of moral truth. And when there is no longer moral truth, then inevitably there is moral chaos, which is exactly what happened in Israel and is happening in America today. Can anyone honestly say America is NOT in moral chaos, that we are moving forward morally and NOT sliding backward? It’s because political correctness says morality is a matter of personal opinion. So it should not be a surprise that the only sin left in America today is to say something is wrong. If you dare to do that, you will be accused of being JUDGMENTAL AND INTOLERANT. It has been said that - - The fear of being called judgmental turns people into moral cowards. Does it? That accusation is an attempt to silence moral truth. It has been very successful. So God says in verse 28 “Truth is dead”. (Jeremiah 7:28) Why? Because if right and wrong is a matter of personal opinion, and if it is intolerant and judgmental to ever say something is morally wrong, then nothing is wrong anymore. If everyone’s opinion is right then of course nothing is wrong anymore. Truth is dead. That was Israel. That is America. It is Gallop Poll morality. Morality by the numbers. If lots of people think a behavior is NOT wrong, then it can’t be wrong. Gallop Poll morality. Morality by the numbers. That’s what’s happening in America on high school and college campuses, where we work, in Washington politics. Check the polls and then politicians know what to say and how to vote. Gallop Poll politics. It is the death of truth just like in Jeremiah’s day. God’s people had backslid so far that they placed in God’s Temple the statues of foreign gods including ASTARTE. Astarte is a multi-breasted idol because she is literally a sex goddess. Worship of her involves orgies and sex with cultic prostitutes. In Jeremiah’s day her prostitutes were even in God’s Temple serving worshippers of Astarte. Political correctness of the day said the world is a big place, and we have to respect the religious beliefs of other nations and make room for their gods in our country….. Multi-culturalism. Respecting other cultures means making room for other religions and their gods. It is concluding that respecting other people’s religious beliefs means to say they are as true as Jesus’ claims. Politically correctness says all religions are true; to deny that all religious are true is to disrespect people. So seeking truth is disrespectful. It is the death of truth about God. Therefore the statues of other gods moved into God’s Temple. And of course, with other religions come other ideas of right and wrong, and if Astarte is worship through sex with her prostitutes, then don’t call that wrong. Respect Astarte. The death of truth about God. Horrible things happened because of the death of truth in Israel. The death of truth about God. The French existentialist Albert Camus wrote a famous book called A Plague in which he showed that evil grows and multiplies just like bacteria. It grows. It spreads. Immorality is accumulative. That was Israel. Morally it became a slum society because political correctness said it is judgmental to call anything wrong. The problem with backsliding is that it never stops. It goes farther and farther until God’s people put their babies and their children in the arms of over a roaring fire, and saw nothing wrong with it. When a nation, or parents, backslide away from God, it is always the children that eventually suffer. • Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why.

• What is multiculturalism as defined in the quote and what is the problem with it?

• Is that happening in America? Defend your answer.

• So what would you say to a person who tells you that all religions are the same and lead to the same God?

4. Consider the following Secondly, God is telling Jeremiah - - You can’t change someone who doesn’t want to change. You can cry, plead, beg, threaten, but you can’t change a person who does not want to change. No you can’t! Maybe the most important sentence I came across last week in my research was this: God can only help a person so far! Not even God can change a person who does not want to change. God has given us freewill. We have the freedom to keep on doing what is wrong in His sight, to keep on taking drugs, to keep on damaging people with our mouth, we have the freedom to backslide and deteriorate as a person. Not even God can improve a person who does not want to improve. You can only help a person so far! Only people in Washington seem to have no consequences for their behavior. But for the rest of us non-elite people, every choice has consequences. Choices and consequences are a package deal. Delay doesn’t mean consequences are not coming. Then the Babylonian army came and turned Jerusalem and the Temple into rubble and carted the people off as slaves to . The preachers of the day said “God forgives. There are no consequences.” But they were wrong. Very wrong. And their lives turned to rubble. God tells Jeremiah not to pray for these people because only pain will change them. C. S. Lewis famously said: “God whispers in our blessings, but shouts in our pain. Pain is God’s megaphone.” • What is the most important idea in that quote?

• What does the Lewis quote mean? The implications?

