Crossway Pond Sermon Podcast · Crossway Christian Church

A Letter to Exiles

·37 min

Dave Ripper begins by greeting listeners from Crossway Christian Church in southern New Hampshire. He thanks them for listening to the Pawn Campus Sermon Podcast. He prays that what they hear will help them know God more deeply and live more like Jesus. He speaks warmly to both online listeners and those gathered at the Pawn. Before turning to the text, he pauses to pray for the country and the world in light of current events, especially what is happening around Iran. He then moves into Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29 becomes a lens for thinking about life in exile. Jeremiah is presented as someone who tells the truth about displacement. He helps the exiles live in reality and not illusion. He also gives them hope. There will be a return. There will be restoration. The story is not over. With that frame in place, the sermon starts to unfold the chapter line by line. The first instruction is to build houses and settle in. The second is to plant gardens and eat what grows in the country. The third is to marry, have children, and teach the faith to the next generation. Then comes the more surprising command. They are told to seek the peace and prosperity of the city that holds them in exile. They are also told to pray to the Lord for it. That peace is something to seek even in a hard place. The sermon treats that command as deeply subversive. It calls listeners to faithfulness, fruitfulness, and hope while they are still waiting. The closing prayer gathers those themes back together. It asks God for presence, forgiveness, freedom, hope, and endurance. It ends by inviting people to come home to God and live for his greater glory.

As heard by us

A steady sermon on exile, hope, and faithful living in the middle of an unfinished story.

Jeremiah 29 comes across as a guide for staying faithful when home feels far away. It opens with a prayer for the country and the world, then settles into plain counsel about exile: build houses, plant gardens, marry, raise families, and seek the peace and prosperity of the…

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Why you'd press play

When life feels off-course, this Jeremiah 29 sermon helps you treat exile as a place for faithfulness and hope.

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