The passage

1This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. 5Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

Also referenced today

The shape of the message

1. Drought as God’s warning and Judah’s plea without repentance
2. Jeremiah’s identification with the people in confession
3. God’s refusal to grant rescue as loving discipline
4. False prophets, why they were believed, and how to test them
5. Judgment as a ‘cup’ that overflows, and Christ drinking it
6. Jeremiah’s tears, God’s heart, and the call to return to the fountain

Questions to hold while you listen

• Where do you see the difference between wanting God’s rescue and wanting repentance, and how does that show up in prayer?
• What would it look like for us to stop criticising and instead confess, “we have sinned,” in the way Jeremiah did?
• What are the two tests for a true prophet, and how can a church practise them without becoming cynical or shallow?
• How does the idea of filling the cup with sin change the way you think about judgment and consequences?
• Why do smooth, popular messages pull people away from truth, and what does ‘not knowing our Bible’ look like in real life?

Notes

This week

Test what you hear by Scripture and refuse “smooth” teaching that tells you what you want to hear. Ask God to show you where you’ve been drinking from broken cisterns, and turn back to the fountain of living water—Jesus Christ.