MARKS OF THE CHURCH --- LIVING LETTERS

Today we celebrate the EIGHTH anniversary of The Seed Christian Fellowship! Eight years ago, on 10/10/10, we held our first worship service right here in his hall. The Seed began as a weekly Bible Study in the home of Don and &Yvonne Eddy in August of 2010. After a few weeks, we outgrew their home and moved here and began our ministry! Happy Birthday, Seed Family.

This morning we continue our series on the “Marks of the Church!” We have two letters to read this morning. Let us go before the throne of grace with a moment of prayer.

“God of all grace and mercy, we give thanks to YOU for the labors of love and works of faith throughout the Seed’s past 8 years. We give thanks for Your Holy Spirit who has guided us and comforted us as we’ve learned to walk closer to Your heart of love. Open the eyes of our heart this morning and let us see the wonders of Your grace, mercy and love. Amen”

Jeremiah 29:4-14

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” [i]

2 Corinthians 2:14-3:3

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[ii]

I would like to take a few minutes to set the context for our Scripture readings this morning. Both of our readings are letters sent forth to the people of God to encourage them and warn them to live for God. The first reading is from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah and was written sometime around 586-585 BC. Jerusalem had fallen to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. For two years, the city of Jerusalem had been surrounded and it finally fell. King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city, knocking down all the walls, burning most of the buildings and completely wiping out the temple; He ordered the taking all the treasures and killing most of the people. The king captured 4,600 of the brightest and best people and brought them into Babylonian captivity. According to Jewish history, this is called the time of the exile. Their Jewish homeland, along with their temple, had been destroyed and they were forced to live in a foreign land under the harsh rule of a tyrannical taskmaster. Times are desperate for the Jewish people!

The writer of our Old Testament lesson is God’s prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was not taken into captivity; instead he was living among the ruins of Jerusalem. His job was to encourage the people that remained behind and lived amongst the ruins. Jeremiah sat down with pen and parchment paper and wrote a letter to the captives, the exiles in Babylon. This letter is considered one of the most important documents of the entire Old Testament.

Undaunted by the eight hundred miles of desert that separated Jeremiah from his mission field, Jeremiah wrote the letter. It was delivered by Elasah and Gemariah.

Listen to the first three verses of chapter 29: “These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.”

Principle 1: God-Fearing Families

Before we get into the text of the letter, I would like for us to note the first principle in our reading. How easy it is for us to read these names and not recognize the importance of them. We are told that Elasah was the son of Shaphan, but does that have any real meaning for us today? Are these just names written in some book a long time ago? Shaphan was a faithful priest who was not taken into captivity. Shaphan remained in Jerusalem and tried to clean up and restore the temple. Shaphan could have given up. Shaphan could have quit. Instead he begins the undaunting task by cleaning the temple. What joy! He finds the scroll of the Law among the ashes in the temple.

Our first important principle is that we must never forget the power that one God-fearing family can have on history. Shaphan remained after Jerusalem was destroyed. After all of the destruction in the city, it is really quite miraculous for Shaphan to find the Scroll of the Law! Shaphan’s son, Elasah, is now chosen to carry Jeremiah’s letter of hope to the exiles--800 miles away. What a powerful principle. We must never forget the power that one family can have—impacting all of history; all because of the family’s faithfulness and hope in God.

As I thought about Elasah and his father, Shaphan, I reflected on the names of those first fourteen or so people who had the vison to plant The Seed. Some of them are still here! Could you stand? The Eddys. The Hughes, The Nechiporenkos, The Whites, the Smiths…

As we celebrate and remember our past eight years, it is important that we never forget the power that one God-fearing family can have on history. Thank you to all of the founding members who gave their time, their talents, their treasures--their blood, sweat and tears so this church could be here today. What we see here today as we celebrate the 8th anniversary of The Seed --- we also see in our Old Testament lesson in Jeremiah: the power of God-fearing families!

Principle 2: Settle, Seek and Pray

How many of you are natives of Rancho Cucamonga? According to Rancho Cucamonga history, in 1950 there were only 1,255 residents living here.

v In 1970 there were 5,796 residents.

v In 1980 there were 55,280 residents.

v In 1990 there were 101,409 residents.

v In 2000 there were 127,743 residents.

v In 2010 there were 165,269 residents

v In 2017 there are 177,452 residents

In Jeremiah’s letter of hope he calls the exiles to settle down, build houses, plant gardens, give their sons and daughters in marriage and increase in number. He also exhorts them to seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which they’ve been carried into exile and… pray.

Settle. Seek. Pray.

Doesn’t that sound familiar? Eight years ago, the search was on to find a home for The Seed. I think it’s wonderful to look back and to say that after a lot of seeking and a lot of praying: the SEED finally settled here in Central Park. It’s been our home.

