Rhiannon Coates | Deep Trust in God | Deep calls to Deep | 3rd May 2026 AM Service

[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to the Village Church Podcast. We hope you enjoy this message from the weekend. And if you want to find more about us, visit us online at vlg.church. I wonder how many of you have ever been forced to partake in team building exercises. Anyone? Keep your hand up if you like them. Oh, good answer. Why do we do them? We're learning to work together. We're building a strong foundation for our team. We're helping ensure a good future, learning trust and collegiality, or as I might think, learning how to waste my time. But that's a personal preference. I think true teamwork is being able to delegate, and everyone just does their job. Why do we have to fathom about? Not for me. I have some very distinct memories of team building activities that I've gone through, going around the circle, and we all say that's something nice about each other. I like your hair cut today. Sometimes it's about their personal appearance more than their character, but you know, as long as we're all complementing each other, that's fine. Sometimes we write them, so you can take them home at the end, and remember how much everyone loves you. If you've been to a campsite, there's always like a spider web, and you've got to try and get everyone through the spider web, but each hole you can only use once. And there's high ones, and there's low ones. Has anyone done that before? Now, I was a very, look, a self-conscious child. I've never been a small person, but that's OK. And I could tolerate that one, though, because I was always a strong person. And so I was like, it's OK, guys. I'll lift up all the people through the high holes, and then they just leave the little one for me to crawl through at the end. You're welcome. You're welcome. Team. And then has anyone done a trustful? Worst ever. Again, all good to catch people. Love that. Look at me. I'm so strong. Doing the forlorn? No. No. Petrified. But I wonder, honestly, if people could say that these activities actually helped build a level of trust in their team, so that later on, when you're in the deep end, you're like, it's OK, guys. We did that scavenger hunt. We can face this. I believe. Maybe not. Perhaps some of the problem-solving skills are useful. But do these things actually build trust with your team? I would say, I don't know. If anything, it usually makes me trust more in myself and my own competence, which could be a problem. But trust for me is like the teammate with runs on the board. The one that you're like, yep, they've got a good track record. I reckon I can trust that person if something goes wrong. I know they'll have my back. Trust is bought about by being reliable, dependable, and consistent. Present in the hard times. And I think the ultimate model of trustworthiness, which Craig has even brought up this morning, is God himself. That's a pretty high bar. I don't quite meet it, sorry. But we're in a series about deep, crying out to deep. And I wanted to talk about what it looks like to have deep faith and deep trust in God, because that is what's going to sustain us in times of deep struggle. And as Hannah even mentioned this morning, there's so much going on in our world. There is deep struggle everywhere that you look, deep struggle, deep hardship. But when we're in deep confusion and deep loss and deep grief, we need deep clarity and comfort and trust. I'm just going to pray before we start. De La Jesus, I just thank you for a beautiful morning already reflecting on how great you are. God, I pray that SI continue to speak this morning that your truth would shine through your trustworthiness would be on display and that you'd help us to think about little things in our lives that might need tweaking. Amen. All right, so what would a target scripture be for trusting in the Lord? You might think Proverbs 3, Life, and 6, but no. That is not what I have chosen. It's one of the most well-known verses in the Bible. It's usually read at baptisms and dedications. It's also recited to people in hard times to help them think of hope and well wishes. It's Jeremiah 29/11. It says, "I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Look, I know that the whole of the Bible tells a coherent story, but that's what I believe, from start to finish. And it's the story of God's purpose for the world. But a simple, isolated reading of scripture can actually get us in trouble, because if you don't know that the whole story makes sense as a whole, then you might misinterpret a beautiful verse, such as Jeremiah 29/11. "Isolated reading of this verse could result in several misunderstandings, which I'm going to go through before I talk about what I think it means. I hope you're OK with that." History, I think, has seen many people twist this verse into a few different categories. One is moralistic therapeutic daism. Don't worry, I'll explain that later. Health and Wealth, Prosperity Gospel, we've probably seen a few things like that. Just personal versus communal promises is another misreading. But I think none of these actually help us to develop a deep hope or trust in God, as opposed to how the verse actually