• It does not mean that pain is ALWAYS God’s discipline. Some blame God for any pain they have and assume He is punishing them for something they did. But that is not true. Don’t think every pain you have in life is from God. So…..how do you think you can tell if something is actually God’s discipline? (The most important point here is that deliberate sin does put us at risk; pain can be God’s megaphone.)

5. What does this quote say to you? The 3rd thing God is teaching is that: There is hope in the rubble…..if we will admit we have done wrong things in God’s eyes and REPENT. Repent. You don’t much hear that word anymore. But it was Jesus’ first sermon. Repent. That simply means be willing to change. God can only help us so far. He cannot change a person who does not want to change. Eventually we must learn that - - Life is an echo of our choices. People make their own rubble in life. Pain is a wake-up call. Einstein said something incredibly powerful. He said: We can’t solve our problems with the same behavior that created our problems in the first place. That should be obvious. But I see many people refuse to change. They just make excuses, and people who are good at making excuses never improve. Excuses are the loser in us talking. There is no hope in the rubble if we are making excuses. People have told me that they don’t hold grudges. They just have a long memory. No repentance there. Will they stop holding grudges? Not a chance! Jesus said: Happiness is when you learn to accept apologies you never got and stop making excuses for holding onto anger! • Sum up in a few sentences the point of that quote and say what the implication is.

• People live in circles, repeating the same problems and pain over and over. What does Einstein say the reason many people never solve their problems? Honestly, have you ever made the mistake he is talking about?

• Happiness is accepting apologies you never got. What does that mean? And most importantly when is that HARDEST for us to do?

• Is there someone in your life who never apologized and it is time to accept the apology you never got? Who? Would you be brave enough to tell us what happened and why it has been hard? You do not have to do this but you would be amazed at how freeing it is.

• Sum up in one sentence the most important learning in this study.

Pray for each other. When You Don’t Like Your Life! :4-14 Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions January/February #3

1. Read Jeremiah 29:4-14 slowly for comprehension. Jerusalem has been destroyed. God’s people are exiles in Babylon. They have been forced to leave everything they love behind. They are depressed about what has happened and sad. Summarize in a couple of sentences Jeremiah’s advice to these unhappy people.

2. Consider the following quote: Jeremiah, who is still living in the rubble of Jerusalem, writes them a letter about what to do when you don’t like your life in Babylon. This is what he says: Let go of whatever is already gone…….and thank God for the good things you have left! Jeremiah tells them to stop yearning for the past. You cannot undo what has happened. What is…is. Babylon is your new reality. So build a new life in Babylon. Stop living in the past and start living today. Carpe Diem. Taste today. Jeremiah writes: Build houses and live in them. (Stop sleeping in the dirt). Plant gardens (Have nice dinners again with your family). Take a wife and have children (Enjoy love and married life). Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage and have grandchildren (Grandkids will teach you to laugh and play again). (Jeremiah 29:4-6) I absolutely love Jeremiah’s letter. It is stunning wisdom for all of us whose life is not a fairytale. What is…is. You cannot change what has happened….but you can ruin today counting up your complaints. Jeremiah says in Babylon you have to create your own sunshine. He says plant gardens, marry. In other words, if you are not lighting candles in Babylon, don’t complain about how dark it is! • Underline the hardest sentence to actually do when you are unhappy with your life and say why it is so hard.

• What does it mean to let go of what is already gone? And honestly, where in your life have you had to do that, or maybe presently you need to do that but it is a struggle? Would you describe the situation?

3. In the sermon I had these heavy duty lines: “Pain is inevitable in life, but misery is only optional. The day we take responsibility for our moods and how happy or unhappy we are, is the day we grow up.” • Wrestle with that. Is it true that misery is only optional? Argue with it if you want. But if it is true, why is misery only optional? And if it is only optional, how do we resist being miserable when bad things happen? Counsel us. Get very practical in the steps we must take!

