The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
good morning church blessed Chinese New Year today's scripture reading is taken from Jeremiah chapter 29 verse1 Jeremiah 29:1 let's focus on the word of God 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 this is the word of God good morning friends kongi kongi now I wanted to say kongi faai but someone told me you can't say that in the church so you got to say Sing Wong Fu which be more appropriate probably you know what it
means friends next Sunday we'll have El Edan sharing the word of the Lord with us he's he's going to talk about the big fish the following week is Brandon Wong u h be on the grave and the the week after that on the 23rd will be uh Elder honol liim resilient Joy now they show that when you show the congregation what the pastors do pastor does on his weekends they'll tend to love you more now during the weekends my friends and I will go hiking uh jungle tracking that's something that I love to do um I tried
to invite Elder Gan and the passal team but they refused many times I tried they said climb up their heels and all that it's very difficult for them but anyway while I was going on this hike recently one of my one one of my friends asked me this question now let me tell you all of them are unbelievers I'm the only believer there they all are unbelievers and they know that I'm a pastor and one of them asked me the guy with the green t-shirt the White Cap right the back asked me he said what is this thing about this Jeremiah
2911 he said he was intrigued by these verses because uh at a mama restaurant he saw a few guys wearing this on a on a on a t-shirt it was printed on the T-shirt Jeremiah 2911 and so feeling curious what he did was he Googled it up you know now you want to know anything you always ask Uncle Google so he Googled it up and he said he was fascinated he was touched by these words found in these verses he said he felt the words the words to be very meaningful he felt good he felt comforted by these verses though he was
not a Christian an unbeliever and of course did got this got us talking what this verse means this is a very famous verse and many love this verse for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and a future many look at this verse and accept it as a personal promise of God's assurance and are comforted and encouraged by these verses especially when you're going through pain problems and unsure of the future now though this is a famous and
Powerful verse as all verses in the Bible are it is a verse that is often misunderstood misquoted misinterpreted and normally taken out of context now if you look at it historically when the Prophet Jeremiah first wrote These prophetic words to the children of Israel the Israelites didn't accept these words well they were in difficulty they were feeling insecure they were in an unpromising and probably one of the worst situations in their life Jeremiah 2911 is actually a larger part of a long letter written to the
Jews who were not in Judah not in Jerusalem but who were in Exile in Babylon in fact if you study the whole chapter of Jeremiah 29:28 and also 30 you'll realize when the Jews got this word they were not very happy because it was something they didn't want to hear if you look at in in context so when you read it read it from from the beginning Jeremiah 29:1 you will realize Jeremiah 29 verse 11 is actually not a very encouraging verse under close scrutiny the context of this passage passage tells us that
the Jews or the first recipients the first heers of these words didn't didn't receive these words well words that we take it for granted today and we are so happy when we read it the first heers the first recipients didn't take it well why because the Jews had an expectation to be delivered and they're waiting for the good news but as we study these verses we'll realize sometimes our expect ation of God's plan for us may not actually be God's plan for us at all please hear this very carefully our expectation for God's plan
for of God's plan of God's plan in our life may not actually be God's plan for us at all so when the unexpected detours and deviations happens in our life we cannot accept it when when things change when plans change we get upset we get irritated we get discouraged even enraged sometimes our expectation of God's plan for ourself and our families may not be God's plan at all say how come this is what I've planned out for my wife for my daughter for my son for my son-in-law for my daughter-in-law to come but things don't
go the way that we expect we get upset that was exactly what is going on for the Jews now what do we do in such circumstances that is when you and I need to trust and submit to God's plan though it is bitter friends Jeremiah 2911 is not a very encouraging and comforting words after all let's bow our heads and look to the Lord in prayer Heavenly Father dear Lord Jesus I thank you for this wonderful morning we thank you for this holiday season we thank you for the many who have gathered here today though it's a holiday season Lord
we thank you for Chinese New Year we thank you for friends for the celebration for family reunions and Gatherings Lord we have come here today to seek your face to seek your word master I pray that you will speak to us today you will be with me this weak vessel and with your children today father I pray that you will Minister unto us be with me as I Proclaim your word and your children as I hear your word we commit this time to the hands Jesus name we pray amen and so when you read the whole letter and jeremi Jeremiah 29
