Scripture Nugget 9.1.2015

“At the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, I have made you a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give them no warning, or speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life, those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity; but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and they do not turn from their wickedness, or from their wicked way, they shall die for their iniquity; but you will have saved your life. Again, if the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die for their sin, and their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their blood I will require at your hand. If, however, you warn the righteous not to sin, and they do not sin, they shall surely live, because they took warning; and you will have saved your life.” Ezekiel 3:16-21

“When using passages from the biblical texts that prophesy destruction, John Wesley’s advice is instructive: Offer Christ in every sermon. Christ is good news, and he is our hope in any situation…. God is still a God of judgment; but until that ultimate day of judgment comes, we can offer Christ as our hope in any situation.” (From Wesleyan Core Term - Preaching, Wesley Study Bible, page 987

Scripture Nugget 8.31.2015

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may be yet hope), to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. For the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.” Lamentations 3:21-33

                                                                                       Wesleyan

Core Term - Convincing Grace Many understand grace as God’s assistance or comfort in times of trial or need. But salvation requires more than a warm smile from the Divine. A basic prerequisite is the necessity for a person to realize that he or she stands in need as a sinner before God, as seen in Lamentations 3. Unless a person recognizes that condition, there is no real hope for salvation. When we don’t recognize sin as a basic reality in our lives, the message of God’s salvation falls on deaf ears. God’s presence and power (grace) is not just a comforting thought. When Jesus says, ‘Remember, I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20b), the implication is that one cannot escape the presence of God, even on occasions when one thinks, says, or does things that are sinful. Christ’s presence (convicting/convincing grace) helps us recognize such sinfulness, which is often called the conviction of sin. This recognition of our sinful condition is a necessary prerequisite to repentance. (Wesley Study Bible, page 978)

Scripture Nugget 8.29.2015

“In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah and brought him out of prison; he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes, and every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table. For his allowance, a regular daily allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, as long as he lived, up to the day of his death.” Jeremiah 52:31-34

“The final passage of the book of Jeremiah ends nearly word for word as 2 Kings ends (2 Kings 25:27-30). It is nearly forty years after the fall of Jerusalem and the exile, and the former Judean king Jehoiachin is released from a Babylonian prison and is well treated by Evil-merodach, the now reigning king of Babylon. The book of Jeremiah is well attested as a record of God’s judgment on sin, idolatry, and disobedience; but it concludes with a glimmer of hope that the kingly line of David and the promise that goes with it (see 2 Samuel 7:8-17) is still alive in Jehoiachin.” Wesley Study Bible notes, pg 971

Scripture Nugget 8.27.2015

“In those days and in that time, says the LORD, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the LORD by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray; turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, because they have sinned against the LORD the true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.’” Jeremiah 50:4-7

Scripture Nugget 8.27.2015

“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, says the LORD. Thus far is the judgement on Moab.” Jeremiah 48:47

Read the preceding verses in this Chapter; God is not happy with Moab, God has pronounced hard judgment against Moab. The 47th verse demonstrates God's grace..... Regardless our sin, God's grace is available, God's grace is active, God's grace can be found, can be had. One must respond. Praise be to God!

Scripture Nugget 8.26.2015

“….’The LORD could no longer bear the sight of your evil doings, the abominations that you committed; therefore your land became a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is to this day. It is because you burned offerings, and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in statutes and in his decrees, that this disaster has befallen you, as is still evident today.’

Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you Judeans who are in the land of Egypt, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and you wives have accomplished in deeds what you declared in words, saying, ‘We are determined to perform the vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to her.’ By all means, keep you vows and make your libations! Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: Lo, I swear by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no longer be pronounced on the lips of any of the people of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’ I am going to watch over them for harm and not for good; all the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall perish by the sword and by famine, until not one is left. And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have come to the land of Egypt to settle, shall know whose words will stand, mine or theirs! Jeremiah 44:22-28

Pastor's Scripture Nugget of the Day 8.25.2015

“King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for I might be handed over to them and they would abuse me.’ Jeremiah said, ‘That will not happen. Just obey the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall go well with you, and your life shall be spared. But if you are determined not to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me – a vision of all the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying.

‘Your trusted friends have seduced you and have overcome you; Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they desert you.’

All your wives and your children shall be led out to the Chaldeans , and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned with fire.” Jeremiah 38:19-23

8.24.2015

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? Says the LORD. The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, saying ‘Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you did not incline your ears or obey me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but his people has not obeyed me. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.

But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.” Jeremiah 35: 12-19

Pastor Ed's Scripture Nugget of the Day

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? Says the LORD. The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, saying ‘Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you did not incline your ears or obey me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but his people has not obeyed me. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.

But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.” Jeremiah 35: 12-19