"The Scroll" [Matt's Messages]

“The Scroll”

Uprooted - The Words of Jeremiah

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

February 5, 2023 :: Jeremiah 36:1-32

“‘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’” (Jer. 29:11 NIVO). 

What a wonderful promise given to the people of God right before they entered into exile. Exile was not the end! They had a hope and a future. One day, the Lord was going to restore them and give them peace and prosperity, shalom.

Jeremiah chapters 29 through 33 are often called “The Book of Hope” or “The Book of Promises” because of wonderful promises like this one and like the wonderful promises of the New Covenant.

But we learned last week that chapters 34 through 45 could be called “The Book of Failures” because they tell the stark story of how Judah got themselves all the way to the place of exile, especially through the terrible choices of their last two major failure kings.

And, today, you and I can learn from their failures. Each failure is a warning, a notification of danger ahead, and a signpost to the off-ramp that the Lord wants us to take instead.

So today, we look at the colossal failure of King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah chapter 36.

You’ll never believe what the king did to the scroll!

They call that “clickbait.” Have you ever seen one of those attention-grabbing news headlines online that just scream, “CLICK ON ME!”

“Here are the 10 life-hacks that you need to know to get ahead in this economy.” [CLICK.]

“She was a Olympic figure-skater. See where she is now.” [CLICK.]

“Watch this guy eat 499 hotdogs in one sitting!” [CLICK.]

I think that Jeremiah 36 is cautionary tale that should legitimately grab our attention and scandalize us.

It is shockingly unbelievable what this king did to this scroll! Intrigued? Let’s read it. Jeremiah 36, verse 1.

“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin’” (vv.1-3). 

The year is 605 BC. That’s the fourth year of Jehoiakim. It’s a pretty consequential year in Ancient Near Eastern history. Nebuchadnezzar has won at the battle of Carchemish and has become the king of Babylon. He’s got his eye on Judah next.

Jeremiah has been a prophet for more than two decades. He’s been prophesying for about 23 years. This is roughly about the same time period as last week’s story in chapter 35 when Jeremiah offered the wine to the Recabite Family (and they turned him down because they were still obeying Great-Grandpa Jonadab).

But the people of Judah were not obeying Yahweh. They were consistently disobeying Him. They were breaking His covenant. And for 23 years Jeremiah has been a broken record about that broken covenant. He has warned them time and time again that they should repent or suffer the judgment of the LORD.

And now, the LORD has commanded Jeremiah to write down all of those things that he has been saying for the last twenty three years.

On a scroll. Probably made of papyrus like this bookmark that Keith was handing out to the youth class a few weeks ago. A scroll of papyrus. This kind of scroll is the side-to-side kind. A roll over here, and a roll over here. And Hebrew reads right to left, so to read it, you unspool the right roll and spool up the left roll and the words go by you like this. Columns up and down and the scroll goes right to left. Just like some of you are scrolling on your Bible devices right now. Except most of you are going from top to bottom on your scroll.

Jeremiah is supposed to write down (v.2) “all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel (the northern kingdom), Judah (the southern kingdom that he’s talked about the most) and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.” Twenty three years of prophecies, on the scroll.

Now, we’re not sure exactly how many words that was. It could have been like chapters 1 through 6 of Jeremiah. Some scholars think that. Those are a great summary of Jeremiah’s essential message. But I tend to think it’s more like Jeremiah chapter 1 through 25. Maybe even chapters 46 through 51 as well because of all those words to the nations. Jeremiah was a prophet not just to Judah but to the nations. Regardless, it was a lot of words. Twenty-three years of prophecies on the scroll.

And here was the purpose of this inscripturating of them–to once again invite the people of Judah to repent. Did you see that in verse 3? “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.’”

“Do you hear His heart? The LORD loves to forgive. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the people of Judah would repent, to shuv, to turn from their wicked ways? Then I could  forgive them! I love to forgive repent sinners! It’s my very heart.”

Wouldn’t it be great if there was revival?

It’s not unheard of. It happened in Jeremiah’s lifetime. It happened during the reign of Jehoiakim’s dad, King Josiah. They found the Book of the Law when they were repairing the temple. And they ran to show it to the king, and they all tore their clothes in repentance when they realized that they haven’t been following the Law. And the king started to enact reforms throughout the kingdom.

Could it happen again? Let’s find out. Jeremiah goes to work making the scroll. His first step is to call in his administrate assistant, Mr. Blessing, Baruch. Look at verse 4.

“So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.”

We met Baruch whose name means “blessing” in chapter 32 when he put the land deed in the clay pot, but that story takes place 17 years later than this one. This is the first time chronologically that we meet Mr. Blessing. He is Jeremiah’s long-term associate and acts kind of like an executive secretary. 

God gives Jeremiah words. Jeremiah dictates words. Baruch writes the words. And then here we have “the scroll.”  Now, that’s now how all Scripture comes to be. But it is how this text of Scripture came to be. The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. Jeremiah spoke the word of the LORD to Baruch. Baruch writes it down on the scroll.

And now it’s time to read it! In public. But Jeremiah isn’t allowed out right now. He’s apparently not allowed to go to the temple–perhaps because he just preached that famous temple sermon called, “The Temple of the LORD, The Temple of the LORD, The Temple of the LORD!” Remember that? They didn’t like that one!

Jeremiah is “restricted,” but God’s Word is not! He sends Mr. Blessing to read it in instead. V.5

“Then Jeremiah told Baruch, ‘I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD's temple. So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each will turn from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.’”

It’s worth a try. Perhaps the people will repent. They will “shuv.” They will turn from their wicked ways, and the LORD will forgive them. He would love to do that! It’s in His heart. He is holy! If they do not turn, the city will burn. And rightly so. But He is not just holy. He is amazingly gracious. He’s a “Wonderful, Merciful Savior” to all who turn to Him.

Now, when we get to chapter 45, there’s this really short chapter that tells us how Baruch felt about this assignment. He wasn’t too keen to go on this ministry trip. But he did. Verse 8.

“Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD's temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll. [Here’s how it happened, verse 9.] In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD's temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll” (vv.8-10).

This is December of 605 BC. It’s about 9 months later. Jeremiah and Baruch have finished the scroll and found the perfect time to read it. There is time of fasting. We don’t know exactly why. Perhaps because Nebuchadnezzer has come knocking. But the people have gathered in Jerusalem and are worshiping at the temple. They are fasting. And Baruch brings the scroll and climbs up to the upper courtyard at the entrance to the New Gate, and stands in the window. Maybe there was a little balcony. Outside of the rooms of Gemariah son of Shaphan. 