11 we realize that Jeremiah 29:11 actually is a conditional promise like all other promises in the Bible every of God's promises in the Bible is conditional if you obey me then this blessings shall come upon you and this is another conditional promise the condition is we will need to trust and obey God God even when we do not agree with his plans or even when we don't like his plans or even when his plans doesn't coincide doesn't suit our plans and that act of obedience is like swallowing a bitter peel I was thinking
I should put one peel or many if I put many then you'll understand it's like swallowing a bitter peill before the re uring promise of promises of Jeremiah 29:11 is given the Jews who were in Exile in Babylon were warned they were warned not to rebel against their tormenters the Babylonians not to go against Nebuchadnezzar and you if you continue reading Jeremiah 29 from verse one onwards you'll realize that Jeremiah before he came to this ver was telling the people who were in Exile in Babylon you are selling them you are
to plant and build houses encourage your children to get married in the foreign land and most important of all pray for the prosperity of Babylon can you imagine these people were angry with their captives with the Babylonians because they were deported from their Homeland taken as slaves hands and legs tied and they had to walk miles they didn't they didn't have a jumbo aircraft to carry them they had to walk in the desert desert sand and now God is telling them through Jeremiah pray for those for your
captives for your persecutors this is totally and completely Unthinkable Jeremiah 29:7 says and also seek the peace and the prosperity of the city which I have carried you into Exile remember the word I carried you into Exile pray for it because if it prosperous you too will prosper come on these people in Exile they're waiting when they can go back to their Homeland and you're asking us to pray for those who persecuted who are persecuting us can you imagine God asking you to pray for your those who are persecuting
you right now who is tormenting you person who is a pain to you people whom you hate it could be your your mother-in-law whom you can't stand don't laugh or your boss who is overbearing or a working colleague who is out for your position or a neighbor your next door neighbor who lives in the same housing garden with you your neighbor who slenders you Slanders you on WhatsApp and also on group WhatsApp sometimes you know these people will say okay okay okay never mind I'll put it in the group let everybody give
their opinion be careful of such evil people because there there's a different motiv that they have a different motivation to do that it's not let people know but it's actually to slander to bring you down or a friend a close friend who has betrayed your T trust or a spouse who is cheating on you can you pray for them can you pray for these people who is a pain tormenting your life and you're thinking when they will die but they're not they're not dead they don't seem to die and they keep on inflicting pain in your
life and that is what God is asking to do now this letter from Jeremiah came and they were excited when the letter came from from Jerusalem now when you ask the Jews to pray for Jerusalem they've got no issue because Jews are thought to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem because God is in Jerusalem but now you're asking to pray for the Babylonians the heathens people who who do not worship Yahweh you also to pray for the Peace of babyon well my friends if you look at Matthew 5:44 in the New Testament Christ
again and again tells us this pray for those who persecute you bless and do not curse the word of God is consistent in the Bible now very quickly some background information to Jeremiah 2911 around 597 BC King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who was the largest and the biggest Empire at that time to the Known World conquered attacked and conquered Jerusalem this was a warning the prophets of God warning zephia was was warning Jeremiah was warning them repent of their idolatry this are people of God they committed adultery idolatry they
were cheating they never took care of the poor the marginalized they went against God's word offering incense to other gods neuch didn't attack them immediately first they were supposed to pay tribute but then they became arrogant and said we will not pay tribute to Babylon then there was a Siege no food nobody could go into it but they still did not listen and and finally the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar attacked and ransacked Jerusalem the temple which Solomon build was destroyed the golden goblets and the
articles that were that were used for ceremonial worship were taken to Babylon and they had to walk the captives have to walk Babylon you know is modern day Iraq and the place they went to was about 50 miles south of Baghdad now Nebuchadnezzar took only the rich the smart people the elite the educated the intelligent the skilled workers these are the people who were taken as slaves to Babylon so if you're not educated you escape at the time but if you are educated you have a good business things