4. In real estate it is location, location, location. In Babylon it is focus, focus, focus. Consider the following quote: Happiness in Babylon depends on your focus. No one can be happier than what they focus on. Focus on what you have lost, focus on what is missing in your life instead of all the good things, and you will be unhappy and you have no one to blame except yourself. You choose your focus. Paul is in Nero’s dungeon waiting to be executed, but his letter to the Philippians is the most joyful of all his letters. People are saying very bad things about him and undermining his ministry. People are betraying him. But he writes this: “Nothing makes me cancel my joy.” (Philippians 4:13) That is stupendous! Elsewhere he writes: “Our joy is inextinguishable”. That is not automatic. It is a choice of focus. So Jeremiah tells God’s people in Babylon - - Stop focusing on your losses and what you don’t like. No, you don’t have Jerusalem. But you have each other and you can marry and have kids and grandkids and the joys of family. Even when you can’t change your situation, you can still change your focus. Victor Frankl wrote about why some survived the Nazi concentration camps in WWII and others did not survive. And you’ll never guess what he said was one of the biggest reasons some survived and others did not. What do you think made the difference? Birthday parties. Some prisoners celebrated birthdays and they survived because they were thankful to be alive. They had fun for a few minutes in Auschwitz. They proved happiness is a choice and it gave them resilience and saved their lives. Others refused to celebrate birthdays. They refused to celebrate that they were still alive. And those who did not celebrate birthdays, for the most part, did not survive. • Underline the most challenging or important line in your opinion and say why.

• Give us 2 good reasons it is hard to focus on what you have left instead of what you have lost.

• What is the point about birthday parties in a concentration camp?

(Personal and private: Honestly, do you need to have a celebration despite the situation you are in? Need a Birthday Party? Until further notice celebrate all the good left in your life! What is that for you?)

• Read Philippians 4:8 slowly. What does it command us to do?

• On a scale of 1-10 how good are you at this? How about your spouse? Would it be good to put that verse on your fridge?

• What does Phil 2:14-15 say about grumbling?

• Why do you think God’s Word is so strong against complaining and grumbling? What does it do to a relationship, to unity in churches, to abundant life?

5. Sum up in a couple of sentences your learnings from this study or the greatest challenge to you given your family background and habits.

Pray for each other. Hope When It Looks Hopeless! :1-9; 17-27; 37-40 Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions January/February #4

1. Please read Jeremiah 32:1-9 and 17-27 and 37-40. • What is Jeremiah saying to God? He has a complaint!

• What miracle does God promise to angry, hopeless Jeremiah?

2. Consider the following: He’s one of God’s best in the Bible but after 35 years of preaching repentance, there was none. The people were grossly immoral, even worshiping Astarte, the goddess of sex by orgies with her prostitutes, and doing it right in the middle of God’s Holy Temple in Jerusalem ! It’s 589 BC. Jeremiah is 57 years old. He has been arrested and thrown in prison for preaching repentance from immorality and idol worship. So there he is in the cold, damp floor of a dungeon with rodents running around as company. Then the most amazing thing happens. God tells him to buy the land the Babylonian army is camping on outside the city walls. His uncle is trying to sell this worthless land but no one will buy it. God commands Jeremiah to buy it and he does. And people laugh. Dumb Jeremiah. After the deal is done, there comes in chapter 32 this AMAZING SECTION where Jeremiah challenges God. He essentially tells God that he knows God is all-powerful…but God is not going to be able to pull this off. Jeremiah is so discouraged that he says, “God, what You are trying to do is HOPELESS.” First, these people are hopeless. They are never going to change. For 35 years you have used my mouth to preach to Your people. These are NOT my sermons. These are YOUR SERMONS. Have the people changed? No. So why do you think You can change them in another 70 years? You have failed for 35 years, and You will fail another 70 years. They are hopeless. That’s for starters God. But secondly the Babylonians will never let Your people leave captivity in Babylon and return to Jerusalem. Your plan of bringing them back to Jerusalem and rebuild from the rubble will never happen BECAUSE the Babylonians will refuse to let the people go. This is impossible even for You Lord! So what is God’s answer to His preacher who thinks its hopeless? First, His answer is a question. God asks Jeremiah: “Is anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:37) Every day our answer to God’s question will be tested. Way back in Genesis 18 God promised and Sarah a baby even though all her life she had been barren. Birthdays came and passed. Her 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th…and now she was 90 and Abraham was 100, but then one morning she woke up….and she was pregnant. God said to name the baby boy which in Hebrew means “laughter”. Every time they called Isaac’s name they were reminded that Sarah laughed when God promised her a baby. It was 1800 BC…..and God said to Abraham and Sarah, “Nothing is impossible for God”. God said that to Jeremiah in 589 BC, and God is saying the same thing to you and me this morning. For 3600 years God has been saying that to His people, and He wonders if we will ever believe it! “Nothing is impossible for God”! If you believe in God, the word “impossible” should not be in your vocabulary. It’s an oxymoron. It’s like saying Brad Pitt is ugly. It should be obvious that is not true. Some of you are pushing back right about now. You are thinking to yourself: “Pastor Mike, you don’t know what my spouse is like or my situation or the diagnosis the doc has given me. Pastor Mike, I like to be realistic, and realistically it’s hopeless….” I’m a realist too. And the most realistic fact in life is this: You can never be too sure what CANNOT happen! So kills the unbeatable giant Goliath. And the Cubs come back after being down 3 games to 1 in the World Series. The Cleveland pitchers looks unbeatable, but the Cubs beat them! You can NEVER be sure what cannot happen! If you’re a realist, you have to admit that realistically you do not know enough to say something cannot happen. History is full of surprises. Paul Harvey made a lot of money telling us ‘the rest of the story”.

