1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,400
A reading from the prophet 
Jeremiah. 

2
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:07,800
For thus says the Lord, sing 
aloud with gladness for Jacob, 

3
00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:10,800
and raise shouts for the chief 
of nations. 

4
00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:16,239
Proclaim, give praise, and say, 
O Lord, save your people, the 

5
00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,640
remnant of Israel. 
Behold, I will bring them from 

6
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,120
the North Country and gather 
them from the farthest parts of 

7
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:29,800
the earth, among them the blind 
and the lame, the pregnant 

8
00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:35,840
women, and she who is in labour 
together a great company. 

9
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,760
They shall return here. 
With weeping they shall come, 

10
00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,200
and with pleas for mercy I will 
lead them back. 

11
00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,680
I will make them walk by brooks 
of water in a straight path in 

12
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,520
which they shall not stumble, 
for I am a father to Israel, and

13
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:57,560
Ephraim is my first born. 
Hear the word of the Lord, O 

14
00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,240
nations, and declare it in the 
coastlands far away. 

15
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,120
Say he who scattered Israel will
gather him, and will keep him as

16
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,920
a shepherd keeps his flock. 
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,

17
00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:14,520
and has redeemed him from hands 
too strong for him. 

18
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,440
They shall come and sing aloud 
on the height of Zion, and they 

19
00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,880
shall be radiant over the 
goodness of the Lord, over the 

20
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,120
grain, the wine, and the oil, 
and over the young of the flock 

21
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,320
and the herd. 
Their life shall be like a 

22
00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,880
watered garden, and they shall 
languish no more than shall the 

23
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,480
young woman rejoice and dance, 
and the young men and the old 

24
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,720
shall be merry. 
I will turn their mourning into 

25
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,080
joy. 
I will comfort them and give 

26
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,400
them gladness for sorrow. 
I will feast the soul of the 

27
00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,960
priests with abundance, and my 
people shall be satisfied with 

28
00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,280
my goodness, Declares the Lord, 
the word of the Lord. 

29
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:05,400
Please pray with me. 
We thank you, Lord, for the gift

30
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,880
of the New Year and for 
gathering us during this 

31
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,280
Christmas time. 
Now we welcome you, Lord, to 

32
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:17,720
come and speak to us through me.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we 

33
00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,240
pray. 
Amen. 

34
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:26,200
Can I have your seats? 
I welcome you to this New Year, 

35
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:33,760
2026. 
This is the year that one of the

36
00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,520
events our country, the USA, is 
going to be hosting the World 

37
00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,600
Cup. 
Yeah, but speaking about 

38
00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,560
politics, let me turn to the 
Olympic Games. 

39
00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,160
There was a. 
Time when? 

40
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,800
The Olympic Games. 
Fell silent twice in the last. 

41
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,640
Century. 
During World War 2, there was 

42
00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:00,680
such devastation. 
In the world, and the world 

43
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,600
could not gather to compete and 
to celebrate and to hope 

44
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:09,560
together there was. 
Silence there was. 

45
00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,520
Suffering and because of that. 
The world could not unite. 

46
00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:19,080
Together and there was no joy as
a result of the Olympic Games 

47
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,800
but. 
The Olympic Games later 

48
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,080
returned. 
In 1948. 

49
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,920
And they were just more than. 
Games. 

50
00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:30,800
When they returned, there was. 
They were a sign that in spite 

51
00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,480
of the. 
Destruction there was. 

52
00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,600
Still hope. 
And victory there was life. 

53
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,280
Again, it was a statement that 
the future was still. 

54
00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,200
Open and it was a hope that the 
global. 

55
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,200
Crisis had not ended. 
The story of the world. 

56
00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,840
I invite you to turn with. 
Me to Jeremiah, the reading that

57
00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:57,120
we have taken in Jeremiah 
chapter 31, verse 7 to 14. 

58
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,240
Because there God. 
Promises a future. 

59
00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:01,680
Just like. 
That but a. 

60
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,840
Future that is greater than the 
return of the. 

61
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,240
Olympic Games the. 
Promise of God. 

62
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,520
In Jeremiah Unfolds. 
As a movement from exile. 

63
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:17,279
To home God gathers the. 
People who are scattered. 

64
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:21,760
Back to himself. 
But out of that gathering stems 

65
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:23,840
another second. 
Promise. 

66
00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,960
A movement from mourning. 
To joy and here. 

