Finding Hope
In The Ruins

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Ed Rangel | Waupaca, WI | April 5, 2026 | AM | Series: James

“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.”

Lamentations 3:22

“They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:23

586 B.C.

The Ash Heap

  • Jerusalem is burning.
  • The temple is destroyed.
  • The city is crushed under judgment.

Not A Hard Week

  • This is national collapse.
  • This is covenant judgment.
  • This is public humiliation and grief.

Theology In The Fire

  • Jeremiah speaks from the ruins.
  • He does not abandon truth because life hurts.
  • He remembers who God is.

The Anchor

When Everything Collapses

  • God’s daily mercy remains.
  • His unchanging faithfulness stands.
  • This is the only hold for the soul.

Covenant
Mercy

Begins With God

  • Jeremiah does not start with Babylon.
  • He does not start with the crisis.
  • He starts with the character of God.

Holy Reality

Judgment

Jerusalem fell because of sin. God's holiness and warnings are real.

Mercy

Compassion is not exhausted. God has not ceased to be God.

Ḥesed
(חֶסֶד)

Steadfast Love

  • Love with steel in its spine.
  • Covenant loyalty that does not quit.
  • Compassion tied to faithfulness.

Biblical Consistency

  • Exodus 34: God is compassionate, yet judges guilt.
  • Psalm 103: Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness.
  • Romans 2: Kindness leads to repentance, not permission.

Destroying Two Errors

Error 1

The lie that judgment means God has stopped being merciful.

Error 2

The lie that mercy means God does not judge sin.

The Warning

  • Stop treating another day like it is owed to you.
  • Do not presume upon the patience of God.
  • Mercy only means something where holiness is real.

If you are still breathing,
mercy has not quit
on you yet.

Daily
Mercy

Fresh For The Day

  • God does not give a lifetime supply at once.
  • He gives help day by day.
  • He teaches His people dependence.

The Struggle

Human Panic

We demand stored-up certainty to survive imagined futures.

Divine Supply

God gives fresh mercy for the exact day He assigns.

Unassigned Days

  • Anxiety is rooted in unbelieving control.
  • We drag tomorrow’s trouble into today.
  • God will not ask you to obey without supplying what today requires.

The Pattern of Supply

  • Deuteronomy 33: "As your days, so shall your strength be."
  • Matthew 6: "Do not worry about tomorrow."
  • 2 Corinthians 12: "My grace is sufficient for you."

Grace and Duty

Not Passivity

Daily mercy is not a license to be spiritually lazy or careless.

Active Faith

Grace teaches trust-filled obedience, not self-rule.

Put Down The Burden

  • Repent of yesterday's sin.
  • Stop borrowing tomorrow's panic.
  • Walk with God in the day He has actually given you.

You cannot borrow
tomorrow’s mercy
today.

Unchanging
Faithfulness

The Summit

  • Everything changed around Jeremiah.
  • The city, temple, and throne were gone.
  • But God did not change.

The Contrast

Human Fragility

Kingdoms fall. Bodies weaken. Plans collapse. Comfort evaporates.

Divine Stability

The Lord does not fluctuate. He is faithful in prosperity and pain.

The Ground of Endurance

  • Numbers 23: God does not lie or shift like man.
  • Hebrews 10: Hold fast... for He who promised is faithful.
  • 1 Corinthians 10: God is faithful in temptation.

True Faithfulness

The Lie

Faithfulness means God keeps our circumstances comfortable.

The Truth

Faithfulness means God remains true to His holy nature and Word.

Where Do You Stand?

  • Stop interpreting God through your crisis.
  • Interpret your crisis through God.
  • Measure God by His truth, not by your comfort.

Ruin may expose
what you trusted,
but it cannot erase
who God is.

The Call

Obey Today

  • Hear the Word (Romans 10:17)
  • Believe in Christ (John 8:24)
  • Repent of Sins (Acts 17:30)
  • Confess His Name (Romans 10:9–10)
  • Be Baptized for Remission (Acts 2:38)