And he begins to read. And then read some more. And then some more. He reads the words of Jeremiah from the scroll. Notice that these are both the words of the LORD and the words of Jeremiah. That’s how Scripture works, right? Like our EFCA Statement of Faith says, “We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors.” It’s a both/and not an either/or. Obviously, the LORD’s inspiration is more important than the human contribution, but they are both inextricably there.

And the big dramatic moment has arrived. Baruch reads the Prophecy of Jeremiah for the first time. And the people hear it being read. Let’s make that point number one of three this morning:

#1. HEAR THE WORD OF GOD.

Listen to the word of the LORD. Our God is a speaking God. He loves to communicate. He tells us Who He is and what He is doing in the world. He’s communicated through nature. “All nature sings and round me rings the beauty of the spheres.” But He’s spoken even more clearly in His inscripturated word.

He’s inspired the authors of the Bible with His message, and they have faithfully conveyed it to us! Hear the word of God. 

That means read it. I’m amazed at how many people who claim to be followers of Jesus do not really read their Bibles. This is the written word of God. Why wouldn’t we read it?

Are you reading your Bible? What is your plan? It doesn’t have to look the same way for all Christians. It doesn’t have to look the same way for any Christian from year to year. But all Christians should be reading their Bibles!

Some Christians don’t even know where their Bibles are. If I were to ask you, where are you at in your Bible, I hope that you wouldn’t say, “I don’t even know where my Bible is.”

Let’s do this right now. Right down on your notes where you are in your Bible right now. Go ahead. Some of you will have to say, “Jeremiah 36.” Because this is the amount of Bible you are taking in right now as a Christian. And I’m so glad you are here! Because you are hearing the Word of God!

Some of you learn a lot better by listening than you do by reading. That’s fine. There are so many ways to listen to the Bible now. You can get an app on your phone and have the Bible read to you. Pastor Kerry, my pastor, listens to the Bible while he walks around his neighborhood. He’s focusing on the gospels this year. Great idea! 

The point is to hear the word of God. To get into the Word and have the Word get into you. And not just to have it read over you, but to listen. To truly hear what God is saying.

That day, there was a man who heard the message loud and clear. His name was “Micaiah.” Look at verse 11.

“When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the secretary's room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials” (vv.11-12).

There was like a cabinet meeting going on.  And Micaiah busts in the door, “Guys, you’ve got to hear this!” And he gives them the gist of the message he has heard. V.13

“After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,  all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, ‘Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.’ So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. [See how it’s all about the scroll?] They said to him, ‘Sit down, please, and read it to us.’ So Baruch read it to them” (vv.13-15). Second reading.

Of course, this shouldn’t be news, right? Jeremiah has been saying these things for 23 years. But this day, there’s something different. It’s written down. It’s kind of like that day that they discovered the Book of the Law in the temple. This scroll has it all in one place, all 23 years. And Mr. Blessing is reading it to them. And they are hearing it.

Have you ever heard God’s word? I mean, it really came alive to you in the moment? You felt the burden of it. You felt the weight of it. You felt the glory of it. The seriousness of it. These guys were really hearing it. And they were looking at each other while it was being read, and their hearts were sinking. Or maybe soaring!

Maybe this is the moment when revival breaks out?! V.16

“When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, ‘We must report all these words to the king.’”

You feel it? They sure were. We’re going to make this point application number two.

#2. FEAR GOD’S WORD.

By that, I mean take it seriously. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Prov. 1:7 NIVO). And if we properly fear the LORD, of course, we’re going to tremble at His Word!

Now, I’m not sure if this fear that these guys have in verse 16 is fear of God or fear of the king. It might be both. They are frightened of what the king is going to think about the scroll. And they should be frightened by what the scroll says the LORD is going to do if they do not repent. Either way, they know that they need to act.

First, they make sure they understand what the scroll actually is. Verse 17.

“Then they asked Baruch, ‘Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?’ ‘Yes,’ Baruch replied, ‘he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.’ Then the officials said to Baruch, ‘You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are.’” (vv.17-19).

We don't want to know where you are! This is explosive stuff. We have to take it to the king, but we don't know he'll respond. I think they want him to respond well. They seem to be waking up and leaning toward repentance. Maybe they want revival. They certainly don't want Jeremiah to get blow back. V.20

“After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. [And here’s the moment of truth. You won’t believe what the king did to the scroll! V.21] The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. [Third reading. All the way through.] It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire” (Vv.20-23). 

How brazen! How shocking! How wicked! How foolish! How damnable!

I feel sorry for Jehudi. He has to read the whole thing. And every few columns, the king says, “Stop,” and he takes out his penknife, the knife a scribe would use to sharpen their pen, and he saws off the payprus and throws it into the fire.

He doesn’t just pick the thing up over his head and toss it all into to the fire. He has the whole thing read and cuts it piece by piece by piece. And puts it piece by piece by piece into the flames. He does the exact opposite of what you and I should do with God’s word. He does NOT fear it. V.24

“The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them” (vv.24-27).

This is truly scandalous. There is no revival. There is no reading and heeding the Word of God.

There’s just cutting the Word of God. And burning the Word of God. Not fearing the Word of God. How frightful! Instead of tearing his clothes and repenting. He tore the Scriptures and burned them.

I wouldn’t want to be in Jehoiakim’s shoes, would you?

But how often do we do something similar when we cut out of our minds the parts of the Bible we don’t like? Some people do that with the Old Testament. They cut it from the New. But you can’t understand the New without the Old as it fulfills it. And some people cut out the parts with miracles in it. They just want the teachings. Thomas Jefferson did that. He cut up his Bible and took out all the parts that he didn’t believe. 

Maybe we don’t throw it in the fire, but we all have parts of the Bible that we black out in our minds if not cut out physically.

Maybe it’s the part that tells us what to do with sex and marriage. One man and one woman united for life. Sex in that covenant and only in that covenant.

Maybe it’s the part that tells us what to do with our words. “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.”

Maybe it’s the part that tells us what to do with the poor. “Act justly? Love mercy?”

Maybe it’s the part that tells us what to do with our enemies. “Love them?! I don’t think so.”

Maybe it’s the part that tells us that there is one way and only one way to get to God.

We might not be so brazenly disrespectful as Jehoiakim, but we are all tempted to cut out the parts of God’s Word that we don’t want to hear.

Which ones are you tempted to cut? Don’t do it. Fear the Word of God. Tremble. Take these words seriously. Especially the threats. Because God always keeps His promises. Including the threats. God is deadly serious, and should we be.

He preserves Jeremiah and Baruch. They are hidden from the wrath of the king.  But no-one will hide the king from the wrath of the LORD. V.27

“After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.

Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, 'This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll [what a phrase!] and said, ‘Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it?’ Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.'”