• Underline the most challenging or sometimes hard to believe sentence and say why.

• “Nothing is too hard for God”….until this or that happens, until you made a mistake in who you married, until you have a terrible disease. So….when has it been hard for you to believe nothing is impossible for God? What situation do you face that challenges that idea about God? Will you share honestly.

• When it is hard to believe God can do what looks impossible, when a situation looks hopeless, what would you suggest is the single most important thing to do to keep believing God when He says “Nothing is impossible for Him”?

3. Maybe this will help. Consider the following: A severe mercy is a phrase from C. S. Lewis. Every loving parents knows what that is. Captivity was very painful but it was merciful because it saved them from worse things happening. That is why I say: Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. Surely someone here needs to make up their mind to stop complaining about a situation and make the best of it, to rebuild in the rubble. Realistic people change what they can change, accept what they cannot change and make the best of it. They rebuild from the rubble. Because things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. What I am trying to convince you of is that negative and pessimistic thinking is a luxury you cannot afford! Why? Because it not only makes you no fun to live with….but negative thinking tends to be a self-fulfilling prediction. You become uncreative with solutions. You become obsessed with your complaints and stop smelling the roses.

Golfers know this. Stand on the tee of a 3 par hole surrounded by water and say to yourself “I bet I hit the ball into the water”…and you probably will. Pessimistic thinking will actually affect your swing. All golfers know that the biggest hazards on a golf course are not the sand traps and lakes. The biggest hazard on a golf course is pessimistic negative thinking. The biggest hazard is inside your head. We become our worst obstacle. • Underline the most important or challenging sentence and say why?

• How does this quote apply to your life? EG, on a scale of 1-10 how much of a negative thinker are you? You call it being realistic but actually it is convincing yourself something cannot happen. So on a scale of 1-10 where do you land?

• Would you be honest and say what in your life are you thinking negative, hopeless, can’t happen thoughts?

• Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” In your own words what does that mean to do? And what is the negative alternative to doing that?

4. Could this quote help when you are tempted to give up and say something is hopeless? Secondly, hope is the decision not to give up. Remember: 2 snails made it to Noah’s ark because they would NOT give up! I think that is INSPIRATIONAL! J.R. Rowling is a very talented writer but no one ever would have heard of her or Harry Potter if she had decided her dream was hopeless. She was a single mother on welfare trying to get her first Harry Potter book published but only got rejection slips. She refused to give up hope. She stood by the door of her mind and refused to let hopeless thoughts come inside. NEGATIVE THOUGHTS were a luxury she could not afford. Oh those thoughts came knocking, but she would not open the door of her mind to let them in. She realized: If you want to walk on water, don’t be thinking about sharks! Focus. Choose what; you focus your mind on. It’s your choice! Take responsibility! She is a billionaire today because she won the most important battle - - the battle inside her mind. I like what Winston Churchill said in WWII just after their disastrous defeat at Dunkirk and the German air force was bombing London into rubble. Winston said to Parliament: Our situation is more hopeful than the facts indicate. Life gives us lots of invitations to lose hope and give up, but God asks, “Is anything too hard for Me.” Every day life will test your answer to that question. • Underline the most important sentence or hardest to believe and say why.

• In your own words what is the BIG idea in that quote and why?