67
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,440
God restores the. 
People and he gives. 

68
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:35,120
Them everlasting celebration. 
And abundance of joy. 

69
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,280
Let us consider these two 
promises, starting with the 

70
00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:44,160
first one with a go, where God 
calls us from exile to home. 

71
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,160
Jeremiah prophecies. 
During a time when the people 

72
00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,040
here in exile. 
They had been conquered and 

73
00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,040
deported. 
From their nation. 

74
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,800
Jerusalem, the capital, lay in 
ruins and even the Temple. 

75
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,360
Which was their place of worship
was destroyed. 

76
00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,600
And their daily life had been 
shattered and scattered and. 

77
00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,320
Stripped away. 
The people we are not just 

78
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,720
living away geographically from 
their home. 

79
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,400
They were. 
Suffering, grief. 

80
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,720
The circumstances of our life 
might be different, but we might

81
00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,760
reco organize ourselves just as 
Israel experienced in exile. 

82
00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,240
Many of us know how life can be 
interrupted and. 

83
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,040
Disrupted because of. 
Loss and even sometimes we 

84
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,000
experience interruptions in our 
familiar. 

85
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,440
Routine. 
Things like sickness, you can be

86
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,760
healthy today and then you fall 
sick. 

87
00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,160
Things like death we have even 
experienced sometimes. 

88
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,440
Broken relationships, they. 
Can shatter us, and then we feel

89
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,280
grief. 
We feel loss of hope and even. 

90
00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:56,840
Loss of dreams, but as well as 
real exile, was tied towards 

91
00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,360
their moral failure as a nation.
They were perhaps experiencing 

92
00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,440
this and they were saying, now 
we are lost because of our sin. 

93
00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,440
We can also wrestle with our sin
and we feel that the choices 

94
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,240
that we make have made us feel 
unworthy. 

95
00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,520
Before God. 
We feel that we have been 

96
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,320
disqualified before God, and we 
may fear that our story is 

97
00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,200
ended. 
Because of our sin, we. 

98
00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,480
Fear that we have missed a 
chance, We fear that our journey

99
00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,880
spiritually has ended or even 
our journey in form of our 

100
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:38,080
relationships has ended. 
But also exile had threatened 

101
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,480
Israel identity as a nation. 
They were anxious that now our 

102
00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,000
identity has ended and has been 
erased. 

103
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:51,080
Sometimes as believers, we might
also struggle with what is our 

104
00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,800
identity in Christ. 
We may feel that we don't know 

105
00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:00,200
who we are in Christ. 
And Neil Anderson calls this as 

106
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,920
a result of what he terms. 
As false. 

107
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000
Equations in Search of identity 
Often times, when we are 

108
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,160
surrounded with circumstances 
and a culture that sometimes 

109
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,040
threatens us to redefine 
ourselves, we might feel that we

110
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,560
don't know our. 
Identity, but in. 

111
00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,640
Reality of such laws and 
dislocation, Jeremiah speaks. 

112
00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,240
About a promise of reversal. 
Exile will not be the end. 

113
00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,160
Sorrow, grief and shame will 
not. 

114
00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,360
Last forever. 
God is still preparing a future 

115
00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,960
where his people. 
Will be gathered. 

116
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,280
Jeremiah describes this kind of 
restoration. 

117
00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,000
How it will look like? 
It is a total mending. 

118
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,960
Of both physical and social 
brokenness. 

119
00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:50,520
Those who had been scattered to 
distant lands are now not 

120
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:55,240
forgotten and abandoned. 
God promises to reinstate them 

121
00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,720
in verse 80 says I will bring 
them from. 

122
00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,360
The North Country. 
And gather them from the 

123
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,200
farthest parts. 
Of the Earth. 

124
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,600
He gathers them and brings them 
home and this gathering is 

125
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,040
inclusive. 
Jeremiah tells us that among the

126
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:13,880
people that. 
God gathers. 

127
00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,840
He includes the blind and the 
lamb, the pregnant women, and 

128
00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:20,760
she who is in. 
Labor together. 

129
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:26,200
A great company they shall all 
return, all the people who even 

130
00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,440
sometimes are felt as if they 
are not significant. 

131
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,840
God is bringing them together in
this massive. 

132
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,039
Gathering. 
Exile had not scattered them. 

133
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:41,880
God was bringing them together 
anew, and God was promising to 

134
00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,880
bring them all together without 
any of them missing. 