He’s not going to get away with this. If the king thinks that he can just cut off God’s words, the king will find that he will be cut off, as well. He will find himself “unloved, unmourned, unburied” (Christopher J.H. Wright). And frozen in the street. So much for warming himself with the scriptures as home heating fuel!

God’s Word will not be stopped. Here’s how we’ll put it for application point number three:

#3. CHEER GOD’S WORD.

Rejoice that God’s word is unstoppable! I don’t know if Jehoiakim thought he could stop God’s threats from coming true just by cutting up and burning His words? But it doesn’t work that way. And it never will. The LORD says that He will still do everything that He said He would do. And He remembers all of it. And so does Jeremiah. So, in verse 28, He tells Jeremiah to write it all down again, and in verse 32, he does.

“So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.”

I love that part! The LORD threw in some more words! And now we have the whole book. All 52 chapters of Jeremiah which we will soon have read and studied in the course of a year.

God’s Word is indestructible. Throughout the centuries, God’s enemies have tried to destroy it, but they always end up losing.  In fact, many times when they try to stop the Bible from being distributed, the Bible gets multiplied and reaches more people than ever before. It’s an unstoppable book!

I read this week in Foxes’ Book of Martyrs about a man who tried to buy up all the Bibles translated into English to stop them from being distributed. And he sent someone to buy them from William Tyndale, the translator himself. Do you think that Tyndale would sell his Bibles so that they would get burned?

He did! But he said, “Go ahead and take these. Then I’ll have the money to get out of debt and print some more. I have some corrections I want to make to make the new translations even better. And people will be incensed that you incinerated these Bibles, so they will buy more of them from me.”

And in the end, there were more Bibles than ever before!

It’s an unstoppable book! Three cheers for the Bible! Hip, hip, hooray!

But don’t just cheer it on. Read it for yourself. Hear it. Take it to heart. Open up the pages. And it take it deadly seriously. Including the warnings.

J.I. Packer once said that Jehoiakim’s burning of God’s Word was like “getting out of a car to destroy a 'Bridge Out' sign: done at one's own peril.”

The Word of God calls us to repent, to shuv, to turn. We ignore it at our own peril. But if we truly take it seriously, then we will experience revival.

And you’ll never believe what the King might do if we believe in the words on the scroll!

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44
27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26

28. Go To the Recabite Family" - Jeremiah 34:1-35:19

Read More

“Go to the Recabite Family” [Matt's Messages]

“Go to the Recabite Family”

Uprooted - The Words of Jeremiah

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

January 29, 2023 :: Jeremiah 34:1-35:19

Here’s the main application of these two chapters in one simple sentence. Ready?

Start to obey the Lord, and don’t stop.

Now, that’s easy to say, but it’s hard to do. And I’m glad that God has given us these two chapters of His Holy Word to build it into us as we get into them.

For the last month and half, we have been in the sweetest part of the Book of Jeremiah. Chapters 29 through 33 are often called “The Book of Hope” or “The Book of Comfort” or the “Book of Promises,” because in those chapters we got wonderful promises like 29:11, “A hope and a future.” True prosperity. A great restoration. Promises of an everlasting love. We get the promises of the New Covenant. A better, unbreakable covenant that makes new people–on the inside–a covenant that makes people new! A New Covenant! Those chapters are so sweet as they tell us the great and unsearchable things that God has in store for His people. 

Well, in chapter 34, we’ve turned the page from the “Book of Hope” to something that could be called “The Book of Failures” (Michael Wilcock).

For from chapter 34 to at least 39 and probably all the way to 45, we return to the bleak sad doom of Jeremiah. There are several stories, many of them Jeremiah interacting with the last two major kings of Judah: Jehoiakim (who hated his guts) and Zedekiah who hated his message (and put Jeremiah in prison). And these guys were thumbs-down kings. They failed to lead Judah in righteousness and instead led it straight into the besieging arms of Babylonian exile.

These chapters would never play on K-LOVE. They are not “positive and encouraging.”

But they are God’s Word. And they were written for us today. The Bible says that these chapters of Jeremiah are “God-breathed and...useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that [we might] be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

These chapters are more on the rebuking side of things. And the warning side of things. They are written here so that we learn the lessons that Judah failed to learn.

Such as: Start to obey the Lord, and don't stop.

And in typical Jeremiah style, he teaches these lessons through strange prophetic illustrations. Just like he like had to wear that wooden yoke, right? Remember that? And then the iron one? And that strange sash thing? And how he had to go to the Potter’s house?

Well, in today’s story, Jeremiah goes on another prophetic trip. This time to visit the Recabite Family.

Do you know about this Recabite Family? Probably most of us opened our bulletins today and thought that Misty had some kind of a typo there. The Whatsit Family? “Recabite?” What is that? And that family was stranger than its name. They were weird!  This is the only chapter in the whole Bible about them. And it’s a weird story.

But that’s chapter 35. In chapter 34, the LORD sends Jeremiah to someone else first. He sends him to King Zedekiah. Look with me at verse 1.

“While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon” (vv.1-3). 

This prophecy apparently came around the same time as the last two chapters. Babylon is at the door. Jeremiah seems to have a little bit more freedom of movement, or maybe he just had access to Zedekiah.

The LORD sends him with a message. And the LORD makes sure that we all know that it was from the LORD. Three times in just two verses! “This is what the LORD says...” 

And His message is not positive or encouraging, but it is true. Zedekiah’s kingdom will fall, and Zedekiah will see the king of Babylon with his own eyes and end up in Babylon to die there. Nebuchadnezzar is actually one of the last things he’ll ever see. Because he’s going to have his eyes cut out of his head.

Now, it’s not as bad as it could be. He is not going to get a bullet to the head, too. In God’s mercy, Zedekiah will die of natural cause–in prison, in exile–but not of violence. V.4

“'Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully [in shalom]. As people made a funeral fire in honor of your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ I myself make this promise, declares the LORD.' Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out–Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in Judah” (vv.4-7).

It’s interesting, archeologists have found letters from Lachish from that exact time. They are currently in the British Museum, and they tell the same story about holding out against Babylon to the very end. One of them says that they can no longer see the lights of Azekah. They have gone down. Eventually they all went down, including Jerusalem.

Why?

Well, by now we know because Jeremiah has been a broken record about the broken covenant. They are going down because they had one job and they failed to do it. They disobeyed the Lord. They did not do what He said to do. Judah did not obey.

And the next section gives an illustration of that from the last days of Jerusalem. Look at verse 8.

“The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage. So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free” (vv.8-10).

That sounds good, doesn’t it? Yes, it does! We don’t know exactly why Zedekiah did this, but it was a good thing. He got the people of Jerusalem to agree to emancipate their fellow Israelites. 