makes sense to me. So what doesn't it mean? Let's start with that. Who's heard of health and wealth gospel? Yeah, if you love God, he'll make everything great. You'll be really rich. You'll be really happy. What a dream. Who's up for that? I know I am. Prosper can quickly conjure up some different images, like a prosperous king. For all the nerds out there, you might like the traditional Vulcan salute to live long in Prosper. Just thought that deserved its own slide. You're welcome. Living in affluent or extravagant lifestyle, Deacon and I were talking last night about having a mansion one day. What a night, prosperous, beautiful. We want these sentiments. We want to have a life filled with blessing to be prosperous. Throughout history, to prosper has been really closely linked with the idea of having victory. So whoever prospers is the one who wins. I'm pretty competitive, if I like to win. So I'll be prosperous. It's therefore convenient and encouraging to read that the Lord has plans to prosper me, right? So good. And there's little mention of anything that I have to do in the same verse. Love that. But unfortunately, there's verses in the side. Perhaps I can assume then that I could live the Great Australian Dream, the nuclear family, the suburban house, the picket fence, the loving spouse, two kids and a family dog. That's prospering to me. I don't know what it looks like to you. But taking this opinion, this health and wealth lens, unfortunately, can lead to a lot of pain and misunderstanding. If and when life suddenly starts to feel less like prosper and blessing and more like character building. Instead of being secure in the sovereignty of God above my circumstances, I instead become angry at whatever has caused the lack of prosperity in my life. And then I meet up with my friends, blame and shame. Because it's got to be someone's fault if things don't go right. If I believe that that's all that God wants for my life. The next lens we can look at is moralistic therapeutic daison. We learned a little bit about daison, no, dualism last week with Andrew. But this is a relatively new labeled movement that I've been reading about in my own studies at the moment. It came out of research where they interviewed American teenagers about their beliefs. And what at the heart American teenagers actually believed about God. So there's a whole bunch of core beliefs I'll get up on the screen for you. This is what came out of that study. God exists. A God exists. He created and orders the world and watches over us. OK. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other. Because that's where the Bible sits. We've got to be good. God exists. Then the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself. Again, sounds really nice in theory. God does not need to be involved in your life unless you need him. So if something's going wrong, then I might talk to the creator. But otherwise, that's fine. And we'll go to heaven if we're good. Beautiful, easy. The central goal of life is just to be happy and feel good about yourself. I've definitely heard that around the traps at the moment. Basically, there's a God. He wants me to be happy. And he wants me to be kind. And as long as I do those things, that's enough. And unfortunately, that's not enough. I'm so sorry. In today's culture, I think this is really tied into consumerism as well. This idea that everything ideally should be about me, should be about creating a carefree existence, full of blessing. And if we hold any of the beliefs from that research, which by the way is a little bit scary to me, I shouldn't expect too much hardship or endure too much suffering because God just wants me to be happy. But the problem again when we take those beliefs is that I mean you'll be disappointed for one. Christ Himself is the ultimate example of Godly living. He was fulfilling the Father's will in the way that He suffered. If Jesus is going to suffer, I don't think I should have any expectation that I also want if I'm called to live like Him. I will also inevitably become too inward focus and self-centered, if that's my belief, whereas and I believe God called us to be His hands and feet in the earth and to look after each other. I'll become more focused on the product available to me rather than looking at gazing upon our glorious God who is in fact the ultimate blessing beyond anything He could give you. So thanks for tapping into that before as well, Craig. It's like you read my notes. As such, to ignore the historical context of our passage, actually disregard, disregard that we were actually made on purpose and for a purpose. I also think our society is really obsessed with them here and now at the moment. We're not thinking too far into the future. That's scary and unpredictable. So right now I want instant gratification. I want more screen time. I don't want a hope in a future. I want hope and now. I want goodness now in my current life rather than the life to come. But a more complete reading of scriptures, we know that God exists outside of time. He created time and the Bible speaks prophetically of times that have not yet even existed, even to our day. The phrasing of the plans that I have for you from this passage helps us