1. Open with prayer. (2-5 min)
2. Read Jeremiah 29:4-7.
3. Discuss these questions with your group. (20-45 min)
MY STORY | Starting Place
Why do you like (or dislike) the area of town in which you live? How are you impacted by the lives of the people living there? How are you having a positive impact on their existence?
DIGGING DEEPER | Practical Biblical Application
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
(Jeremiah 29:4-7)
In what sense is it healthy for Christians to always consider themselves to be in a state of exile in the world?
What would be a modern version of Jeremiah’s admonitions to his readers (He said: build houses, plant gardens, etc.)
GROWING TOGETHER | Spiritual Friendship
What does it mean to seek the welfare of the city or town in which you live?
What is the evidence that the non-Christians in your community would be convinced that you are FOR them, and want them to flourish?
How does your own flourishing increase when you make the best interests of others one of your top priorities?
What does this mean to the presence and activity of churches and Christians in a city?
MOVING OUTWARD | Faith in Action
Do something practical this week that would increase the welfare of the community in which you live. Pick of these areas of possible flourishing: Economic, Mental, Physical, or Spiritual
Message Notes
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