I’m not sure why the people agreed to do that. Perhaps they thought they could then get away with not feeding them. Or perhaps they thought that they would be more likely to fight the Babylonians if they were free. 

Or maybe it was an attempt to obey, at the last second, the Law of the LORD. Because they were not supposed to hold their countrymen in slavery for more than 6 years, right? This kind of slavery was not based on race or kidnaping or conquest but was a safety net for Israelites so that Hebrews families could get out of debt. And each slave was supposed to be freed by the sabbatical year (the seventh year) or freed with everyone no matter how many years it had been when the Year of Jubilee came around, every 50 years.

But, apparently, they haven’t been doing that. They have just been holding in slavery in perpetuity. And that’s the opposite of how this was designed. That’s disobedience.

But here and now, they have chosen obedience. And that’s good!

#1. START TO OBEY THE LORD.

And it’s better late than never. Find out what the LORD says we ought to do, and start doing it right away. Most of the time, that will require some repentance. Some turning. Here, the people began to obey in the area of biblical social justice. Because God loves the poor and watches out for them, we should too. We should never take advantage of the poor, and we should always seek what is just and right for them. Solomon said, “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Prov. 14:31 NIVO). Start to obey the Lord.

This goes for any area of life because every area of life is under the lordship of Christ. So, the Lord says to refrain from “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place” (Eph. 5:4 NIVO). Are you obeying that? What does your social media say? How do you talk in the breakroom at work? What would happen if we projected your text messages up on this screen? Obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking? Start to obey the Lord.

The LORD says “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13 NIVO). That’s not always easy to do. It was hard to give up their slaves! (Too hard, they apparently thought, as we shall soon see.) Repentance is hard. But it’s good. Start to obey the Lord. It’s not too late. Late is better than never. Turn!

Start to obey the Lord. Whatever He says. Start to obey Him. And then, don’t stop.

#2. DON’T STOP OBEYING THE LORD.

Which, of course, is exactly what the people of Jerusalem did. Look at verse 11. “They agreed, and set them free. But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.”

Rats! It had looked like they were maybe doing something right for a change. It looks like this was the moment when Nebuchadnezzar thought that Egypt was rising up to be a threat, and he gave Jerusalem a little break. He pulled his guys off of the siege of Jerusalem briefly to make sure that Egypt didn’t pose a problem for him. And so probably at that point, the people of Jerusalem, “You know I could really use those slaves now. Let’s get ‘em back.” We’re not 100% sure why they broke their promises to liberate them, but we are 100% sure that they did go back on their word. 

And the LORD had something to say about that!

Verse 12. “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. [Remember that? Remember Exodus? All of your ancestors were slaves. And I hate perpetual slavery. I set them free! V.14] I said, 'Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.' [Read it in Exodus 21. Read it in Deuteronomy 15.] Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. [They had their fingers in their ears. They kept their brothers and sisters in slavery. V.15]

Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.

But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again” (vv.12-16).

That’s where they went wrong.

They did the first part. They repented and started to obey the Lord, but they didn’t do the second part. They stopped, and they turned back. He uses that favorite word there again, “Shuv.” Remember “Shuv?” It means to turn or to repent or to go back.

He uses it in verse 15 for something good. “Recently you [shuved] repented and did what is right in my sight.”

But then they shuvved the shuv! Verse 16, “But now you have [shuved] turned around and profaned my name.”

They repented of their repentance. Don’t do that. Don’t repent of your repentance! Start to obey the Lord, and don’t turn back.

I’m guessing that some of us (maybe all of us) are tempted to repent of our repentance these days. It’s hard to live a repentant life. It’s often a lot easier to do things the world’s way than it is to things the Lord’s way. 

Sometimes, it seems downright crazy to obey, doesn’t it? “Buy the field!” right? It’s hard to forgive and to keep bitterness at bay. It’s hard to put away lust or greed or gluttony or rage. Especially when the world says that’s the way blessing lies. It’s hard to not give up on obedience and repent of your repentance.

But that way lies death. Look at verse 17.

“‘Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the LORD–'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.

The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to give the order, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.” (vv 17-22).

Why does God care so much about this?

One commentator calls this the “Emancipation Revocation” (Phillip Ryken). They took back the freedom they had promised in God’s name. Right there. It tells you something. They had made these promises in God’s holy name. They had made a solemn covenant. They had cut a calf in two pieces and walked through it saying, “If I break this covenant, may this happen to me, so help me, Yahweh!” And then they just went back on their promises! When you and I make promises, we are involving the Lord because we bear His name. So when we break our promises, we are implicating the Lord in that, too. Of course He cares! 

And more than that, the LORD loves freedom. He loves setting people free. That’s what the Cross does right? That’s what Jesus did when He redeemed us from our slavery to sin. So, of course, He cares. And He hates that they have, once again, broken His covenant because whether or not they made a covenant together about this, they were already supposed to be doing it. And they weren’t. Once again, they had stopped obeying the Lord and were going to pay for it.

Which brings us, at long last, to the Recabite Family, chapter 35. Look at verse 1.

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: ‘Go to the Recabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink.’”

Now, this is actually a flashback to an earlier time. Probably a decade or so before the events of chapter 34. This is during the reign of wicked king Jehoiakim son of Josiah. It’s probably around 600BC. He reigned from 609-598. 

But even though it happened before chapter 34, I think it’s placed here in Jeremiah’s book to provide a comparison and contrast with it. Chapter 34 was about a fickle group people who started to obey but then stopped. And chapter 35 is about a faithful group of people who started to obey and then never stopped.

They were a weird family named after their great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather Recab. Recab had a son named Jonadab who is mentioned once before in 2 Kings chapter 10 (vv.15-17). He was a right hand man to Jehu who was a violent rebel against evil king Ahab. He’s the one who, humanly speaking, took down wicked King Ahab and his wife Jezebel and killed all of the prophets of Baal at that time. He was zealous! And so, apparently was his right hand man Jonadab son of Recab. 

And, also apparently, Jonadab son of Recab had a strong influence over his family which was passed down from generation to generation for more than (get this!) 200 years. Jonadab gave his family instructions on how they were supposed to live. He had like “5 Rules for the Recabite Family.”

And they followed them for over 200 years!

And one of them was...well, let’s just see what happens. The LORD sends Jeremiah to find this family and invite them to the temple and to provide them with wine to drink. So he does. I don’t know how he pulls it off. He doesn’t have authority over the temple. King Jehoiakim hates his guts. But he does it. Look at verse 3.

“So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah [different Jeremiah], the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons–the whole family of the Recabites. I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite family and said to them, ‘Drink some wine.’”

Do you see it?