are going well for you you wanted to serve your captors and the Babylonians took their educated the Eli group and left the poor the pheasants and the farmers even Jeremiah was left behind and you all know that this period historically is known as the Babylonian captivity their sister King the Northern Kingdom Israel had fallen a few 100 years earlier in 721 BC they were taken by the Assyrians and now the southern Kingdom of Judah fell now the people the Jews who were in Babylon preferred to hear the words of
the prophets because the prophets the false prophets told them you will only be here for two years so don't worry God will destroy Nebuchadnezzar God will destroy the Babylonians say God will do that but not in the time that you are expecting the prophets told them you will just be here for 2 years but Jeremiah told them these prophets are prophesizing lies to you if you obey the Lord's commandment and you do not rebel against the Babylonians and if you serve the Babylonians you establish yourself in
this foreign land and God will come and take you back to Jerusalem not one year not in 2 years or 3 years but 70 years later so this words that God will of Jeremiah 29:11 came in a time when they were not expecting this from the Lord they were expecting a different word a better word because it was a challenging time for the people for Jewish people in Babylon they were in pain they were in humiliation it was a very sorrowful atmosphere Psalms 137 talks about this and Bon made it popular by the rivers of
babyon I don't know you can sing the song in church or not but it was terrible where the captors wanted to sing the song wanted to sing the songs of Zion in a strange and foreign land how can we do that why you can worship God anywhere so the Exile was a time of pain and suffering difficulty and uncertainty for the Israelites they were forced to live in a foreign land under foreign rule they were unhappy living in Exile in a foreign land strange culture now they are not a free person they they are
captives just like how their forefathers were captives in Egypt they were not used to this strange and new lifestyle because it is not a type of life that they had planned for or hoped for friends I want to ask you an important question can you identify with the Israelites have you been or are you are have you been or are you in a situation where you are unhappy because of the situation you are in is not of your choice you are forced into it or the situation forc himself itself upon you this is not what you have planned
for but suddenly you caught in an unfamiliar strange situation where you are now forced to make changes like probably a change of a job you're forced to change your job and you're you're not happy about it or your job is there but the management has changed the management of your company has changed and you are happy about it or somebody Your Love passed away the death of a spouse or someone who's very close to you and that causes you to make changes in your life or you receive a bad report of your
health that is declining or you receive a bad report of a health or someone who is close to you that is declining unexpected problems with your children you thought this will happen to other people's children you never expect this happen to your child you never imagine that they will be so disobedient they will betray you hurt you and because of all this problem things now has caused you to make changes and adjustments and no matter how much you are trying you are struggling you're trying to adjust
yourself and you're saying and you're saying I don't like being in this situation I don't like being in this situation I don't like being in this place I don't like it I don't want this type of a life if I had a choice I want it different I want something better I prefer it this way not not like this you may be telling to yourself but you can't tell it to others I don't like to work here I hate it I just hate it I don't like to work here or maybe you're saying I don't like this church or you're saying I don't like
this neighborhood or even worse I don't like this marriage I don't like this family I got into my in-laws are like Outlaws my friends are you in a situation that has derailed you from your original plans and your dreams and you're saying to yourself but I don't have a choice I don't have a choice because of circumstances Financial constraints and reputation I am stuck this was exactly what the Jews were going through in the Exile so the question is my friends what do you do when things are not going your
way what do you do when things are not going your way what do you do when actually God's plan in your life is different from yours now what God spoke and how he dealt with the Israelites in that situation is how God is speaking and dealing with us today in our difficult and anxious anxious situations my friends in your painful difficult discouraging maybe the situation before you may even seem hopeless God is telling us I know you are uncomfortable my son my daughter I know you are uncomfortable I know things are
