God Of This City

You’re the God of this city

You’re the king of these people

You’re the lord of this nation

You are

- Chris Tomlin, God of This City

In Jeremiah 29, the children of Israel had been defeated and exiled to Babylon, a foreign nation with a culture, and a set of values and beliefs very much unlike their own. Many of God’s people wanted to simply isolate, hold on to their beliefs and values, and keep the outside world out… side. However, God had a different plan for them, so in Jeremiah 29, verses 4-7 we read,

4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

God told them to not isolate, but rather engage with their surroundings, and seek peace and prosperity for the nation in which they lived.

This is a great message for us. Sometimes it is easier, and far more comfortable, to isolate from the communities in which we live – to keep the outside world out… side. But, regardless of where you are reading this, whether here in San Diego, somewhere across this great country of ours, or as far as the Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa, we are God’s agents to bring His light to the darkness. His hope to the hopeless and His peace to the restless.

As I reflect on the Kingdom work we, as a church, accomplished in 2021, it would be easy to sit back and rest on our laurels, to think it must be someone else’s turn. But as Chris Tomlin reminds us in his song, God of This City:

For greater things are yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this city.    

Our work is not yet finished, and regardless of where God has placed you in the world, neither is yours. Greater things are still to be done.

May we look at our respective communities with fresh eyes and open hearts, seeking ways we can bring peace and prosperity, that our God will be glorified, and people will be drawn to Him. He is the God of your city. He is the king of your people. He is the lord of your nation.

There is no one like our God.

Pastor Ken

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