to understand that planning has been made and that usually when you plan for something, it's for the future. This for good could be for tomorrow or they could be for 70 years from now or they could be for heaven. We don't know. But the Israelites who are reading this passage, patience is actually going to be key because actually this was a promise 70 years in the making, not just right then and there. And the more I've read this scripture and the more I've broken it apart, I feel like it's actually an invitation from God and he's just opening out his hand and saying, "Do you trust me?" I think it's important for us to note that this passage wasn't written to an actually an individual. It was written to all the people of Israel. It was meant to be a continuation of his covenant promise with his people as a whole, a letter to the Israelites that were actually in exile at the time, under foreign rule, distant from the land set apart for them that God had chosen. Not all the Israelites would have felt that this exile was deserved and I'm sure you can all identify parts in your life where you felt either in exile or suffering and gone, "I don't deserve this. I'm a good person. God wants me to be happier for a good person, right?" And Jeremiah, who was this faithful messenger of God, is caught up in this punishment. He's caught up in the exile. But I think just as the Lord exiled his people as a whole group, he actually promises to restore them plural as a whole group you have been exiled, but I will bring you back to your land. And I think, yeah, the reality this passage is rooted in the context of history and so as a history English teacher, you're going to get a bit of that today. I'm so sorry. But this relationship, this covenant, this promise that God has for his people is extended to us through our relationship with Jesus. It also then provides us collectively the body of believers with a hope and a future. This week, this last two weeks, I should say, lucky and I have been renovating because that's how you want to spend just school holidays. And we've been knocking down bits and pieces. We took the dado boarding off. There was nothing but cavity underneath. Okay, better call a plasterer. Then we were just using the bathroom and the tap broke, water everywhere. Okay, better call a plumber. We've ripped up the floors, the carpets gone, the tiles are gone, the kitchen's gone, and it's chaos. And we're living an exile at Helene's house and the guest house, it's actually pretty good. It's a beautiful spot. But there's been so many moments in the chaos. I think yesterday I was just sitting on the floor because I'd put the new drawer in and it didn't line up. And I just sat there defeated and someone walked in the front door and I was like, hey, but there's a few moments where every now and then I get up, I stop drilling, I go back and I look at the plans, the pictures that AI generated or the ones that the architect did and I'm like, this is the outcome. This is what it's going to look like. I picked those tiles. I picked those handles. It's going to be beautiful. But right now I'm in not really exile. It's a beautiful house. But I'm away from what I know. I'm out of my rhythms. I'm out of my comfort. But I know the end result. And I know that when we eventually get it done, the one week renovation that turns into six months, it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be great. That splash bag delightful. The floorboards exquisite. The painting in the rooms. Gorgeous. I just think that actually that is kind of more in line with what this scripture is about. In the midst of the chaos, there's a picture and a hope. So apologies to actually most of my English students have gone overseas. So if there's anyone else in here that I teach apologies, we're going to go through the verse and unpack it properly. So free English lesson. The style of this text is a prophetic declaration. It's a direct quote from God himself. It's written down by Jeremiah to the people. Grammatically, the use of quotation marks designates the speech components. There is also an in-text citation. I know the plans I have for you. Dialogue tag declares the Lord. Who said it? The Lord. How did he say it? He declared it. You're welcome. English. Now, so it confirms the Lord as the focalizer of this declaration. Stinguistically, I'm a nerd. This is my bread and butter. I'm sorry. There are a few words that stand out. First, there is a verb pair dictating God's actions to prosper and not to harm. These are the verbs that you can see. God is going to plan that will prosper and not harm. There's also a noun pair, a hope and a future. You love it. I love it. So the key words include I know. So the very first few words I know. In Hebrew, the original word for this actually is Yada, which I love because it's like Yada, Yada, Yada. When you're like mimicking someone who yaps too much. Yada. It occurs nearly a thousand times in scripture, this version of no. And it signifies the many contexts of gaining knowledge or information through the senses. So it's not always about head knowledge, sometimes about heart knowledge. So what God is saying here is, I know not just with my head, but with my heart for you that