Fire in my Bones
A DOZEN SERMON SEEDS FROM JEREMIAH
Dr. J. Mike Minnix
www.sermoncity.com
Many great and memorable passages appear in Jeremiah and I have used a couple of these in this sermon series idea, but some of the better known passages are not included here, since it is likely you have used them in the past. Very little commentary or detail is provided here, but the studious preacher will have no problem seeing and being able to use the points borne out in the Bible text. As always, a sermon series idea is just that, an idea that is provided to inspire the man of God in preparing to preach God’s Word.
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Sermon Seed 1: Who Are You, Anyway?
Jeremiah 1:5-10
Who we are has a lot to do with how we live. If we see ourselves as an accident of nature, a mere descendent from a virus riding on a meteor, we will act like animals. But, when we realize that we are a creation of God, we can live up to our full potential by coming to know the Creator through His Son, Jesus.
1. You are God’s Creation
Honor your Creator
Respect Life (Reject abortion)
2. You have a God-given Purpose
Your purpose may not seem as important as that of Jeremiah, but you need to realize that God made you to be who you are. Your purpose is divinely important. Your first purpose is to know Christ as your Savior. Then, you are to live His purpose out through your life. Look at Romans 8:28 – no matter what you are enduring or experiencing, you can have the assurance that God is working through it all to bring about good, if you simply love God and fulfill His purpose.
3. You have God’s Direction in your Life
God spoke to Jeremiah and God will speak to you. He calls us to His Son.
He leads us in paths of righteousness.
He directs us to missions and evangelism.
He is speaking – are you listening?
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Sermon Seed 2: A Useless Bath
Jeremiah 2:22
1. The Stain
God saw the sin they sought to hide.
2. The Soap
No man-made soap can remove the stain.
3. The Solution
Turning to Lord in faith and faithfulness is the only way to cleanse sin!
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Sermon Seed 3: A Greater Danger Than Terrorism
Jeremiah 2:12-13; 26-30
After September 11, 2001, known simply as 9-11 in America, people rushed to the churches. That lasted about 2 or 3 weeks and the attendance of the congregations fell back to their norm. Turning our backs on God is more dangerous than terrorism. If the Lord withdraws His hand from us, we will fall from within. There will be no need for a terrorist enemy to knock the foundations from underneath our land. Then, even our cries to heaven may not be heard. Just look at the text for today. The people made 3 terrible mistakes in Jeremiah’s day; are we making those same mistakes now?
1. Trusted Treasures
They forsook the fountain of waters and hewed out broken cisterns. In other words, they tried to go it alone and trust what they could do for themselves only to discover that without the Lord they were helpless. Look at verses 27-28. The people were trusting in idols. An idol is anything one places in front of the Lord. The people had created their own gods. The Lord pointed out that calling to those idols, like money, sex, possessions, pride, accomplishments, etc., had left them without protection.
2. Procrastinated Prayers
In verse 29 the Lord asks, “Why will you plead with Me?” If we will not listen to Him, why should He listen to us? God is not to be toyed with! When we wait time and time again for tragedy to approach before calling on the Lord, He decides to close His ears. We better pray while the praying is good! As Vance Havner once said, “It is too late to drain the swamp when you are up to your neck in alligators!”
3. Wasted Warnings
In verse 30 God pointed out that He had sent warning after warning to call the people back to Him, but the warnings went unheeded. The people did not accept God’s correction. Interestingly, the Lord said to them, “Your sword,” has brought about the death of your prophets. In others words, you would not listen to those I sent. You closed your ears, you drove them away, and now you have no word from me and I will not hear the words from you. We see this today when Christian with faith to trust God's Word are painted as radicals or, at best, as idiots!
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Sermon Seed 4: Easy Preaching
Jeremiah 5:30-31; 6:10, 14
Every generation desires to hear a word from God’s prophet that is gentle on the issue of sin and easy on the ears. In Jeremiah’s day there were men more than willing to preach what the people wanted to hear.