• “If you want to walk on water, don’t be thinking about sharks”. Why? If you want to walk on water, what’s the problem with thinking about sharks?

• Where in your life are you thinking about sharks or….tempted to focus on sharks? So what are you going to do to stop thinking about sharks?

5. Consider this: Third, hope is a person. David’s life fell apart when his family was captured by his enemy and made slaves. So what did David do. The Bible says: “David encouraged himself in the Lord.” Not with a platitude! Not with a banal cliché! Hope is a person. Jonah, when he was in tough times, said, “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts to the Lord.” (Jonah 2:7) That’s what Jeremiah did. In the worst of times Jeremiah said, “When Your Word came O Lord, I ate it.” (:16) Ezekiel did the same and so did David. They ate God’s Word. They meant that they chewed on what God said. They digested His Word. They didn’t skim it. And it nourished hope in hopeless situations. They ate God’s Word…and it toughened them up. We hear all the time that we are what we eat…. That’s never more true than spiritually or emotionally. We are what we eat. We need to digest God’s Word in order to grow. It’s the law of exposure. We become emotionally and spiritually what we expose ourself to. What we read! Who we hang with. What we watch. Life will test what is inside us. I have seen it 100’s of times. A person is tested by life and they crumble….because they did not know the promises of God in the Bible. Spiritually they are weak and eventually life comes to collect. • What is the most important sentence and why?

• Life will test what is inside us. What do I mean by that? Is it true or would you say no?

• We are talking about ‘holy sweat’! Working at knowing the Word of God; there is no other way to know Him! We can’t lay the Bible under our pillow, sleep on it, and wake up filled with God’s promises. Holy sweat: Doing these studies slowly and thoughtfully. Underlining our Bible. Memorizing a verse out of each study that strengthens us. Most Christians hardly ever read the Bible and they wonder why they are weak. So what is one thing specifically you could do to invest some ‘holy sweat’ into knowing God’s Word?

Pray for each other Discouraged? :1-22 Compass of Salinas/Marina Life Group Discussions March #1

1. Read Jeremiah 44:1-22. • In a sentence or 2 what is the big point of this passage? What is God saying?

• To whom is He speaking (verse 1)?

• (v 15-18). What are they doing they know is sin, but they are determined to keep doing this sin because of its benefits?

• Sin always has a payoff, some kind of benefit. That is why sin is sometimes so hard to stop. Name at least 3 common sins today and list their benefits. That is why the Bible describes sin as Satan’s bait. o o o

2. I am loving Jeremiah. Hope you are too! The background for our reading is the action in the previous chapter. Babylonia has conquered Jerusalem; unknown by them, God is using them as a tool to discipline a rebellious people, who have been given 2nd chances for 600 years. At some point God decides that the only tool left is pain. Pain is God’s megaphone to wake us up! Because the people thought it could never happen – discipline that is – God destroys the Temple and God’s people are carted off to captivity in Babylon.

Left behind is a of poor and unskilled people. Babylon sends as their governor over the remnant. But he is assassinated by terrorist sent by the King of Amon. Now God’s people horribilize: Babylon will blame us and slaughter us. So they flee to though Jeremiah warned them not to; trust in the Lord instead of following your fears. Fear is a poor decision maker. Trust the Word of God.

But they didn’t. They followed their fears to Egypt even though God warned that Egypt was next to be disciplined. By horribilizing, the remnant let their fears walk them right into the path of more pain. But could the people admit that? No way. They blame God. So human: So much of our pain is self-made by our choices, especially fear choices. • Underline the most significant sentence and say why.

• Without names, write in a few sentences the choice, especially a fear choice, that someone you know made that produced so much pain in their life.

• In verse 7 God asks, “Why are you DESTROYING yourselves?” Good question. Why do people keep doing what is destroying themselves or their marriage or their reputation?

• (Personal/not to share unless you want to) Reflect on your life: What choice, especially a fear choice, did you once make that produced a lot of pain and you wish you could take it back, but you can’t? And write a sentence or two about what you have learned about our choices and our pain.)