During the past 8 years, The Seed has had 20 weddings, 36 funerals, 45 baptisms with 2 baby dedications. In those 8 years, The Seed has held 415 Sunday worship services and that does not include the special services like Ash Wednesday, Easter SONrise, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Christmas Eve. I figure that is 416 times someone has loaded and unloaded the trailer, 416 times someone has set up class rooms and 416 times someone has set up the worship area. That is 416 times the coffee pot has been filled, emptied and cleaned. That means that 416 times the chairs have been moved, prayed over and set up, 416 times the worship team has worked on putting together a worship set in practice and singing on Sundays. 416 times someone has brought cookies, donuts, bagels and fruit for fellowship. I asked Don if he could give me an estimate of how many shoe boxes The Seed has given to Operation Shoe Box. He thought that the figure would be close to 385 shoe boxes! Then he figured the number of Thanksgiving baskets --- the total of Thanksgiving baskets is 105. I figured that the shoeboxes would run close to $25 each for a total of $9,625 dollars. The Thanksgiving baskets would be around $75 each for a total of $7,875. I asked Pam if she could give me the totals for mission monies sent out through The Seed. She could only go back for the past 3 years. The church mouse fund that helps people right here in the congregation has given out $13,000 dollars! If that figure would average out to 8 years, the church mouse would be almost $35,000! The total mission money sent out from The Seed, not including the church mouse, was $31,253 which includes the $28,000 raised to send the mission team to Zambia. The Coins for Christ --- the monies that we send to the rescue homes is almost $20,000! What a rich history The Seed has of Settling, Seeking and Praying--for the prosperity of The Seed and Rancho Cucamonga and the world! What a rich history of God-fearing families who are making a powerful difference in God’s kingdom!

Principle 3: God Knows us, He will not forget us!

The most powerful verse in this letter to the exiles is verse 11:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

The Hebrew word for “know” is “yada” and is a very intimate word—meaning “completely known.” God “yadas” you and me. He KNOWS US inside and out. The fascinating note in verse 11 is that word for “plan” is plural. God “yada” not just of a plan, or one plan, but God knows us very intimately and God knows of many plans for us—for our welfare. The Hebrew word for “welfare” is “shalom” which is usually translated with the word “peace.” “Shalom” in the Hebrew language means “peace, completeness, health, welfare, or good.” The plans, the many plans that God knows and has for us are for peace, welfare, completeness and good. Do you believe that? Not only are these plans for good, they are to give us a future with hope.

Today is a time for us to look back and to celebrate what God has done for us during these past 8 years! It is also a time for us to forward. For some here today, you may feel as though God has forgotten you—you are stuck in exile. Maybe you are going through some difficult times—for some it could be your physical health. For others, your difficult times could include your financial security. For some of us, we may be going through broken relationships of children, parents, spouses, coworkers, friends or family. Maybe you are here today wondering why God would call you to this church. If so, then hear this: You are here because God wants you to hear the promise of verse 11: God will give you a future with HOPE. Write that down! Take it to the bank! God has plans for you for a future filled with HOPE! Count on it.

This is a living letter from Jeremiah to the living exiles of Babylon –and finally to us. God was telling the exiles: I KNOW YOU. I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN PLACE! I REMEMBER YOU AND I HAVE PLANS FOR YOU.

Principle 4: Call, Come, and Pray

Jeremiah’s promise is threefold: Call out to God, come to God, and pray to God.

I truly believe that during the first 8 years of the ministry The Seed, we have seen the faithful grow in the grace and knowledge of God. This is exactly what worship is all about: Call out to God, Come to God and Pray to God! This church has grown from its first worship service. We’re now 8 years old—what is that? Third graders?

We are reminded by Jeremiah to call to God, to come to God and to pray to God. I believe that we do that corporately in worship, but then again, we are also called to do this individually at home. The promise that Jeremiah gives us this morning is that if we seek God with all our hearts, we will find God. No hide and seek games with God! The game plan is simple --- seek and find. Seek God with all your hearts and you will find God! What a wonderful promise from a living letter!

So What?

So what are the plans that God has for us? My illustration for the “so what” comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. Paul planted this church early in his ministry. Paul is now in Ephesus planting the church there. Paul writes both of his letters to the Corinthians from Ephesus and Macedonia. The Corinthian church was experiencing hard times. Corinth was a very wicked city and false teachers had infiltrated the church. Paul calls the Corinthians to be the aroma of Christ but, more importantly, he tells them, “You, yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Have you ever thought of yourself as a living letter? Do you ever see others reading you? What is the aroma you carry—do you try to carry the fragrance of Christ? Paul’s challenge to the Corinthians and his challenge to us is that we are called to be a living letter written not with ink or pen but written by the Spirit of the Living God.

Would everyone who can stand, please stand up? I want to give a charge to you:

We are the aroma of Christ. We are a living letter from Christ—written with the living Spirit of God! We are called to settle, to seek and to pray—and to make a powerful difference in Rancho Cucamonga. You are called to make a difference in the world. Write your letter, O Divine Master, upon our hearts so that we, too, can be living letters of good, peace, and hope!

What will happen in the life of this Church? Really, only God knows because only He knows the plans He has for each one of us. God’s plans are for our welfare, for our good, for our peace and for our future--filled with hope. May we all be living letters of hope! May we settle down where God has called us! May we seek the peace of the city and may we pray to the Lord for prosperity. May we, individually and corporately, come to God, call to God and pray to God.

Eight years ago, THE SEED CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP was born. We have made a difference here in Rancho Cucamonga, and in the world. We’ve sent missionaries out: Larry and Joan to North Carolina, Mike and Terri Harvey to Seattle, Lynn Elmore to El Paso, Joanne and Don Hathaway to Carpinteria—just to name a few.

God is at work in us. God had plans for us: good plans for a good future filled with HOPE!

Can I get an AMEN?

The Seed Christian Fellowship

Rancho Cucamonga, California 91701

www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

October 13, 2018

Pastor Dave Peters

[i] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Je 29:4–14). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[ii] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (2 Co 2:14–3:3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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