He’s got like punch bowls full of good wine. And cups to dip it in. And they’re at the Temple. And it’s the men of God offering them this hospitality. Deeply honoring. Everybody is watching. And they are all there. The whole weird exotic family. There must not have been that many of them because they can all fit in that one room in the temple. But they all have a cup, and they are all invited to drink.

And they all refused. Every single one of them.

Verse 6. “But they replied, ‘We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: 'Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.' 

We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land, we said, 'Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.' So we have remained in Jerusalem’” (vv.6-11).

Do you see how weird they were? They weren’t just teetotalers. They were like nomads. They didn’t have houses. And they never farmed. They always lived under tents. They lived a very “intense” life, right? {That was a pun.} The only reason why they were in Jerusalem right then was that Nebuchadnezzar had pushed them in. Their tents were set up inside the city walls. I’ll bet everybody loved that. Don’t you love it when you see a little tent city spring up in your town? Everybody had their eyes on these folks.

They were different! They were kind of like the Amish but not peaceful (Jonadab sure wasn’t) and not farmers, more like nomadic Nazirites. Or kind of like the Roma people who wander from place to place in Europe. Or the Fulani. Or hippies. They lived an alternative lifestyle. 

And it did not include the fruit of the vine. For going on 250 years, nobody in that family had had a drop of wine. 

So Jeremiah has sought them out, brought them to the temple, poured out a vast quantities of wine, in front of everybody. The whole nation is going to hear about this!

And they all to a man say, “Thank you for offering this wine. It’s very generous. But we can’t drink it because Grandpa Jonadab commanded us not to.”

That’s the story. That’s all that happened.

My guess is that Jeremiah replied, “Thank you, guys, for coming. That’s what I thought you would say. No problem. We are not offended. We weren’t trying to trick you or trap you. Instead, the LORD brought you here so you could show us how it’s done. You Recabites showed us how to obey somebody and keep obeying them even under pressure. Well done!”

And the LORD says the same thing. Look at verse 12.

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, 'Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?' declares the LORD. [Notice the emphasis there on HIS words.]

‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather's command. 

But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me.

Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not paid attention or listened to me” (vv.12-15).

Now, let’s be clear.

The LORD is not saying that everybody ought to do the same things as the Recabite Family.  He isn’t saying that nobody should ever drink wine. Jesus made the best wine ever! He isn’t saying that believers should never build houses or never plant seeds or never have a vineyard or always live in tents. He’s not saying that at all. The LORD has promised some of those things as the blessing of shalom and prosperity on God’s people! He’s not even saying that the Recabites all have to live that exact way forever, like Grandpa said.

He’s saying that the people of Judah should be like the Recabite Family in this one key way: they should start obeying and not stop. The Recabite Family is one great big object lesson in relentless obedience.

Here’s the logic. If this little family can go 250 years in obeying their forefather who was just a man at best, then how much more should and could the people of God obey and keep obeying their Heavenly Father who is God Himself?! 

Shame on Judah for re-enslaving their brothers and sisters! They couldn’t go a few weeks without repenting of their repentance when it got a little hard. Instead, they should been like the Recabite Family instead and stayed obedient to their Lord no matter what. No matter how funny it made them look.

You know, increasingly, we Christians are going to be looked at as ridiculous. The things we believe. The things we cannot go along with.  We are going to going to get laughed at, which is often harder to live with than straight up persecution. At least it feels like it sometimes. We need to decide in advance that we’re going to keep on obeying our Lord even if the world laughs at us.

Lanse Free Church, let’s decide now to obey the LORD in 2023 and not stop obeying the LORD in 2023 if times get rough. Let’s stick it out. Let’s do the things we know the Lord wants us to do. And let’s not “become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9 NIVO)

Because with obedience comes blessing. Look at verse 16.

“The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.' ‘Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.'

Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.' [Good job! Great example!] Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Jonadab son of Recab will never fail to have a man to serve me.'”

Start to obey the Lord, and don’t stop, and you will be blessed.

Just like the Recabite Family.

***

Previous Messages in This Series:

01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
23. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
24. “I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” - Jeremiah 31:1-26
25. "A New Covenant" - Jeremiah 31:27-40
26. "Buy the Field" - Jeremiah 32:1-44

27. "Great and Unsearchable Things" - Jeremiah 33:1-26

Read More

My 2023 Annual Report for Lanse Free Church

Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God

by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ

through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.

Celebration Sunday 2022

The Annual Pastoral Report

Pastor Matt Mitchell

Year in Review: 2022

Dear Church Family,

I feel incredibly blessed to have served as your pastor now for nearly a quarter of a century. In January of 1998, I first heard about Lanse Evangelical Free Church and your search for your next shepherd and you first learned about me. None of us could have ever guessed what the next twenty five years would have involved! It’s been a joy and a privilege to travel through these many years with you.

We started last year wondering who our next administrative assistant would be, how much covid would continue to disrupt the regular flow of church life, and what children, youth, and adult ministry might look like in a new era. We didn’t know what the future held, but we knew Who held the future and that He is faithful.

A Good Year Indeed

In my last annual report I wrote, “My hope and prayer for the year ahead of us is simply that it will be GOOD.” I laid out three areas where I was hoping that God’s goodness would shine through: good deeds, good news, and good plans. 

I’m pleased to report that 2022 was indeed a good year. It was certainly not as a affected by the presence of covid (though the virus is still with us!). More and more, ministry is more like it used to be–including witnessing indoor baptisms (four!), passing the communion plates (resumed in April), sending a group to an in-person Stay Sharp conference, and finally holding the Wild Game Dinner with Kim Cone which we had to postpone for two whole years!

In His goodness, the Lord provided Misty Michaels as our new Administrative Assistant. After Marilynn Kristofits trained her, Misty took over the church office in March. I am grateful for Misty’s servant attitude and steady ability to keep us all on the same page. Along with Cindy Green as our hard-working custodian, we have a great staff.

The Lord continues to give us good church leaders. I’m grateful to have served with the 2022 Elder Team–Keith Folmar (chairman), Cody Crumrine (vice-chairman), Joel Michaels, and Abraham Skacel–and all of the other elected officers. Read the annual reports in these pages to get a glimpse of how the Lord has blessed all of our ministries in this year and led us in new directions–including some good things we never would had guessed such as the need for and provision of a new boiler system! 

2022 was an especially good year for missions ministry as we had visits from two of our missionary families whom we had not yet met in person–Fred & Cindy Cressman ministering in Malawi and Caleb Lucien who serves in Haiti.

In His goodness, the Lord has grown our fellowship in 2022! Our average attendance on Sundays grew 11.4% to 127 people per Sunday (4% more than the average in the second half of 2021 when we were able to return to having only one worship time). It seems that more people are becoming more regular in their attendance, though we still seem to have a different group from week to week. Our church family is much bigger than it may seem on any given Sunday! The lowest attended worship gathering was June 26th with 82 people. The highest attended was Resurrection Sunday with 204 people counted.