3. Consider the following quote: Jeremiah is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Bible. The sermons God gave him got no respect. Why? Because God used Jeremiah to warn that there are always consequences to sin. Sin is like a credit card: Enjoy now, pay later. That’s the message of the book of Jeremiah. The consequences came! Babylonia turned Jerusalem and their homes into rubble. The dead littered the streets. Most were herded like cattle off to Babylon. Babylonia left a REMNANT – PEOPLE who were of no use to them. Jeremiah was one of the useless people and so he was left behind with others. Most of those left in Jerusalem fled to Egypt even though God said not to do that, that it would end in disaster for them if they did. But the people did it anyway, and they forced Jeremiah to go with them. What happened next is almost unbelievable. Guess what the people do? In Egypt they repeat the same sins that brought ruin in Jerusalem just a year earlier. They worship the same idols they did in Jerusalem like Astarte, or Aphrodite as the Greeks named her. I have actually seen an idol of Astarte in Ephesus. She is covered with 40 breasts because she was the goddess of sex. And worship of her involved sex with her temple prostitutes. And so the people repeat the same behavior, the same sins, that caused all of their problems and pain in Jerusalem. They, like their parents, broke the : Don’t worship other gods and no sex outside of marriage. Jeremiah can’t believe it. He challenges the stupidity of repeating the same behavior, and attitudes of their family chain. We humans often do this. We go through pain but refuse to change and our life becomes a merry-go-round of the same behavior with the same painful consequences. Round and round we go through the same pain. Is anyone here on the merry-go-round of life? Maybe you know someone who is on the merry-go-round? They seem to have the same problems year after year. Their life is a merry- go-round of holding grudges, of losing their temper, of overspending and debt, -- the list is long of merry-go-round choices. It’s been said that: Insanity is not changing but expecting better results! Discouraged is to weak a word for how Jeremiah is feeling. For 50 years he has tried to persuade the people to change, but they don’t. I’ll bet some of us are discouraged. I’ll bet some of us are worn out by people you’ve tried to talk sense to but they aren’t listening. They are mule-headed and argumentative, and you are worn out trying to help them. But remember: Only dead people never battle discouragement. • Underline the most important sentence and say why. • How would you apply this quote and what you underlined to life? What difference does it make?

• God’s people became like the unbelievers around them. Instead of being light in the darkness, they became part of the darkness in behavior, attitudes, and what they wanted out of life. They wanted the same things as the Egyptians: good sex, success (that is why they worshipped these gods – for blessing materially). So, how about us? Is there any difference? More importantly, what are the 2 most important things in your opinion to stay faithful to Jesus and not COMPROMISE – becoming part of the NORMAL?

• Jeremiah battled discouragement. No one was listening. People were making bad decisions, even choices that were sin. They were stubborn. And Jeremiah got worn out talking to them. Honestly, who in your life is discouraging? Who won’t listen to reason?

• So what do you do? Don’t just say pray. THAT is vital, but what else? Stop arguing? Let the consequences come? Rescue them? What?

4. Consider this quote from the message: First, he does not quit. The list is LONG of famous failures who did not quit. Steve Jobs was 30 years old when he was ceremonially removed from the company he created. He was devastated but he didn’t quit. He bounced back and saved Apple. Albert Einstein wasn’t able to speak until he was 4. His teacher said he would never amount to anything. Later at university his Ph.D. dissertation was rejected as unimaginative and trite, and he was denied a Ph.D. But he did not give up and became the most famous scientist of all time. Bill Gates is a dropout from Harvard and his first business - - Traf-o-data - - failed. But he persevered and look what happened. What this adds up to is this: If you have never failed, you are aiming too low. To succeed you must dare to fail! Failure is never final unless you quit! Giving up makes permanent what you always dreaded would happen. In my research last week I came across data on the difference between a very successful salesperson and a mediocre one. Surveys have found that after 1 contact, 38% gave up on trying to sell the client. After 2 contacts another 27% of sales people gave up. After the 3rd contact another 15% gave up, and after the 4th contact another 10% gave up. 90% of salespeople give up before the 5th try. Guess what? 80% of sales are made after the 5th contact. But only 10% of salespeople are still trying at that point and they get 80% of the sales. Perseverance. It will make you money. And that’s why I say: Reality is what could be…if we don’t give up. Nothing in the world is as important as perseverance. Talent is not as important. There are lots of talented unsuccessful people. Education is not as important. The world is full of unsuccessful educated people. Persistence. PERSEVERANCE……that was Jeremiah. He kept on trying. He would not give up. • Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why. • Stop and meditate. Be quiet. Ask Jesus how or with whom He wants you to apply what you underlined to your life. Please write a few sentences, if you can, without any names.

