St Andrew’s URC Jeremiah 29:11 – 16th August 2026

INTRODUCTION TO TODAY’S THEME

Did you know that God has a plan for your life? Not only a plan, but plans, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. That should make you feel good. I mean the God who created the universe knows you personally and has plans for your life. Good plans, positive plans.

Whatever age we are, we all have plans. Those of us who are older had plans when we were younger; things we wanted to do when we were older. Boys often had dreams of playing for their favourite football team or playing lead or bass guitar in a rock band. However much I was drawn to those dreams being totally right-footed and tone deaf neither were serious realities for me!

I wonder what plans and dreams you have? Anyone prepared to share them? What would you like to be?

In our service we will also be thinking about a piece in the Bible which realises that sometimes life isn’t as easy as we would like and difficult things happen. The Bible tells us that even then God can bring good things out of these tough times. So you might want to think of something that you would like God’s help on. You could write that down too.

REFLECTION: Part One: Jeremiah 29:11 in context – Hope in Captivity

Today’s text is Jeremiah 29:11
‘ 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.’

It tells us that God has a good plan for our lives. I’ve used this scripture many times, but this morning I want to put this wonderful God given promise in context to the people it was originally spoken to. It was given to God’s people in exile in Babylon.

So it is to a people in mourning for the loss of their homeland and the destruction of their beloved Temple, the centre of their faith in God. It is a message of hope in the midst of utter despair. The depth of their despair is revealed in Psalm 137.

The opening verse reads:
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” (Psalm 137:1)

Remember the Bony M hit song ‘By the rivers of Babylon’. Don’t worry I’m not going to sing it.

You might well be wondering how Jeremiah 29:11 could possibly be of any consolation to those exiles receiving Jeremiah’s prophecy of God’s plan for them to be one without harm and to give them hope and a future.

We need to understand why they are in exile. The Israelites had forgotten God’s deliverance from captivity and slavery in Egypt. They had forgotten his promises and goodness to them, forsaken God and prostituted themselves to foreign gods and nations. God had warned them of the consequences, which they had ignored. So God had just let them get on with it and had withdrawn his hand of protection. They had then been invaded and taken off into exile and captivity.

But this wasn’t the first time that God’s people had been in bondage. They had been in captivity and slavery in Egypt.

The best part of a thousand years pass from that first captivity and they are now in exile in Babylon. They had forgotten that God had freed them from exile and captivity before. Jeremiah told them that God would intervene again (which he did when they had had a chance to reflect on their unfaithfulness and show their remorse).

Exactly what is captivity? It is the state of being confined, imprisoned, or restrained under someone else’s control, with no freedom to leave or act independently. It means being detained, enslaved, or in forced servitude or bondage. However, it also includes our own internal bondage when we are held prisoner by our own habits, desires, anxieties, addictions, fears and phobias.

We in the UK are a free nation. However, we, like many people around the world, are under some form of captivity, bondage and enslavement even if we are not ruled by another nation. How so, you might ask? We are not free from worry and most of us would admit that we have fears or things in our lives that plague us and spoil our enjoyment of the abundant life that God offers us. A month ago Rodney Ward preached on Jesus’ parable of the Sower. In this parable the corn from the seed that falls among the thorns and briars is strangled. In life it represents when we are distracted by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of the world. This restricts our ability to be the people that God created us to be.

What are the things that might hold us and our modern society captive?

Materialism
Money worries
Mental health concerns
What others’ think about us
Our health
Our relationships
Addictions to drugs, alcohol and pornography

I could go on.

There are also many who are in actual captivity around our world due to their faith in Jesus, or for standing up to corrupt governments and leaders. Try speaking the truth in Russia or North Korea! Or opposing drug cartels in Central America.

Psalm 137 expresses the torment of God’s people exiled in a foreign land. The Babylonians had taunted them; Sing us a song from your homeland. They responded:

‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion
When the wicked carried us away in captivity
required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a strange land.’