I have plans. He's accumulated his own information from his senses about how the world's going to go and how he feels about you. Like I said before, plans, there's a considered future. There is intention and to prosper. An interchangeable word actually for prosper in the original language is actually Shalom, which we know is peace. It encompasses the entire range of your well-being, not just a mental Shalom, but your whole body, to be a well-being. So God knows in His heart and in His head that He has plans. He has made a plan for you not to harm you, but to give you peace in your entire body. That's a more beautiful promise to me. Shalom is ultimately about oneness with God, being in relationship with the Creator and letting Him complete us with His wholeness rather than being influenced perhaps by evil or our world. And I wonder if ultimately this passage is actually inviting us to do a stock take. Ask some questions. Do I know the plans of God for me? Do I know my purpose? Do I know my calling? Am I walking in that plan? Am I obedient? Am I just doing my best? Is that enough? Do I want to be better? Am I living up to the potential or the calling that God has on my life to know him and make him known. Do I believe or feel in my heart that actually his plans are good? Because maybe my experiences don't feel like they line up with that. But do I believe that God has good plans for me? Because you might not. I might feel like God's plans suck right now. But you know, that's what David said half the time in the Psalms when he cried out to God and said, "God, this doesn't make sense. Take that to God. He can handle it. He's a pretty big guy." Why does God let good people suffer if this verse is true? I don't know if I can answer that one for you. I guess the other thing is do I actually believe or have hope that these plans will be enacted? Do I go, "Okay, God's got good plans, but I don't know when they're going to be and I'm not holding on for any hope?" If it happens, it happens. Otherwise, I'll just live in doubt and maybe in fear. And ultimately, again, that question of God, do you trust me? Last year with some friends I completed one of those read the Bible in a year reading plans because I'm really holy. No. But while I was reading that plan, I was like, "I know I've read the Bible before, but I was reading Jeremiah." And I was like, "Where's the good verse coming? Where's the plans for prospering?" And I was really actually taken aback as I read a few chapters each day. I was like, "No, really? When are we going to get to the good verse?" Because this is just filled with God explaining all the ways His people have ignored their half of the covenant, have disobeyed Him. And it's like, "You've done this. You've done this. I'm trying to help you. You've done this. You've done this." And it's like 28 chapters of like, "Oh, no. Be better." And I wonder, it's kind of like they've ignored all these things and then as a consequence, we read as that a consequence of the continued actions and the ignorance of God's warning because He does warn them. He's not totally bad. They're exiled to Babylon. They're in a dire state of captivity that don't get to be in their Lord appointed land anymore. Have you ever been the person or heard someone say, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news?" And you go, "I don't think you hate that. I think you secretly have a little bit of joy in being the bearer of good news. You want to come ruin my life." No. And the prophets at the time were trying to say to the Israelites, "It's okay. God's going to sort this out. I got you, bro. I'll pray for you." But what ends up happening is Jeremiah is the bearer of bad news. And he comes to them and he says, "Oh, look, I know Dan said you're going to be freed shortly. I know Nathan said God's going to forgive you." And look, he will. Those things are true. But Jeremiah under threat says, "The verse before this, that they will actually be an exile for 70 years." This is what he says, "When 70 years are completed in Babylon, then I will come to you and fulfill my promise." So the verse before this beautiful promise of God having great plans to prosper you and give you great life, 70 years. And in verse five before that, he's like, "So you're going to be an exile for a long time. Build houses." Set it all down. Make a garden. Because this is going to be a while. This is a promise years in the making. But do you trust me? It's hard for me to not also hear this from an educator/parent point of view where it's justification for discipline. I don't know if you had your parents say, "This hurts me more than it hurts you." But I know what I'm doing. This isn't going to harm you. This is actually for your good. Smack. I'm disciplining you because I love you. Actions have consequences. You will learn through this. And the response that I normally have is, "Gee, thanks, Dad. I don't really hurt you anyway." But I actually see a bit of that heart for God in that. I know this hurts. I know exile sucks. It sucks that actions have consequences. But I do have a plan. You are going to learn. Do you trust me? And please hear that I am not saying that if you're in a season of suffering that God is punishing