135
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,440
In this gathering. 
He was like a loving. 

136
00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,960
Father, a faithful. 
Shepherd leading them to once 

137
00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,400
was a journey of danger, now it 
was going to be a journey of 

138
00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,320
restoration, care and safety. 
And God gives them belonging 

139
00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,280
again. 
They are not isolated. 

140
00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,400
God is securing them and is 
bringing them together as a. 

141
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,640
People. 
Just as Israel was. 

142
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,000
Gathered by God. 
God does not abandon us in our. 

143
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,280
Seasons of fragmentation. 
When we experience suffering, 

144
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,720
when we Aladdin with sin, 
Jeremiah reminds us that God is 

145
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,520
still at work in our lives. 
God does never. 

146
00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,120
Cast us away. 
He's waiting and able to restore

147
00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,800
us and to do us back into 
relationship. 

148
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,080
With him. 
In these times of Christmas that

149
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,400
we are living in, God is 
faithfully gathering us. 

150
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,480
God does not only gather us from
a distance. 

151
00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,120
God comes to us. 
He meets us there. 

152
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,640
In the birth of Christ, God 
steps into our. 

153
00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,440
Exile. 
Into our broken and suffering. 

154
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,280
And sin. 
Because in Christ, home comes to

155
00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,920
us. 
Home does not wait for us to 

156
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,280
come, but home comes to us. 
The Inc The incarnation of 

157
00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,600
Christ declares that. 
God does not wait for us, but. 

158
00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:11,560
He comes to us and meets us and 
brings us. 

159
00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,400
Home. 
And the inclusiveness of God's 

160
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,280
governance reminds us that God 
does not. 

161
00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,320
Overlook anyone? 
Sometimes we feel that we are 

162
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,520
weak and we are forgotten. 
We are wounded, but God says 

163
00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,440
that even the wretched of 
sinners, God calls him again 

164
00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,920
into His Amazing Grace. 
And in fact, the ministry of 

165
00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,120
Jesus Christ later testifies 
about. 

166
00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,160
This. 
Because in his ministry 

167
00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,200
literally the people who are 
sick, lame and blind are drawn 

168
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:45,920
into Jesus flock literally in a 
literal sense to point to us 

169
00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,680
that God. 
Brings together all people into 

170
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:54,360
his fold so. 
Jesus gathers us into a renewed 

171
00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,800
community as well. 
He does not only gather us into 

172
00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,040
a relationship with God. 
But also into a relationship 

173
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,680
with one another. 
God draws people. 

174
00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,160
Into belonging, into worship, 
into shared. 

175
00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,080
Life again, God. 
Gathers people through the 

176
00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,640
church you and me God uses. 
Us to gather people into a 

177
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,520
shared life. 
So God is calling us again to 

178
00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:20,320
know up that we are also agents 
of His gathering as He's 

179
00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,200
gathering people. 
The Church is one of the agents 

180
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,440
that God uses. 
To gather people into his 

181
00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,920
family. 
But sometimes exile tempts us to

182
00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,240
feel that God is promises are 
not true, that God does not have

183
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:35,760
a plan to restore. 
US. 

184
00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,840
Jeremiah calls us to faith 
because he cries in verse 8 says

185
00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:46,320
behold, and in this call he 
summons us to stop and look and.

186
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,880
To pay attention. 
To put our eyes to all the 

187
00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:51,560
things that are causing us to 
look away. 

188
00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:55,240
To feel that we are afraid and 
terrified from our guilt and. 

189
00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,400
Shame, Jeremiah. 
Invites us to fix our eyes on to

190
00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,440
God these promises of 
restoration. 

191
00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,120
It serves as a reminder that God
is promises are steady, fast. 

192
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,840
They are only changing in spite 
of the things that are. 

193
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,120
Going on around us, the 
suffering. 

194
00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,520
And the failures and the Tamil 
that we are. 

195
00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,640
Going through. 
The Hey Maya says. 

196
00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,400
Behold. 
And this, behold, is an 

197
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,000
invitation to trust. 
God. 

198
00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,000
To rest our weight on His 
faithfulness and to believe that

199
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,680
what He has promised. 
He's. 

200
00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,200
Able to accomplish. 
So what does it look like to? 

201
00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,320
Trust in. 
God in real life, what does it 

202
00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,600
mean to? 
Behold God. 