Perhaps a better way of recognizing the growth is to learn that we had to find mailboxes for 7 more families in October! And while we had 7 members depart or die, we also added 9 new members–Emigh Modzel, Peter Mitchell, Randy & Vicky Albert, Brady & Bethann English, Trey & Jenni English, and Judy Owens. We have much to celebrate.

This year we celebrated our 130th anniversary as a church. We had birthday cake on the actual anniversary Sunday in February and also set aside a special weekend in October to mark the big milestone. Greg Strand came from the EFCA National Office to preach God’s Word and to teach a short seminar on theology and church history, and we had greetings from both EFCA President Kevin Kompelien (via video) and our Allegheny District Superintendent Kerry Doyal (see his letter elsewhere in this report). The Lord has been good to us.

Pastoral Ministry 

Twenty-five years ago, when I came to be the candidate for your next pastor, I taught a Sunday School class on what a pastor does according to the Bible, and I focused the class on the three main areas of ministry which I still utilize today.

Preach the Word - 2 Timothy 4:2

As your pastor for the last twenty-five years, I have had the great privilege of studying God’s Word in-depth each week to share it with you in-depth on Sunday mornings.

In 2022, we completed our second major trek through Peter’s first letter (the last time was 20 year earlier in 2001-02!), punctuating the truth that we are not home yet. We are foreigners and exiles in this world living here as citizens of the world to come. When we finished 1 Peter, we concentrated on the Cross and the Empty Tomb in John 19 and 20, and then we began, “Uprooted,” an extended sermon series in the Prophecy of Jeremiah. Studying Jeremiah has been engrossing and challenging for me, but it has been good for me, and I believe it is bearing fruit in our hearts and lives.

When I was out of the pulpit, we were ably served by good guest preachers: Donnie Rosie, Kim Cone, Joel Michaels, Fred Cressman, Abraham Skacel, Kerry Doyal, Greg Strand, and Caleb Lucien.

Equip the Saints - Ephesians 4:12

As your pastor for the last twenty-five years, I have had the great responsibility of preparing you to do the work of the ministry. A significant portion of my work week is spent in meetings, on the phone, sending messages, and planning out ministry with our church leaders and helpers.

This year, I had the privilege of directly overseeing the area of children’s ministry and leading the Family Discipleship Vision Team as they developed recommendations and plans for ministry to children, youth, and parents. You can read more about it more fully in the Family Ministries Report elsewhere in this document. This was undoubtably the most consuming aspect of my pastoral work in 2022, but I believe it was a pivotal investment which I hope will yield dividends in the years to come. 

I also enjoyed getting to return to offering training for Elders, and had the privilege  of leading Keith Hurley and Abe Skacel all the way through that training in 2022.

In addition to equipping our local church, you have graciously freed me up to serve other churches in our association and beyond. This year, I continued to lead the Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board, coordinate the book reviews for the EFCA Blog, and participate in the EFCA’s Spiritual Heritage Committee. I also sat on the ordination council for Pastor Matt Brown of First Baptist Church in Clearfield, spoke to the Sons of God Motorcycle Club, and taught at the Miracle Mountain Ranch School of Discipleship.

My book, Resisting Gossip, turned nine years old in September and continues to be used around the country and the world. In March, I was invited to the EFCA Central District Conference to teach on resisting gossip. Also, in an unexpected twist, I was approached by two different missions organizations about translating and publishing a small group discussion guide which I had created to go with Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin. I originally wrote the discussion guides for our church’s Link Groups, and now they are also being used in Europe in German and French!

Shepherd the Flock - 1 Peter 5:2

As your pastor for the last twenty-five years, I have had the great privilege of walking alongside you through the joys and sorrows of the Christian life.

Last year, I expressed my frustration at how disconnected I often felt from all of you through 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Thankfully, I felt much more connected and close to you in 2022. It’s still very challenging to stay current, especially with erratic attendance patterns, work schedules, and the ongoing presence of covid and other illnesses that often keep us apart, but it was much better this year!

In 2022, I got to visit with you in your homes, workplaces, hospital rooms, and in restaurants. I purchased a West Branch season pass to sit with parents and watch their kids playing soccer, volleyball, softball, basketball, baseball, football and other sports. I also enjoyed attending band and choir concerts and watching drama presentations. We have some pretty talented kids in our church family!

Shepherding also means being with the flock when they are hurting. I visited many of you in the hospital or nursing home. In my office, I listened and tried to offer wise counsel as some of you went through hard things or had to make hard decisions. I also had the solemn privilege of walking alongside grieving people. In 2022, I led memorial services or funerals for Shannon Allen, Harry Finkbeiner, Edith Lansberry, Gloria “Jeannie” Walter, Bob Lutz, Jim Evans, and Jeff “Needle” Hummel. And I  ministered to the families of Rosella (Araway) DeyArmin and Dave Wertz when the Lord took them home.

Shepherding also means being with the flock when they are rejoicing. Our whole church celebrated the birth of Wilson in October and the baptisms of Ryen, Jordan, Leo, and Johnathan! 

“The LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

A Personal Note

Thank you for praying for and supporting my family for the last twenty-five years. Heather and I had no kids yet when we came in 1998, and now all four of them are all grown and headed in various directions. We are all grateful for your faithful intercession and generous care of the Mitchells for a quarter of a century! 

 

Thank you, also, for strongly supporting the Allegheny District and providing for my pastor. Kerry is a good shepherd and a constant source of encouragement and wise counsel. Pastors need pastors too, and I have one of the best.

I am tremendously grateful for your decision to grant me a three month sabbatical this spring and summer. Heather and I are looking forward to traveling to Great Britain to see some things we’ve always longed to see with our eyes, to make some new friends, and to truly rest. I don’t know if I deserve the time off, but I sure feel like I can use it. I am tired. Thank you for the gift of true rest to mark our twenty-fifth anniversary of ministry together as shepherd and flock. Through you, “God's been good, good to my soul!”

2023 Vision - “Plans to Prosper You”

I am praying for the Lord to “shalom” us in 2023. I marvel at the good the Lord has given our church family in the last year, and I long for Him to prosper us more. 

Recently, we have all been memorizing the wonderful promise of 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.’” We learned that the word rendered “prosper” is the Hebrew word “shalom” which is often translated “peace” but means so much more. “Shalom” means wholeness, completeness, well-being, prosperity. It is a kind of fullness of blessing and comprehensive peacefulness where everything is as it should be.