unpleasant I know that you are in a scary situation you know I pray for a lot of people on Sunday over here and sudden I feel sad because I can't pray for everybody I've got to rush down for the TL service and so when I pray and then when I go out there another person will come then I'll pray for them over there if I go down the St another person will come I realize I realize people have needs people are frightened people want answer why am I not getting answer how long would I to go through this I remember sitting when
we don't sit sister in front and praying and she asked me questions I had no answer nobody has answers how long but I let me tell you this I love you all very much and no matter when ever you come the pastors and Elders here we will pray for you it doesn't end here in our personal prayers we'll continue to pray for you and then I'll call Anal I've called you and told this is what the Lord is telling me for you but in our difficult situation God is telling us I have not abandoned you and that what he telling the Israelites telling
the Jews in Babylon yes you need to stay here it's going to be long 70 years is a long long time but I have not abandoned you you are not alone in this painful difficult unpleasant situation I am with you then we realize God tells him something in Jeremiah 29:4 God says this is what the Lord Almighty the god of Israel says to those I carried into Exile from Jerusalem to Babylon I carried you it was not Nebuchadnezzar I carried you there was a reason for that there's a purpose for that it is to correct you to mold you to
shape you Isaiah 55: 8-9 for in this unpleasant circumstances God has a plan for us you all know this verse this famous verse for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my my ways says the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts and of course a prayer added there God canceled your some of your plans to save your life he sent you the other direction to avoid danger that he's not giving you what you wanted he
fights battles you know nothing about his plans are better than yours friends when you look at these verses God is actually telling them and he said I carried you into Exile he's telling them God is showing us showing the Israelites his Sovereign power his form of punishment it is not Nebuchadnezzar who took them to Babylon it was God who brought them to NE Babylon because of their sin and their Disobedience at that point of time however in this troubl unhappy uncomfortable and frightening situation God was reminding them that he
has not forgotten or abandoned them but this means they will need to make changes this means you and I will need to make changes in the current situation we are in we need to make changes and adapt the situation though it is different now adjusting to a new culture to a new group of people the food was different the air taste different no matter how uncomfortable it is they had to make the changes now to understand this verse better Jeremiah 29:11 I've put it in a table and dissected it so please follow with
me even if you find it boring God said for I know that's how it starts Jeremiah 211 for I know so when God says I know what does that mean that means you don't know that means you don't know this why he said I know I I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord now what are the plans I know the plans that I have for you declares Lord what are those plans number one plans to prosper you and not to harm you you may think things are going bad for me things are difficult things are horrible but the Lord is
saying I want things my way I want things to go faster why so long but BL God is saying I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you and the Hebrew word for the word Prosper is Shalom which means peace within and peace with others peace towards God and then he goes on to say plans to prosper you not harm you plans to give you a hope and a future my friend your difficult circumstances your difficult situation in this difficult situation hopeless situation God gives you hope in a future now in studying this verse
Hebrews jeremia 2911 there are three words IID like to focus on the first word is no in the original Hebrew the word is yada or you prounounced as yaa now what does to know mean what does no mean in Hebrew in this particular verse it means to be certain by saying that God is saying I can see your future when I know the plans for you it is yada I can see your future you know most of us you and I we always see horizontally but God sees from above he has a bird eye view so who can see better he knows the past he knows the
present he knows the future you and I cannot see what is coming ahead but God says I know and it's not just I know I know for certain because I can see that is what it means Y the second word that we need to know from here is because this word appears three times in this verse plans I have for you plans to prosper plans to give you hope now the word plans appears twice mashaba mashab now you're going to ask any student of the Hebrew language and they will tell you when a word repeat repeats itself in Hebrew you
better take note of it when God called Abraham it's just a ordinary simple call but when God said Abraham Abraham when he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac Abraham Abraham there's urgency there and the word appears three times it is absolutely important but here it appears twice mashaba mashab it means something that has been crafted for you that mean the plan that I have for you it's not just a plan but it's a plan that I have crafted for you with an intention you may say today I don't like
