Monday Morning Mail, 16th September

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Good morning!

Yesterday, in our morning services we were looking at Jeremiah 29:1-14, and thinking about how Christians should relate to the world we're living in. We saw that our situation is like that of immigrants (or ex-pats) in a foreign country, and there are three big dangers that we face.

Assimilation is the danger of just blending in so that we're the same as our culture. But God tells his people that he is in charge, and he does have wonderful plans to bless us.

Hostility is a natural response to being in a foreign culture that is often hostile to us. But God tells his people that he has put us here for a reason.

Ghettoisation - cutting ourselves off and forming a Christian enclave - is again understandable but again stems from fear rather than trust in God.

Instead, God wants us to be a blessing to those around us. He tells his people in Jer 29 that they should seek the peace and prosperity of the (evil, pagan) city of Babylon because he has put them there, and that they should pray for it.

When God made his promises to Abraham in Genesis 12, one of those promises was "all nations on earth will be blessed through you". We are part of the fulfillment of that promise. So let's be good news to those around us, that they may be blessed, and maybe one day be willing to hear good news from us!

God bless,

John

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