you for something that you did. In this case, however, there is right and natural consequences for the people of Israel. Yet, the steadfast love of the Lord declares to His people in the midst of their distress, "I am trustworthy." I know the plans that I have for you. The plans I have always had and continue to have for my people. Despite your flagrant covenant breaches, despite the fact that you clearly disregard half of my rules, I will not forget you. And I have not forgotten you in the midst of your suffering. There are many other scriptures that share the important of correction. Romans 5, 1 to 5 talks about how perseverance develops character. In 2 Corinthians 1, it talks about how trials build empathy and understanding for others. But the intended flow on effect of any disciplined season of exile is for His people to come back to Him. No matter what the season looks like, the end goal is that you would come back to the Lord, that you would draw nearer to Him, regardless of your season. In verse 12 of the passage, He specifically says, "Call on me." Pray to me. So you're in exile for 70 years, but I have a plan. So what do you do in the meantime? Call on me. Pray to me. I will listen. Because an exile from God's land is not an exile from God's heart. He's still listening to them. He's still present with them. He still cares about them. And then He says, in verse 13, "Seek me with all your heart, and then in verse 14, I will be found by you." No matter the season, even in exile, even suffering, if you seek me, I will be found by you. He's near to the broken hearted, and I will carry you back. The return to God's ways is a greater prosperity than a return to God's places. It's more important that you live your life in a way that honors an exalt's God than you get the life with the happy suburban dream, right? That's kind of what this is saying. And this is the redemptive thread that underpins the entire Biblical narrative. We see it first in Moses and the Exodus. It provided this primary model of God's idea of redemption that people would be drawn back to Him, that there would be reconciled with Him, that they would seek Him, they would love Him, they would know Him. And then the New Testament, it's fulfilled ultimately with Jesus who says, "Follow me, come follow me, be my sheep, be my disciples." And I think this is the ultimate truth. The more we are reconciled, brought back to Him, the more we can live in His ways and anointing. And through that, the more we hopefully avoid the harm of our own sin and suffering to. It's not foolproof. We all make mistakes, but there's a really clear correlation for me. It's important to remember that while the Israelites were exiled from their land, they were not exiled from His sight or His power. And we never are too. If you follow the story, you'll actually see through the rest of Jeremiah, so many leaders rise up, whose faithfulness to God is then honored and it brings glory back to Him and they lead the way out of that exile in time. They keep a faithful remnant who are willing to persevere and stick it out. So what does it mean for us? I think it's pretty some clear correlations for me anyway. The Lord knows the plans that He has for His people. Collectively, actually and individually, there is a future of restoration to Himself is the hope for Israel. In the midst of their suffering and exile, He reminds them of His trustworthiness to see them through. But it's also the promise for us to, right? Jesus Christ death and resurrection makes eternal life possible for those who believe. So through His sacrifice, we can transcend this life's difficulties as we reach Heaven's gates and are reunited with the Master Planner. But even before eternity, I mean, that's really nice to think about one day. Even before eternity, we still have access to God through His Son and His Spirit. We can talk to Him no matter what mood you're in. Again. He's a big dude. He can take whatever version of you comes to the conversation. We have hope for our future on the earth and our future home in heaven as our full inheritance later. And in the intro, I think the most important things we can do are pray. Pray and believe for miracles, for an ease to suffering, for God's will to be brought about, contend with God for his goodness. Do a David, remind him of God, you promised me. You said this, why am I not seeing it? If that's in the Bible, I think it's there for you as an example that you can talk to God like that. Emulate the persistent widow in her pursuit of justice who went every day before the judge and was like, when will you give me justice? And eventually he said, okay, if you'll stop hassling me, I'll do what you want. But I think that's also in scripture for a reason. God wants us to come towards him and pray and beg and plead. And while you're doing those things, remember that a faithful response to times of deep suffering or despair comes from deep hope and trusting God. You don't do those things if you don't believe he's able. Right? I'm not gonna pray every day for something to happen if I don't think God can do it. Otherwise, I'd feel like I was wasting my breath. I don't know, that's maybe. So what does that look like? I think it looks like