The LORD promised to restore shalom to His people who were about to go into exile, and He promises ultimate prosperity to all of His people forever (read Revelation 21-22!). I’m praying 2023 is marked more and more by the experience of shalom in our congregation. I am hoping for a year of prosperity, as defined by our Lord.

I think we’re going to be stretched this year. When I’m away on sabbatical, many people–especially the Elders–will have to step in to cover my essential roles. We are going to keep experimenting with new ideas for family ministries. We are still trying to get to know each other again after the disconnection of the pandemic, and we have a lot of new people to deeply enfold into our fellowship. Some of the newer people are stepping up to leadership, and that will mean change, as well. We are gearing up to send a team to Malawi on a missions trip. We are going to reach out through another Wild Game Dinner, Family Bible Week, and Good News Cruise. We are fixing to remodel the men’s restroom and eventually build a pavilion for outdoor fellowship. I’m praying that the Lord, in His wisdom, would prosper all of these efforts.

Prosperity doesn’t always mean financial or physical blessing. The uprooted exiles of Judah did not always see or feel the shalom the LORD was promising while they were stuck in Babylon. We, too, are not home yet. But we can experience overriding and underlying peace in the midst of any situation, assured that the Lord knows His good plans for our future. No harm will ultimately harm us (Psalm 121). That is our sure and certain hope.

As we pass the full 25-year-mile-marker together as pastor and flock, it is important that we do not take our foot off of the gas. While I am looking forward to a brief time of rest, this is not a time to coast, but a time to keep our eyes fixed on the road ahead of us. We are not home yet, but we soon will be.

“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV84).

In His Peace-filled Grip,

- Pastor Matt

P.S. I believe Heather and I will experience “shalom” on our “shabbath.” (The word “sabbatical” comes from the Hebrew word that names the day of rest.) Thank you, again, for giving us that time to rest, renew, reflect, and recharge in 2023!

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2022 Family Ministries Report

Family Ministries Report

(Part of the 2022 Annual Report for Lanse Evangelical Free Church. Submitted by Pastor Matt with contributions from Keith Hurley and Holly Crumrine.)

Undoubtably, 2022 was a pivotal year for our ministry to the children and youth of our church and community. As the year began and we started to more fully emerge from the era of pandemic disruptions, we convened a “Custom Rebuild Team” as a temporary task force to re-think, re-imagine, and re-tool our ministries to the next generation. And we called upon the whole church family to pray for their work.

I had the privilege to serve as the leader of that team and as the interim Coordinator of Children’s Ministries in 2022. Leading and developing these ministries was a significant portion of my work as your pastor last year, and I’m grateful for the strong progress we made together. We have come so far!

The task force was made up of a diverse group of volunteers including several parents of younger children, a few parents of older children and teens, some teachers, and folks who have served in child discipleship ministry for many years. They invested a substantial amount of time, meeting in person and participating in a steady flow of electronic messages in between meetings. Early in the year, Cody Crumrine, the elder overseeing children’s ministries, stepped up as a co-leader to facilitate many of the brainstorming sessions and to spearhead some of the initiatives.

While the basic intent of the team was to review our ministries and make recommendations, this group was also itching to try out new things and get things started. They didn’t want to just focus on structures, systems, and programs, so the group also functioned as a planning and leadership team for the many strategies we experimented with in 2022.

In the first part of the year, we focused on (1) the rich history of our church’s ministries to children and youth (2) the many assets and strengths our church has for this kind of ministry, (3) the trends and problems we’ve encountered in recent years, and (4) the challenges facing families in today’s cultural moment.

Parents are Key!

Very early in the process, the Lord impressed upon our team the importance of parents in the equation. Parents are called to be the primary discipling influence on the children in their homes. We came to the conviction that the central focus of all of our discipling ministries should be to come alongside the parents (and those, such as grandparents, who sometimes step in to serve in the parental role) to support them in their efforts to make disciples of their children. This ministry is about the whole family growing in their followership of Christ.

To clearly reflect that central focus and new emphasis, we renamed our task force “The Family Discipleship Vision Team,” and included ministry to and through parents in all the things we worked on for the rest of the year. I preached a special message about it, “Impress Them On Your Children.” The FDVT also began to survey LEFC parents to understand their needs, desires, interests, ideas, and concerns. We discovered that we were regularly serving at least 29 families with 54 children (newborn to age 18) in our congregation.

Starting Small / Dreaming Big

We knew that, no matter how much we wanted to, we couldn’t do everything and that we didn’t currently have the means and leadership to create a large-scale ongoing whole-church program. So, instead, at each meeting, in addition to working on our overarching recommendations, the FDVT tackled little parts of the problem and tried small, sustainable experiments in ministry to the whole family: children, youth, and parents.

- Ark Park Meet ‘n Play

For example, we created a weekly gathering at the Ark Park geared towards moms and their little ones. Jordyn Skacel and other leaders showed up to visit with any mothers and their tykes who were free every Wednesday morning all summer for a play-date on the playground. The church provided restrooms, juice bags, and some new toddler play equipment, and moms enjoyed many good conversations.

- Family Fellowship Events

Discipleship happens best in community. Several of the parents suggested in the surveys that we get families together for fellowship, especially after the disconnection of covid. So one of the first things the FDVT organized was a families’ outing to an Altoona Curve game. Then, in the autumn, we planned a Harvest Party for LEFC Families that attracted around 50 kids and adults.

- Outreach to Families at West Branch

Most of the families in our area are vitally connected to the West Branch School, and the school’s administration has invited us to partner with them and have more of a presence at their events. In June, we sent a family ministry team to participate in the West Branch Jubilee for their summer kick-off. Our team did face-painting, handed out water bottles and flyers for Family Bible Week, and invited folks to take a spiritual interest survey. At the Jubilee, one of the kids told me, “You are the pastor from the Church at the Ark Park!” In October, we sent 800 glo-sticks as gifts for the safe trick-or-treat event on campus reminding the WB kids that they are loved and that Jesus is the light of the world.

- Family Bible Week 2022

I wasn’t sure if we were going to have a Family Bible Week this year. I approached seven different leaders to see if any were interested in serving as the FBW director, and they all said that they would be glad to help but didn’t feel able to lead the whole thing this year. So I volunteered to do it myself, and the Elders (and Heather!) approved the use of my time for directing it this year. I thoroughly enjoyed the process. We have a wonderful army of joyful volunteers (12 people just on the teaching team, not counting all of the folks who help with the food, decorations, music, games and everything else!), and we had a terrific year. The theme centered on creativity with Mary Beth Moslak as our FBW Artistic Director. Together we experienced a little taste of the creativeness that God has instilled in all of us as His living artwork!