my wife but my friends she is Tailor Made For You you may say I don't like this husband but he is the best person God has created for you if the marriage you had put it at God's feet in the beginning you may say I don't like this job I don't like the situation but this is what God has intended for you and the third word we need to look here is Hope and a future Tiga aarit reward and expect expect reward expectation I long for God longs to reward us because he has an expectation for us I don't know how many of you all have
seen this movie unsung hero can I see a show of H if anyone has seen it oh wonderful the rest of you all are not seen better please go and have a look at it it's on Netflix you must I'm not promoting Netflix here but you must look at this movie it's powerful unsung heroes now very quickly the words of Jeremiah 29:11 it's so much embeded in this movie if you look at this movie you realize that this family was originally in Australia doing very well Big House business was booming but then when the
economic collapse things were bad they had to make changes and one of the changes was to move mov to the US from Australia moved to the US but God had a plan for this family and this one movie you see they were always praying and praying and coming for prayers and attending church and praying God has a plan for this family and that and God's plan was the eldest daughter the one stand next to the father is to become a gospel singer a famous gospel singer but you know who was a culprit in this movie the one who spoils everything
was a father some men let's be careful because of our overbearing and that Macho attitude can cause problem in the family and he was trying to protect the daughter from that industrial politics because he was in the music industry and things became even more difficult because the father was so arrogant full of Pride I know know some men will say I'm the head of the house I tell you listen and everybody else suffers and that is what's Happening Here the real real hero in the movie was the mother a true character of
inspiration this is based on a true story and if you watch this movie please keep a box of tissue with you because you will definitely move to tears if you had if you have a heart of Flesh I try not to because my wife saw the movie first then she told me about it and so I was watching with her and I Tred not to cry front my wife but I couldn't control myself friends God has a plan for us but many a times we would want to override that plan thinking that we know better we forget when God said I know
that means we don't know a plan that gives us a hope and a future eventually it may not be SE the best plan now but be patient it will prove to be God's plan the best plan in the future now this this is the thing here now always we see this in the Bible and we see it in life good plans do not equal to good journey the plan is good the plan is great God's plan but the journey towards the plan or we call the process is not good because that process of molding is difficult I give you two examples on the Bible just familiar to
all of us Joseph Joseph had a dream that one day he will be a ruler because in the dream he saw the sheaves of wheat bowing down to his sheep of wheat the parents the fathers and the brothers uh sheep of whe was bowing down to hisory of we he also saw the sun and the moon and the stars bowing down to him but what happened he was thrown into the pit sold as a slave and then for being honest with God sincere feared God he was thrown into prison the process was painful humiliating but God was faithful and from the prison he came to
the palace and he was a ruler of Egypt a foreign Foreigner in a foreign land became the prime minister of Egypt next to Pharaoh we see that also in David's life David was just a Shepherd boy but one day Samuel came and anointed him with the Ram's Horn and said you will be the next king of Israel but there's a King Saul is still King a Time came for him to prove himself he defeated golad and what happened Saul became so jealous of this young man and he went back to the pasture but Saul tried to kill him and
he was running and running his life running away from Saul but God was faithful Saul died and he became the next king of Israel and today people still talk about the lineage of David King David but the process the path the journey was difficult you and I need to be patient so Jeremiah 29:11 comes to a group of people to encourage them people who are in a mess Jeremiah 29:11 came to them to tell them do not give up do not give up it is like God telling the people I know things are not going well for you
at this moment the assignment is I've given to you is difficult but listen to me for I know the plans I have for you though you do not know the plans that I have for you you will need to trust me in this circumstances friends the questions for us this morning for FBC is this do you trust the person do you trust God even if you don't like the plan even you don't accept the plans do you trust him Jesus is saying to us right now at this time at this hour he's telling us my son my daughter will you still love