It begs the question as to how we could sing a song of joy if we were kept away from all we love and all that is crucial and precious to us? How can we sing God’s song when we are metaphorically in exile and captivity, when we have lost the things, or the person that is precious to us and we are not at peace? After we’ve sung our next hymn we will examine the hope God offers. First let’s sing.

Readings from Scripture:

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Genesis 50:15-21 Joseph Comforts His Brothers

REFLECTION Part Two: Freedom from captivity

So Joseph forgives and reassures his brothers. He realises that all the ill treatment he received at the hands of his brothers and all the injustices and captivity he suffered were part of God’s plan to look after his people. God brought good out of evil.

In the Bible we find an abundance of God’s promises for the abundant life he offers us (when we accept Jesus into our lives and follow the path that God shows us).

Here are some of those promises and blessings we inherit:

You are adopted as a child of God, made in his image, God’s workmanship;
Being born of God means that the devil cannot touch you;
You are adopted into God’s family;
Called a brother and friend of Jesus;
Inherit citizenship of heaven;
You are redeemed and forgiven for all the things you have done wrong; and are;
Set free from condemnation and wrongful desires;
We stand complete in Jesus, wanting nothing!

Have you ever been asked what you want for your birthday? Well I think the gifts we have just named exceed anything we could ever ask for!

But, there is a big but. We forget these promises, these inheritances and let our fears, desires and worries get in the way.

We heard earlier the many ways the modern world enslaves us and stops us being whole, at peace, and being at one with ourselves and others. They also hold us back from receiving God’s blessings in our lives.

I haven’t got time to go through them all, but we’ll look at a few and how God can set us free. It involves us having faith in Him, remembering that he is a promise keeper.

Let’s hear some scriptures to remind us:

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Jeremiah 29:11 reassures us that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives.

But still we worry!
We are still held captive by our worries.

What do we worry about?

Materialism (We worry about what we own, or that we would like to own). Do we have enough money?
We worry about what others think about us. This is one of the biggest things that hold our young people captive. Do I have enough likes from my on-line posts!

Any of these can lead to mental health issues.
Here’s what Scripture has to say to us:

Reading from Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

Reflection Continued:

Let me ask you a question. Can you tell the difference between the things that you can control and the things you cannot? If we really think about it, then yes we can tell the difference. If that’s the case then why do we worry about the things we cannot control?

If it is an issue that we can have influence over, then why don’t we do something about it. We can seek God’s guidance in prayer and we can seek the wise counsel of those we trust and perhaps those involved in the situation.

We might worry about our health, or that of a loved one. Yes, we can pray for healing, which might come in the form of actual physical healing, or the peace of mind to handle its implications. However, this doesn’t preclude being proactive in seeking the appropriate medical help. Jesus encountered and healed people with serious skin complaints, which would have excluded them from their communities. However, on healing them he still sent them to the appropriate medical authority to be declared healed to end their captivity and to be able to re-enter their community.

As a church we have a part to play in healing. Yes, we can pray for healing (and we do), but one of the gifts of the Holy spirit is that of healing.

In James 5:14 gives the invitation:
‘Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.’

Another prison is that of worry. And we do worry about things. We worry about important issues and also for the daftest of reasons! To worry is to be held captive and to be bound. Worry, while human, has no useful purpose and drags us down. Caring is a different emotion entirely. We can care and we can seek ways to resolve the issues we can affect. I love the book ‘The Chimp Paradox’. It explores how we react in different situations. It seeks to address when we react impulsively and inappropriately. It often causes arguments, confrontation and worry. The Chimp Paradox suggests that we put in place alternative responses. Our scripture can give us these alternative reactions.

Let me ask you another question. When do you worry most? Do you ever wake up in the middle of night with your concerns? They seem magnified and keep you awake. An alternative strategy might be to remind ourselves of God’s promises. The Devil tries to put doubt in our minds and causes us to worry. A recent entry in one of my daily Bible reflections gave this advice:

So when evil draws near, stand up to him and say: ‘What are you doing here? I’m not standing for your accusations. I won’t be cowered by you.’