- New Nursery Coordinator

This year, Becky Schiefer agreed to assume leadership of our Nursery Ministry (birth through age 2) and held a meeting to re-organize and refresh that vital ministry of loving babies and toddlers while their parents are listening to the Sunday message. Thank you to all who serve in that critical ministry!

- New Worldview Training Class for Youth

Keith Hurley came to FDVT meetings with a burden for teaching teens about a Christian worldview. We helped him develop his idea and launch the “Ideas Have Consequences” Worldview Training Class in the Fall with a small team of volunteers (Heather Hurley, Laura Michaels, Joan Page, and myself). Here is the central idea in Keith’s own words:

On September 11, 2022 Youth Group began meeting regularly again for the first time since March 2020. Due the curriculum being my own creation and my work schedule, the time for Youth has been moved from Wednesday to Sunday nights every other week.

Over the course of the fall, we covered what a worldview is. Our subjects have been, Truth, God, the Bible, and Jesus. I have attempted to give two "Whys" for every "What".  For each subject, we discussed who/what the subject material is (What is truth? Who is God?), why we as Christians believe in said subject, and why it matters in this day and age. We have looked at some of the evidence for each subject such as the philosophical reasons to believe that God exists and the historical reasons to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

This spring, we will be covering how to share our beliefs with others, by studying Gregory Koukl's “Tactics” video series. My hopes for this whole year of Youth Group has been to demonstrate to the youth that there are rational reasons to believe in a Christian world view and to show the youth how to engage those around them in discussion about those beliefs.

The class continues in 2023, every other Sunday evening. Parents are always welcome!

- Expanding Children’s Church

Over the last few years, Children’s Church has become our central Bible-teaching ministry for kids. Because more students were coming, we decided in the spring to once again divide the one class into two. We now have “Little Learners” (age 3 through kindergarten) and “Bible Explorers” (grades 1 through 3) that meet during the Sunday sermon time. To serve the two classes well, we also doubled the number of teachers and helpers (and picked up a regular substitute teacher)! We now have 17 teachers and helpers regularly in rotation for that ministry.

- “This Week in Children’s Church” 

Our Children's Church ministry uses The Gospel Project as our Bible study curriculum. The Gospel Project is really excellent. It takes our young students chronologically through the whole Bible over the course of three years while always focusing on Jesus as the center of the big story. 

Parents can use The Gospel Project, too! This year, we added a section in the bulletin each Sunday that introduces this week’s lesson and refers parents to more discipleship resources that we provide (Big Picture Story Cards and Take-Home Sheets) to reinforce the gospel truths the students are learning in class.

- The Gospel Project At Home

We also gained access to “The Gospel Project At Home” which is a free online family devotional guide centered around the same lesson all of the kids are studying in Children’s Church. Each devotional guide includes Scripture to discuss with a recap video of the Bible story, memory verses, a song to sing together, prayer prompts, and family activities that correspond to the lesson. I think this resource can be especially helpful if a child has to miss a week of Children’s Church, and I’m hoping that our families increasingly take advantage of it.

- “The Family Table” Email Newsletter

To increase communication directly with parents, we created “The Family Table” email newsletter which goes out every Sunday at noon. This email contains the weekly link to the Gospel Project at Home, short reminders of items of note for families, and one big recommendation of things for parents and kids to read, listen to, or watch to set the table for great family discipleship conversations in their homes.

Thank you, Holly Crumrine, for designing the snazzy TFT logo! Grandparents, guardians, care-givers and other adults who want to make disciples of the next generation are also invited to sign up to receive “The Family Table.” We’re hoping that this new resource serves to feed the faith of our LEFC Families. 

- Christmas Caroling and Christmas Sunday Presentation

For the second year in a row, I organized a Christmas Caroling ministry team for LEFC families to visit and encourage the homebound and older folks in our church family. We had 10 different families participate this year (more younger families than ever before) making 12 different stops over three hours! It’s encouraging to see families serve together. On Christmas Sunday, Emigh Modzel taught a special lesson on how candy canes can tell us what is really important about Jesus’ birth.  

Six Big Recommendations 

In August, the Family Discipleship Vision Team presented six formal recommendations for the Elders and church family to prayerfully consider. These included grouping the church’s various ministries to children, youth, and parents together under the name, “Family Ministries,” adopting a a new purpose statement for LEFC Family Ministries, reorganizing the leadership structure for family ministry, and asking a new Family Ministries Team to continue the work of evaluating all of our family ministries, policies, and procedures for effectiveness while developing new ministry ideas for the future. We’re in the process of implementing these recommendations over time.

Among the FDVT’s bigger recommendations was to employ a Director of Family Ministry, a part-time paid staff position hired to lead LEFC Families ministries. This person would potentially carry on and extend the work that I had been doing all last year. While we have many willing volunteers among our members, we do not currently have many people who feel able to lead the leaders and develop the whole big picture. In December, the church family discussed the desirability, possibility, and feasibility of this idea and then unanimously decided to prayerfully consider it for three months and revisit it at our next quarterly meeting. 

Difficult but Rewarding

The process of developing family ministry this year has been challenging. One of the hardest parts has been to decide together to not restart beloved ministries which had been effective in the past such as Children’s Sunday School, Family Bible Night, ABC Kids, Kids for Christ, and MOPS.  I miss those programs and am grateful for their long-term impact.

But the process has also been very rewarding. I’m encouraged to see so many things come together and be developed, and I’m hopeful for the future. Thank you for praying for this ministry all year long and for freeing me to invest my time and attention to the work.

Vision for 2023

The Family Discipleship Vision Team was disbanded at the end of 2022. Thank you to all who served on that temporary task force! 

Holly Crumrine has agreed to serve as the last elected Children’s Ministries Coordinator and help us transition to the new approach in 2023. In January, she led a well-attended planning meeting that has gotten a number of terrific new things in the works already. They may be small, but they are significant, and they build on last year’s efforts.

New Ministries

It looks like the next new family ministry will be an after-church sermon-interaction time on Sundays called "Snack and Yack" designed for older kids in grades 3-7 (perhaps too mature for children’s church and not quite ready for the youth class). More on that soon!  

New Leaders

Vicky Albert will assume the role of Children’s Church Coordinator in March. See her if you want to get involved. We are always looking to develop new teachers and helpers for that key ministry. 

Holly has agreed to direct the 2023 Family Bible Week, and people are already signing up to help organize it. See her to add your name to the growing list.

New Purpose

At the first planning meeting for family ministries in 2023, Holly reminded the group of our new purpose statement: Helping Families Thrive in Christ. LEFC Family Ministries exist to bring families into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ through ministries to the children, youth, and parents of our church and community.

May the Lord fulfill that purpose in us in small and big ways this year and beyond!

Creating art together!

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