203
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:39,280
In our ordinary moments for a 
parent, sometimes parenting can 

204
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,840
be toting. 
You can feel that the children 

205
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,920
are running astray and you feel 
that you are not in control. 

206
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,080
When we trust in God, we know 
that God is in control. 

207
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,640
We can rest assured that. 
God is ready. 

208
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,840
To shepherd those people we 
can't wait on to him in. 

209
00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,200
Prayer, knowing that. 
God is at work in the lives. 

210
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,960
Of those students? 
For students like me, sometimes 

211
00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:07,240
we feel that student life is 
demanding the tests and the 

212
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,040
exams and the demands of student
life. 

213
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,720
Sometimes you feel that you 
don't measure up because you 

214
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,800
have missed a grade. 
But God. 

215
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:19,240
Tells us to trust in him is to 
know that in spite of all the. 

216
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,680
Pressures around us. 
God still says you measure up, 

217
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,440
you are not just was there 
because of the grades that. 

218
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,240
You are making but because I 
love you and I care for you so. 

219
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,160
Invites us to trust in him. 
Because of that care. 

220
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:38,520
So to behold, sometimes it 
invites us to examine our hearts

221
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,000
to see whether we are relying on
the. 

222
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,720
Promises of God because. 
If we don't rely on those 

223
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,520
promises, then we choose to. 
Take our eyes from God. 

224
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:50,720
And to fix. 
Them elsewhere. 

225
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,560
Besides waiting upon the. 
Promises of God. 

226
00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,440
Jeremiah also invites us to 
declare God is faithfulness. 

227
00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:04,600
This is what he says in verse. 
10 Hear the word of the Lord in 

228
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,600
the all nations. 
And declare it in the coastlands

229
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:14,200
far away, say he who scattered 
Israel will gather him, will 

230
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,320
keep him as a. 
Shepherd keeps his flock God. 

231
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:23,400
Restoring work demands to be 
declared publicly. 

232
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,440
God is work is becomes now a 
testimony for all people. 

233
00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,600
To hear. 
We are called not to keep the. 

234
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,600
Story of God is. 
Working for ourselves, we are 

235
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,240
called to be bold witnesses. 
To that story. 

236
00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,360
Even in this new year that God 
has given us, God is calling us 

237
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,760
to be faithful people in 
proclaiming His works even in 

238
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,040
our lives, not just by what we 
say in our. 

239
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,080
Words, but. 
Even in our lives, our lives can

240
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:52,880
shine out. 
As a testimony about God is. 

241
00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:59,080
Goodness as we act in love, as 
we act in obedience, as we show 

242
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,680
the forgiveness that we have. 
Received from God. 

243
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,000
That is a. 
Testimony about how. 

244
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,600
God is working, so therefore 
this speaks against timid 

245
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,400
Christianity. 
Sometimes Christianity can be 

246
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,760
timid and we feel, what can I 
share? 

247
00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,320
I don't have anything to say. 
There is nothing like timid 

248
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,920
Christianity. 
Because when we receive the 

249
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,960
promises of God, those promises 
now invite us to declare that 

250
00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:24,720
God is indeed. 
Faithful. 

251
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,520
And we speak that with our. 
Words, but also in how we live 

252
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,360
and relate with other people. 
So after gathering the. 

253
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,400
People in exile, God offers. 
Them another promise. 

254
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:39,960
And this. 
Is a promise. 

255
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,880
Of. 
Turning their mourning into. 

256
00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,800
Joy. 
This is the fruit of his. 

257
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,880
Restoration. 
That he gives them. 

258
00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,920
You know, now we are living in 
these winter days and as if 

259
00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,760
everything has come onto a 
standstill. 

260
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,280
When you look at the trees, I 
use the analogy that the trees 

261
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,240
are now skeletons. 
They don't have leaves. 

262
00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,200
And the rivers, when you look at
them, they are frozen. 

263
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,120
Life is that as if it's at a 
standstill, though we are still 

264
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,040
living. 
But when the spring comes, the 

265
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,640
flowers are going to bloom again
and the rivers are going to flow

266
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:14,320
and. 
All of. 

267
00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,160
You who live here near the lake 
are going. 

268
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,080
To run. 
To go into the lake. 

269
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,680
And to enjoy. 
Life, because now life has come 

270
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,720
up again. 
Restoration works. 

