This past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking at South Georgia Baptist Church in Amarillo, TX, during their Sunday morning worship gatherings. My message was from Jeremiah 31:31-40, Jeremiah’s prophecy of the new covenant.

This message was challenging (in a good way) for a couple of reasons:

• It was the first time I’d preached the same message twice in a row
• It was the first time I’d preached a message that was aligned to The Gospel Project‘s material (the church was studying that passage that weekend).

In the message, I addressed three key points from the text:

1. The good news of the new covenant shows us the bad news about ourselves.
2. The good news of the new covenant is good because of what God does.
3. The good news of the new covenant is something to be shared with all.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

That “new” word is tricky, of course. What do we mean when we use “new” in the context of God? Does it mean God realized the first covenant was a mistake? Did he have a Plan A that totally gaffed, and now has moved on to Plan B? Will there be a Plan C, D, E, F and G, too?

Not at all. When we think about new, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that “new” really does mean new. But that’s new for us. In the history of the world, no covenant like this one had ever been made, and would never be made again. God was doing something totally different here. Which is what he had planned from the very beginning.

What God promised in the new covenant is nothing less than the gospel itself. He would write his teaching on the hearts of his people. He would put his teaching within them. And this is how he did it: in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You can listen to the complete message below or download via South Georgia Baptist Church’s podcast on iTunes.