• “Perseverance. Reality is what could be if we don’t give up”. But sometimes in some things or with some people, doesn’t there come a time it is best to cut your losses and move on? Don’t we have to know when to hold and when to fold? Sometimes do we have to take our hands off their throat and leave them to the Holy Spirit, that if we keep banging on them we actually get in the way of God’s work? Either agree and disagree and say why, and try to give a real life example.

• So how do you know when to let a person go and allow God to bring pain to wake them up? How do you know when to persevere and when to let them have the consequences of their choices? (Btw, the worst thing we can do is RESCUE them from consequences. Do that with a drunk or druggie, and they will stay hooked. Do that with a child who is irresponsible, and they will stay irresponsible).

5. Consider this quote: Sanctification: That one word summarizes The Book of Jeremiah. Do you know that word? It means to make holy. To purify. To cleanse of sin. I’m afraid that the devil has been very successful in reverently reducing Christianity to merely forgiveness. Legions of Christians think that to be saved means to be forgiven, end of story. But look with me at Ephesians 1, verse 4. “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” What is God’s purpose? It is to make us holy. To make us like Him. Not merely forgive us and leave us the same. Forgiveness is only admission to His workshop where He intends to transform us into a new creation, to chip off anything that is not how He would behave or what His attitudes are. Forgiveness is not the end. It is only admission to God’s workshop. Jesus says we are to forgive like He does, love like He does, serve like He does. The Christian life is the imitation of Jesus. That is why we talk about walking in Jesus’ footsteps. So Colossians 3, verse 16 says “Whatever you do, do it all in the name of Jesus.” We are to continually ask ourselves this question - - can I say or do this in the name of Jesus? Can I put His name on my behavior? If I can’t , then it is sin. • In a sentence say what SANCTIFICATION means?

• Underline the most important sentence in your opinion and say why. Also, can you say what the problem is in doing whatever you underlined?

• Ask yourself this question: “Can I say or do this in the name of Jesus? Can I put His name on my behavior or attitude? If I cannot, it is sin”. Zowie. Is that true? Say why or if is not true, what is your argument against it?

• (Personal and private, so be honest). Reflect for a mere 10 minutes on how you have lived since Christmas. What attitude or behavior could you NOT put the name of Jesus on and claim you did what you did in the name of Jesus?

• So what now? What is your plan for less and less NOT BEING ABLE to put the name of Jesus on your attitude or behavior – especially if this attitude or behavior has been your normal for years?

6. The following is maybe the most crucial message of Jeremiah: I once counseled a married couple at the request of the wife. I asked him to step out of my office into the waiting room and then asked his wife - - “On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very severe pain, how would you rate your marriage?” She said quietly “25.” I asked her to step outside and brought her husband back in and asked the same question to him. He answered, “Oh probably a 1.” He was clueless as to how his behavior and attitudes were affecting his wife. His sins were depriving their marriage of union and happiness. I read the best definition of repentance this last week: “It’s being sorry enough to stop.” Part of repentance is starting to think about how our attitudes and behavior are affecting other people. What’s it like to work with you? What’s it like to be married to you? What’s it like to be one of your children? Remember the wife who rated her pain as 25 in the marriage but the guy was clueless about how he was hurting her? After they left, this is what I thought: You can’t keep hurting a person and expect them to keep loving you! Repentance is not a piddly thing. It is the chance to save something from sin turning it into rubble. My guess is that some of us here today are going to lose something important if we refuse to repent. Love is being sorry enough to stop doing something. • Underline the most important sentence and say why.

• Why is repentance not a piddly thing according to that quote?

• My observation as a pastor is that at the Lord’s Supper many people cannot think of anything to repent of. They are not a thief or killer; they don’t consider temper or being judgmental or gossip bad. Of course they have never considered if they could put the name of Jesus on their gossip etc. Still many many of us don’t see us as having much to repent of. Why is that? Give at least 2 reasons why people don’t do much self-examination and repenting (and it would be good if you would honestly include one excuse you make).

Pray

Memory verse: “God asks, “Why are you DESTROYING yourselves?”(Jeremiah 44:7)