271
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,080
In the same way. 
It is not just an end of 

272
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,920
hardship, but it's an arrival of
hope and abundance, an arrival 

273
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,640
of a renewed life. 
It is a shift from mourning to 

274
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,520
joy. 
Jeremiah shows us that God 

275
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,040
restores the people in the body 
and in heart, and the people 

276
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,880
respond to the blessings. 
Of God. 

277
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,840
By receiving grain in their 
field, the wine is flowing, the 

278
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,760
oil is plentiful and the flocks 
are now striving. 

279
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,320
This is a testimony about God is
care for the physical needs of 

280
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,320
the people. 
But even the priests are also 

281
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,880
sharing in this blessing because
it says the priests are also 

282
00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,599
experiencing the abundance. 
Of the Lord. 

283
00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:10,960
I will feast the soul. 
Of the priests. 

284
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,079
With abundance. 
So the restoration is communal, 

285
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:17,319
everything is flourishing, 
physical life is flourishing, 

286
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,240
but also it leads into the 
spiritual life of worship where 

287
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,560
all the things that the priests 
expect from the congregation are

288
00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,040
being made because. 
They have been restored, but 

289
00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:30,520
restoration. 
Is not just. 

290
00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:32,360
Physical it also. 
Reaches out to. 

291
00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:36,040
The heart. 
Jeremiah paints this picture of 

292
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,280
this scene, he says in verse. 11
and 13. 

293
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,120
They shall come and sing. 
Aloud on the. 

294
00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:45,920
Height of Zion, and they shall 
be radiant. 

295
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,600
Over the goodness of the Lord. 
They shall come and sing aloud 

296
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:50,840
on the height. 
Of Zion. 

297
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:55,400
And they shall be radiant. 
Over the goodness of the Lord 

298
00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,600
God is. 
Restoration is not just on the 

299
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,560
outside, but also in the inside.
There is life, there is joy and 

300
00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,800
the whole community is really 
enjoying the restoration. 

301
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,000
Of the Lord. 
So just as God restores the 

302
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,760
fields. 
Of the Israelites. 

303
00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,400
God is ready to provide our 
everyday needs. 

304
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,720
God cares for our needs, the 
needs. 

305
00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,120
Of. 
Food and shelter, the needs of 

306
00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,240
relationships and all the 
opportunities we need to strive.

307
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:29,680
God is ready to care for us. 
Sometimes when we say God is 

308
00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,640
caring, people think he only 
cares for our souls. 

309
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,680
God cares for our souls, our 
inside. 

310
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,920
But also he cares for the 
fullness of our life. 

311
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,080
But also enjoying God is 
blessing. 

312
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,320
He calls us to be effective 
stewards of his blessings, 

313
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,440
faithfully sharing the blessings
He has given us. 

314
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,320
We don't only enjoy God is 
blessing by receiving them, but 

315
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,280
we enjoy them by sharing them 
with other people. 

316
00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,000
That's one way how we can. 
Testify about God is goodness. 

317
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,480
So God's restoration continues 
with the heating of our hearts. 

318
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,800
He invites us to bring our 
brokenness, our grief. 

319
00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,240
Sometimes we can go through 
grief for a number of years. 

320
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,120
God is inviting us to turn that 
grip to Him. 

321
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,960
That. 
Grief to Him our disappointments

322
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,240
when we pray and things are not 
coming out and we are 

323
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,560
disappointed because the 
relationships that we are having

324
00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,200
are not working out. 
God is inviting us to turn all 

325
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,080
those disappointments to Him so 
that He can heal our hearts. 

326
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,240
He's inviting us to reason, to 
release bitterness. 

327
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,000
Some people are bitterness. 
I'll never forgive that person. 

328
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,480
What He did to me I will never. 
Maybe God is calling us this 

329
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,880
year to a year of forgiveness, 
releasing that bitterness so 

330
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,920
that our hearts can be healed, 
but also to embrace gratitude. 

331
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,520
There is a time when we can go 
through groaning and then we are

332
00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,200
complaining and we don't see 
what God has done. 

333
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,720
You look at the previous year 
and you feel I had a list of all

334
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:07,600
these things I wanted to do 123I
only achieved half of them and 

335
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,640
you are bitter. 
God is calling us to a time of 

336
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,400
gratitude even as we are 
stepping into this new year, 

337
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,400
because that's how God renews 
our lives. 

