Jeremiah 18

The Potter’s Work

Good morning my friends!

I hope and pray you’ve had a good week since the laslastht time we gathered together.

Man, haven’t you enjoyed the weather the Lord gave us this week? Those warm days are so appreciated after the cold temperatures we’ve had this winter.

I think we are all looking forward to spring, to getting up and out enjoying the blessings that will come with it.

I am amazed at how God made our world, as each continent and country will experience the changing of the seasons, and all according to his plans.

Friends, God put his plans to work as He created this world, and those plans continue today. His plans are evident in this world and yes, in our lives.

God the Father has plans for each of our lives, and we works daily to shape us, to make us into the image he planned for us.

We, his children can choose to be obedient to Him and His ways or we can rebel against them. God allows us to do this, but remember there are consequences to rebellion, to willful sin that we hold on to and choose to participate in during our days here.

The nation of Israel is an example of this my friends, and we can look at them and learn a lot. So this morning, lets look at verses 1-6 in Jeremiah chapter 18.

Turn there with me my friends, Jer 18:1-6

Jeremiah 18:1–6 ESV

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Lord bless your word that it will have its desired effect in our lives through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. ......

So a little background on Jeremiah.

We know that he was raised in the small town of Anathoth, and was called to be a prophet in his youth. He became a priest and lived in the area allotdd to the tribe of Benjamin.

He had a difficult life, the messages he delivered were on repentance and were not received and as such he faced a lot of persecution. He never married at God’s command. He was often referred to as the weeping prophet, since he often weep for Israel’s condition.

Finally we believed he dies in Egypt, having been taken there by his own country men against his will after Jerusalem fell to Babylon.

So that is just a bit about his life. So this morning lets look at three things as we walk through this text.

God called Jeremiah to hear and know His plans...

1.God’s Invitation to Hear...

As we open the text, we see a simple command. Jeremiah, arise and go to the potter’s house, there you will hear my words.

Its a simple command, and Jeremiah was obedient to the word of the Lord. The potter’s house is simply a workshop. And his work was essential, he made vessels, items that people used daily.

The potter took clay from the land close to or where he lived and with water. He had a wheel to spin the clay, and there he shaped and made vessels that was useful to the people around him.

The invitation is for Jeremiah to come and hear. The workshop will serve as the location and there is an important illustration there for sure. But pay attention God is calling Jeremiah to come and hear.

My friends, God wants you, He desires for you to come and hear His word. But you have to join Him.

That is the key…Will we join His invitation to hear His words.

The Father is calling us every day to join Him in the Word of God and to join Him in prayer.

Yet do we?

God extends An invitation to usto hear from him daily but the choice Is ou

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is ours