me even though you don't know or you don't like the plans you don't know what's ahead of you you don't know what is happening but will you still love me will you still serve me Faithfully you know we see people in WhatsApp groups you know exit the group leave the group some people exit the church exit the ministry God is asking will you still love serve me will you still trust me will you still surrender to me will you still follow me even when you don't know or you don't like the plans so don't become nervous and
worried or emotionally sick when things don't go the way you plan or expect it you know why because pay off has not come yet do not give up in the process and this is what Jesus also told us in the New Testament I've told you this thing so that in me you will have peace in this world you will have trouble but take heart I have overcome the world in this world you will have problem but don't worry I have overcome this world and I'm with you we must realize that God's best purpose for us God's best purpose for
us sometimes is found in life's worst situations the choir members can come up now friends I want to close with this few words God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you to give you a hope and a future however however his plan may also involve God's use of instruments of Correction and discipline to shape you and me into the person that he wants us to be in the case of the Israelites God's instrument was Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians the babyon were hard evil and cruel people like some of the people we
experience they were used by God as instruments of righteousness to correct discipline and mold the Israelites though it was painful it is for their good and part of God's plan to prosper and not to harm them yet eventually God will judge God judged Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians severely this were a group of high Achievers but they they were also narcistic and cruel people God will do justice for you three takeaways from today's message number one God is faithful despite the Exile God plans for the Israel remain
intact God is faithful God gives us a hope for the future in this situation we are not people who are hopeless because of Christ we are people of who are hope full of Hope the promise served to sustain the Israelites in the long period and God promised sustain us finally it's a call to trust Jeremiah 29:11 calls us calls a people people calls us to trust in God's timing and purpose even when circumstances seem Bleak God's greatest plan in life's worst pain friends as we remain standing we will celebrate the Lord's supper
together those of you have not received the elements you may lift up your hands and the asals will pass it to you but you have it to you you can gently peel the First Lady here but do not consume it yet I'll read from 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23 onwards and this is what Paul says for what I received from the Lord I also pass to you the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same
way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes shall we pray Heavenly Father we come before you at this time we thank you for this Precious Moment Lord as a church as the body of Christ we celebrate your death your resurrection and also your coming again for us father your word says do this in remembrance of me father I pray right
now as we receive the Holy Communion your blood and your body Lord I pray that that you will make us worthy to receive your Holy Communion forgive us of all our sins Disobedience and transgressions Lord I pray that you will take a moment to examine ourself when the going is not good when things are difficult for us and we question you when we don't like your plan for us and we question you and rebel against you we ask forgiveness unto you we know Lord to be happy in you is to trust you and Obey
you this morning I pray Lord that you will give us the strength and the maturity and the faith to trust you and Obey you in all circumstances of our life for we know that you are faithful even when we Unfaithful for we know that you will not let us down forgive us cleanse us make us worthy to receive your Holy Communion in Jesus name we pray Amen on the night he was betrayed he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me let us participate in the body of
the Lord in the the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is a New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me let us participate in the blood of Christ let us pray Heavenly Father dear Lord Jesus we thank you for this wonderful time in this moment thank you for speaking to us thank you for feeding us thank you for the celebration of your blood and body Master as we prepare to depart from this centuary to go into the world we go out to serve you and to live a life of
testimony for you in our places of work in our families in our neighborhood wherever your placed this we pray Lord that we will be a shining Beacon for you we know that not every time things will go on smooth for us Lord for we know the line is not straight is waving and we pray God that you will bless us and protect us and to trust you in Jesus name we pray Amen Let us the benediction and now May the grace of the son the love of the father and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more more
amen friends those of you who need prayers you may come forward the pastors and Elders here will pray with you God bless you go in peace