When he dredges up your past mistakes, tell him you are in Christ and he has dealt with all you have done wrong. I’m redeemed and forgiven. Actually the Devil knows who you are, that you belong to Jesus and are under his protection. He’s just trying to get you to forget. You are special in God’s sight. Don’t forget it.

One other thing that gets in the way of our peace. That of forgiveness (well the lack of it on either our part or the part of someone else whom we have hurt). God always forgives when we are truly sorry and want to make a fresh start. Always. But humanly, the lack of forgiveness, and forgiveness reciprocated, is like a cancer which eats away at our peace and happiness. So I would ask that if we truly mean what we say when we recite The Lord’s Prayer, that we examine our relationships, people we are not at peace with and seek to deal with those issues.

Matthew 5:23-24 offers this advice:
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, or sister and then come and present your offering.’

Also Ephesians 4:32,
‘Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’

If we don’t resolve these differences, then I truly believe that we will be living in captivity to our past and we will not be able to receive all the blessings God has in store for us. The issues may be painful, but they need resolution.

In a recent Christianity magazine a man called Colin Mason shared his story:

He was abused by the people he should have been able to trust. He somehow survived this abuse and after a family member invited him to church he eventually gave himself to Christ. Eventually he realised that he would never be at peace unless he forgave those who had abused him. In his own words here is what happened:

‘Not long into that journey, I was confronted by the need to forgive them. At first I resisted. I thought that forgiving them meant saying what they did was acceptable. But what forgiveness did for me was to break the chain of anger and bitterness that was poisoning my soul. Sometimes it felt impossible, but I learned that forgiveness is not excusing the offender, it is choosing freedom for myself. Carrying that weight was crushing, and Jesus never meant us to carry it.’

Colin and his wife now have a ministry of reconciliation and healing for those struggling with similar issues, bringing freedom and peace in place of past hurts and unforgiveness. Colin concludes:

‘This is the wonder of the Gospel – God can take the messiest consequences of human sin and bring beauty out of ashes.’

As Romans 8:28 says:
‘God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’

And as Jeremiah told us ‘God has a plan, a purpose for our lives’

That plan is to ensure that we are free from captivity, from bondage, from enslavement, and from all the things that would prevent us from living the abundant life he offers. It does not mean that our lives will necessarily be free from difficulty or perhaps even tragedy, but he does promise us that as we heard he can turn all things for good for those who love him and are living in tune with his purposes.

Amen

“Rivers Of Babylon”

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion

When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Requiring of us a song
Now how shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land

Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight
Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion

By the rivers of Babylon (dark tears of Babylon)
There we sat down (You got to sing a song)
Ye-eah we wept, (Sing a song of love)
When we remembered Zion. (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah)

By the rivers of Babylon (Rough bits of Babylon)
There we sat down (You hear the people cry)
Ye-eah we wept, (They need their God)
When we remembered Zion. (Ooh, have the power)

Redeeming Our Past for a Brighter Future

September 24th, 2023

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (NIV)

As humans, we all carry the weight of mistakes from our past. At times, we might feel burdened by regrets, guilt, or shame. However, our compassionate God can turn even our most significant mistakes into stepping stones for a brighter future.

In His infinite wisdom and grace, God specializes in redemption. He can use our past mistakes to shape us into stronger, wiser, and more compassionate individuals. Our failures can become opportunities for growth and transformation.

Remember the story of the Apostle Peter. Despite fervently denying Jesus three times, Peter experienced the redeeming love of Christ. Jesus not only forgave Peter but also entrusted him with the great responsibility of shepherding His flock (John 21:15-17). Peter’s past mistake did not define him; rather, it became a testimony of God’s restoring power.

When we surrender our mistakes to God, He turns them into testimonies of His grace. Our brokenness becomes a canvas for His healing brushstrokes. What once caused pain and sorrow can now become a source of hope and encouragement for others.

As we walk with God, let us lean on His promises, knowing that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). God can use the broken pieces of our past to create a beautiful mosaic of purpose and destiny.

Do not allow the mistakes of your past to hold you back. Trust in God’s redemptive power to heal and transform your life. Embrace His forgiveness and restoration, and step confidently into the future He has prepared for you.