Introduction:

Growing up the youngest of four boys, I discovered very young that I could use the excuse "I'm just a kid!" quite frequently. I tried the reasoning with my mom. I figured that I had three older brothers and they could do it. I was just a kid. I tried using this excuse with everything from vacuuming to cutting the lawn. Looking back on it now, I probably played this card a little too often and rarely did it work. My mom never fell for it and most certainly my brothers weren't going to be duped into it.

The prophet Jeremiah tried using this excuse with God in the lesson for today. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the people. Jeremiah's response was, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." What did God reply? "Do not say, 'I am only a child.'"

When it comes to carrying out our mission as Christians, the devil tempts us to say, "I am only a child." Sometimes people mean this literally. Sometimes they mean it figuratively as in a child in the faith. Listen closely to God's Word today and hear God's response to Jeremiah. May the Holy Spirit lead you to understand that the words spoken to the Prophet Jeremiah apply to us also. God has chosen you. God has promised to be with you. God has given you his Word.

I. God has chosen you.

God chose Jeremiah to his servant. How do we know? It says so in God's Word. "4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'" God had set Jeremiah apart before he was born, before he could do anything. Jeremiah did not choose God. Jeremiah did not just decide one day to be a believer and serve God. Jeremiah did not earn God's favor with any good works. Jeremiah did not establish a personal relationship with God. God established the relationship with Jeremiah before he was born - telling us that Jeremiah had absolutely nothing to do with it.

And you'll notice what Jeremiah's first reaction was. I can't do it. I am a child. He had no intention of meeting God half way. By nature, all human beings in their sinfulness would reject God. The Bible tells us the sinful mind is hostile to God. Our sinful mind was hostile to God also and we deserved eternal damnation because of it.

Just remember this: God showed his love by giving up his Son on the cross. Through the blood shed by the Savior, we are marked as God's chosen children. This has come to us personally through the Word of God, by which the Holy Spirit worked faith in hearts. We are chosen to be God's children. We are chosen to be his servants carrying the message of the Gospel.

God's response to Jeremiah was simple. Don't call yourself a child. I have chosen you to carry out a very special mission. Don't underestimate the role I have assigned to you. I hope that each of you recognizes the role God has assigned to you. I hope that each of you recognizes in faith that God has given you a task in his kingdom. Don't underestimate your role.

II. God has promised to be with you.

God gave Jeremiah a mission to carry out. He told the young man he would be his ambassador to the people. He comforted Jeremiah by telling him that he would not speak his own words, but God's Word. God would send this man with a message and give him an audience. Now the audience would not always be willing to hear this message but they would need it, because it was a message of repentance and salvation.

God has given us a message also. He has given us an audience too. Don't let the devil convince you not speak God's message. The devil wants nothing more than for us to keep the message of the Gospel to ourselves. The devil will plant every seed of doubt and give us every excuse we need not tell people about God's love.

As God's servants, carrying that message of the Gospel to those who need it, we need not be afraid. For just as God promised Jeremiah that he would be with him as he carried out his mission, we have the same promise. As we live our Christian lives and speak the truth of the God's Word to others, let us carry that promised with us.

It can be a daunting sensation to share Jesus with others or stand up for your faith. Imagine what it was like for the Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah. Jeremiah would speak God's word to a people who rarely wanted to hear it. He was dragged away into captivity. And legend has it that Jeremiah died a martyr. In spite of this, Jeremiah served God, not the expectations of the people.

We face struggles also when we share the gospel. Remember that the sinful mind is hostile to God. Human reason often takes the place of faith. Worldly teachings entice the weak. But let us stand firm on the Gospel. Let us all proclaim the message of Jesus Christ, our savior from sin, boldly and confidently. It is the only message that saves lives for eternity. God is with us. That is his promise.

III. God has given you his Word.

God chose us. God has promised to be with us. And God has also given us the only tool that we need to carry out our mission. Listen again to the last part of the call of Jeremiah. "Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." God put his word in Jeremiah's mouth. I read one book that said that it is interesting that God did not the word in Jeremiah's brain to think about or in his heart to store up and treasure. But rather God put the Word in the prophet's mouth to chew on and speak out.

Let us become believers that chew on God's Word and speak it to the nations. May no one ever accuse of being secret Christians who keep the love of God to ourselves. Chew on God's Word daily. Study it so that you may freely speak it. It is the only tool that you need. God has chosen you and promised to be with you and he has given you his Word.

Imagine how God could work through us. Now remember that God always gets the credit. But consider how God could use us. We average about 300 people in church during our three worship services. What if every person, young and old, told one friend, family member, coworker about Jesus this week and every week. Imagine the seed that could be planted.

Imagine this also. In two weeks, we will be having a Friendship Service. For that service, all our members will be encouraged to bring a friend to church. Why are we doing this? Because our history here says that number one reason why people come to St. Stephen for the first time is because a friend or family member invited them. Now imagine that just have the average 300 in attendance brought friends to church that week. We would have 150 visitors in this church listening to the Word of God. And we know that the Word of God works. It produces faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:

God has given us his Word. Let us never keep it to ourselves. Let us never be afraid to speak it. Let us never make up excuses like we are just children. But let us boldly proclaim the message that Jesus lived the perfect life for us. He died an innocent death on the cross in our place. Our sin and guilt has been removed. God loves us and has give eternal life to all believers.

Romans 8:28-30 sums up God's love in calling us to be his own. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

2 Peter 1:21 tells us that God is with us when proclaim his message. "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Romans 10:17 tells us that God's Word is the powerful tool that we need and nothing else. "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

Go and carry out the mission God has given you. And do fear for the book of Romans tells us, "If God is for us, who can be against us." AMEN