Where is the Lord? & What time is it?
Dana expresses gratitude for the opportunity to gather in a new place for worship, acknowledging God's work in transforming a house into a space for fellowship. He shares testimonies of lives changed through their annual conference, including a teenage girl whose faith led her family to Christ and a group of brothers in Long Island who felt compelled to deepen their spiritual commitment. Dana emphasizes the importance of asking the question, "Where is the Lord?" as a means to maintain spiritual vitality and avoid complacency. He references Jeremiah 2, highlighting how Israel's leaders failed to seek God, leading to their downfall. Dana warns against becoming too focused on rituals and doctrines, which can obscure God's presence. He stresses the need for personal and corporate reflection on God's timing and presence, urging believers to seek a deeper relationship with Him. He concludes with a call for repentance and a spirit of humility, encouraging the congregation to remain vigilant in their faith and to continually seek God's guidance in their lives.
Outline of Main Points
- Introduction to the new worship space and gratitude to God.
- Testimonies of lives transformed through the conference.
- The importance of asking, "Where is the Lord?"
- Reference to Jeremiah 2 and the failure of Israel's leaders.
- Warning against ritualism and doctrinal complacency.
- Encouragement to seek God's timing and presence.
- Call for personal and corporate repentance and humility.
- Conclusion emphasizing the need for vigilance in faith.
4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
