In his sermon titled 'Play the Long Game-the Generational Game,' Brian Borgman discusses the relevance of Jeremiah 29, known as the Book of Consolation, to contemporary believers. Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to 'play the long game' by settling in the land, not for comfort but as a generational strategy. This message draws a parallel to believers today, described as exiles, aliens, and strangers, who are called to influence and impact their surroundings over generations. The sermon emphasizes seeking the welfare of the city as a part of this long-term strategy, encouraging believers to be aware of their role in God's plan across time.

The passage that comes from, of course, is in what we call the Book of Consolation, which starts in Jeremiah 29. So Jeremiah is writing to the exiles. And so that section of Jeremiah is incredibly relevant to us simply because Peter tells us that we're exiles, aliens, strangers. So there is an analogy between us and the Israelites who were taken into captivity. And I think that one of the things that happens in that section in particular is that Jeremiah is instilling in the exiles, in a sense, play the long game, right?

Settle in, not in the sense of getting comfortable, but settle in in the sense of playing the long game. This is going to be a generational strategy. And so to me, that's one of the big lessons is is Jeremiah is telling the people hey we know we're gonna be here a while and so as you settle in then he says in verse seven or his verse nine you were to seek the welfare of the city in which you dwell, right? So we're here, we're cognizant that we're aliens and strangers, but we're also playing the long game to influence and to impact from generation to generation.