1. Senseless Sermons
2. Happy Hearers
3. Eerie Endings
The Lord pointed out that the end of this process was not going be beneficial. People need the truth and the men of God must preach it. It doesn’t matter if it is popular, as long as it is truth spoken in love.
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Sermon Seed 5: An Aspirin for Cancer
Jeremiah 8:11, 15, 22
How shameful it would be if a doctor gave a patient an aspirin for cancer. Yet, that is what is implied in the passage before us. This message is akin to the one just before it, but this text points out that healing cannot take place in the soul without the Balm of Gilead. See Jeremiah 8:22 and 46:11.
1. A Serious Illness
The greatest illness in the human life is that which overtakes us due to sin. Everyone is fearful of cancer, and certainly those who have had the disease or know those who have had it, understand how dreadful it is. Yet, cancer can only kill the body, but sin holds the sinner in death, destroys the effectiveness of the believer, and can sink a nation into oblivion.
2. A Superficial Treatment
The treatment was a “slight” healing and did nothing to change the awful condition of the people. You don’t put a Band-aid on a broken bone. Yet, in essence, that is what the prophets of old were doing.
3. A Spurious Prognosis
It does not heal a disease to tell the patient that there is nothing to worry about. A doctor who tells a patient that he or she is just fine, to go in peace, when in fact the patient has a dreadful but treatable illness is considered despicable and criminal. Yet, that is what the prophets were doing in Jeremiah’s day. Perhaps the prophets where under pressure to be politically correct in their language. Perhaps they just didn’t want to upset their leaders. Or, perhaps they had simply begun to believe that everything works out fine when you leave it well enough alone. They said, “peace, peace,” when there was no peace.
What is the prognosis for rebellion against God? Just take some examples from scripture to share with your hearers.
Achan, who simply stole of few items from Jericho – how did that turn out?
David, who merely had an affair with Bathsheba – how easy was it for him to endure the 4 judgments that fell on his family because of that sin?
Read Psalm 51 to see how he described his condition, and see also how he came to the point to confess and repent.
(There are plenty of examples you can find in scripture to highlight this truth.)
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Sermon Seed 6: A Real Man
Jeremiah 9:23-24
1. Not the Wise Man, though nothing is wrong with Wisdom
2. Not the Mighty Man, though nothing is wrong with Strength
3. Not the Rich Man, though nothing is wrong with Honest Gain
4. The Master’s Man, who listens and obeys the Lord, he is a Real Man!
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Sermon Seed 7: Heart Trouble
Jeremiah 17:9-10
1. The Nature of the Heart
2. The Searching of the Heart
3. The Judgment of the Heart
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Sermon Seed 8: Why Some People Refuse To Hear God’s Word
Jeremiah 23:23-24
1. It is a Fire that Burns away Dross
2. It is a Hammer that Beats down our Defenses
3. It is a Sword that Breaks through our Deceit
The Word of God is a sword that cuts through to the marrow of the bone, where nothing can be hidden from God. No wonder some people close their ears and, if necessary, lie to themselves about their conditions.
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Sermon Seed 9: Seekers
Jeremiah 29-13
1. Is there a Plan to Life?
2. Is there a Person upon whom we can Call in Life?
3. Is there a Path to Victory in Life?
Yes! Yes! Yes! God has wonderful plans for you. You can call upon Him in every circumstance. He has a path to victory for you, in this life and the life to come!
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Sermon Seed 10: Four Great Gifts From God
Jeremiah 31:3-4
1. Love
2. Grace
3. Peace
4. Joy
All 4 of these are mentioned in this text. These are all available when we place faith in the Lord and follow Him.
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Sermon Seed 11: A Great Promise
Jeremiah 33:3
1. The Call – we can call upon Him!
2. The Answer – He will answer us personally!
3. The Surprise – He will show us things we cannot know any other way!
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Sermon Seed 12: What Is Sin?
Jeremiah 33:6-8
1. Disease that needs Healing
2. Dirt that needs Cleansing
3. Defiance that needs Pardoning