maintaining faith and trust in God who is in control. Sometimes that looks like relinquishing our own control. I don't like that one. It looks like reminding ourselves of his track record. His runs on the board, his proof that he is a trustworthy person. So I can say, where can I see his goodness in my own life? Where can I see his goodness or the paths of justice that he has carved in the lives of someone else? It might also look like reading scripture. Where can I see this complete picture of who God is and build my faith and trust in his character based on what I've seen in his word. I think it also looks like repenting, frequently repenting for my sin, seeking realignment with the hopes and plans that God has for me. It looks like community coming together with the body of believers to share life together, whether that's church, small group, coffee with a mate, weeknight dinners, what a dream. But those are the things that involve us helping each other, praying for each other, doing life together. That is actually what helps us through to working as a body of believers. It looks like acknowledging that God has amazing grace, grace enough to save a wretch like me. And ultimately, it looks like obedience and submission to his will, even when it doesn't make sense. And that's a completely countercultural idea. Brogan, if you wanna rejoin me, feel free. For the exiles receiving God's letter, he is relics in the middle of nowhere, under foreign rule, not able to live life as they wanted to. I can't help but wonder if they knew this miraculously isn't gonna be solved anytime soon. We're stuck in this for a while. I wonder how many gave up. I wonder how many lost hope or said, oh, well in 70 years, I probably won't be here anymore. What's the point? Why will I praise a God if it's not gonna be in my timeline or my interests? But I also wonder how many had relied on just that surface level of faith that they could do what they wanted because God just wanted them to be happy. And then that foundation was taken away. But how many were left that had a deep foundation of trust that they had built with the Lord over time? 'Cause that's the key, isn't it? Has to be over time. You don't dig a deep hole in one sitting unless you've got a really good excavator. It's a thing that, it's prayer over time, it's Bible over time, it's community over time, it's seeking God over time, and every time we do that, we dig a deeper well. So that when the hard times go, I've got to reserve. I'm not just like going to a water fountain, I'm going, little bubbler. I've got a well. I want a well that's going to get me through that. Built with the Lord over time. We build our deep reserves of time with God through communication and prayer, time at the temple, time in worship. And I know that the people, the Israelites of the time, would have been bolstered by their knowledge of God and what he had done through history for the Israelites before them. And they would have had that hope for the future 'cause they go, okay, no, we saw this with Moses. We saw that with Noah. We saw that with all these different figures. They had a few, we've got a lot more. We've got a much bigger Bible now than what they would have had access to then. Philippians chapter one, verse six, says, "We can be confident in this "that he who began a good work will carry it onto completion "until the day of Christ Jesus. "The means he's not going to stop working. "until the day that Christ returns "and we have a new heaven and a new earth, "God is working on you for you with you. "God will bring all things through to completion "in this life or the next." I think one of my favorite expressions from my grandmother, Muriel, she used to say, whenever I was in a hard situation, if it's not good yet, God's not done yet. Bless you, Muriel. She's probably having fun with God right now. But I think it's a good thing to remember in the midst of whatever it's going on. God's not done yet. The truth is God is good and life is hard. And those things can both occur simultaneously. It doesn't have to be one without the other. Exile and suffering can look like different things in our society. You might feel that you're culturally or spiritually displaced. You might be going through personal suffering. You might have moral struggles. You might feel persecuted. You might be waiting for heaven and home and just feeling like you don't fit in on this earth. There are so many different ways that we can feel like we're going through our own ex-hands suffering. But ultimately, I hope if anything else from today, you've realized or you've learned that actually God does, like the verse, its first initial reading is still true. I know the plans I have for you, but it means so much more when you understand just the context of what these people were living through when he gave them that promise. In the midst of the crap, in the midst of chaos, no matter what the season looks like, I have a plan in my heart, because I love you. And it's not to harm you, and it may not make sense all the time, but God should's going to be good. That's what we hold on to. It runs me that I have a hope and a future where I know one day God is going to restore all things to Himself.