338
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,920
And when we do that, it reflects
His transformative power in our 

339
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,120
lives. 
And then the abundance. 

340
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,560
Of joy that. 
God gives us, is not just. 

341
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,960
Temporary it. 
Points us to the final and 

342
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,640
eternal restoration that is 
coming. 

343
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,920
God is leading His people into a
future where sorrow will be gone

344
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:46,160
and where joy will endure. 
Forever and when? 

345
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,080
We are in Christmas time. 
We are reminded that the 

346
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,760
promises of God have already 
started. 

347
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,640
They are here and now. 
We are not only waiting for them

348
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,280
to happen then, but the promises
are here and now. 

349
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,720
The child in the manja is the 
first step. 

350
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,160
How God is mending things. 
He's working up things. 

351
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,360
So when we embrace the child in 
the mangia, we have received a 

352
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:13,840
down payment of that joy. 
The joy is already here. 

353
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,160
We are not waiting for something
that is yet to come. 

354
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,720
We already have something with 
us when we behold that child in 

355
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,200
the mangia. 
So God is inviting us to carry 

356
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,400
out that joy, to go with that 
joy in the new year. 

357
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,600
We shouldn't only leave that joy
now, in this Christmas time. 

358
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,920
That joy should go on. 
We should be encouraged that God

359
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,040
is working in our. 
Lives, but also. 

360
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,960
Let us extend the joy to other 
people by encouraging them. 

361
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,040
People need to be encouraged. 
Many people have lost hope. 

362
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,240
They are living a life without 
hope. 

363
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,120
Let us encourage them that 
things are in control. 

364
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,600
God is. 
Working out. 

365
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,480
Let us extend acts of kindness 
so that people can realize that 

366
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,720
as we are kind, it is a 
testament that God is working 

367
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,480
even to restore things that 
appear as if they are messy. 

368
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,360
Now I would love to return to 
the Olympic Games because I know

369
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,480
some of you are waiting to cheer
your teams. 

370
00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,360
The USA is going to be playing 
with many countries from all 

371
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,240
over the world. 
Uganda is not going to play 

372
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,800
where I come from. 
We have not qualified. 

373
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,160
But when the games are here, 
there will be a lot of 

374
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,240
celebration. 
The nations are going to gather.

375
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,360
They're going to be here in this
country. 

376
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,960
Athletes are going to be around 
people playing soccer. 

377
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,360
The music is going to be around.
That is what happened when the 

378
00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,480
Olympics were. 
Restored, there was joy. 

379
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:52,160
The Games declared that despite 
the past, God was now working 

380
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,320
something new. 
It was a new beginning. 

381
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,000
For the world. 
The world had moved from silence

382
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,840
and from agony. 
To celebration, Jeremiah. 

383
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,960
Shows us something that is. 
Greater God is. 

384
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,600
Leading his people from. 
Exile to home. 

385
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,600
He's gathering the people who 
are scattered. 

386
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,000
He's carrying the people who are
weak. 

387
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,680
He's restoring those who felt. 
Abandoned. 

388
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,440
And from that restoration flows 
an. 

389
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,080
Abundance of joy. 
Mourning is turning to gladness 

390
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,040
and sorrow is turning into 
singing, and broken lives are 

391
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:27,760
now testimonies. 
About. 

392
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:32,880
God is grace, yet this joy, as 
I've said, is pointing to us 

393
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,920
about the ultimate restoration 
that we are waiting for in 

394
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,000
eternity. 
But until we are expecting that 

395
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:44,720
restoration, Christmas tide 
reminds us that God is already 

396
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,360
working. 
In our exile. 

397
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,160
God is already bringing joy into
our weariness. 

398
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,160
There is hope. 
In the broken world. 

399
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,120
And there is light in the 
darkness, and as Christ is doing

400
00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,400
that, we are hoping that one day
things shall be made whole. 

401
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,720
And we are waiting for that with
joy. 

402
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,720
The joy is here, and the joy. 
Is yet to come. 

403
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,160
I pray that you experience that.
Joy as we go through this new 

404
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,600
year. 
May the Lord increase used to 

405
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,520
know that things are working out
well. 

406
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:16,840
I don't know how the year has 
been for you. 

407
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,000
Maybe things have not been fine,
but God is working in our lives 

408
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,080
and there is restoration that is
going on in our life now. 

409
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,080
And then to come the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy 

410
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,360
Spirit. 
Amen.