Flawed and Remade

Flawed and Remade

Jeremiah 18:1-6

My beloved Saint Thomas Baptist family and friends, today Jeremiah takes us on a divine field trip—to the potter’s house. It wasn’t a palace, it wasn’t a temple, it wasn’t a mountaintop. It was an ordinary workshop. God says, “Jeremiah, if you really want to understand what I’m doing with My people, don’t just listen to My words—watch My work.”

So Jeremiah obeys. He goes down to the potter’s shop. As he steps inside, he notices the simple scene: clay spinning on the wheel, the steady hum of motion, and the potter’s strong hands dripping with water as they shape, press, and form. Jeremiah leans in, because he knows God is about to turn an everyday task into an eternal truth.

But suddenly—something happens. The clay becomes marred. It cracks. It resists. It doesn’t look like the vessel the potter first imagined. If it were you or me, we might toss it aside, sweep it into the trash, and grab a fresh lump of clay. But not this potter. He doesn’t give up. He patiently reshapes it, molding it again into another vessel—one that seemed good to him.

And right there, Jeremiah realizes he isn’t just looking at clay—he’s looking at us. That’s the Gospel in motion, church! We are the clay. God is the potter. And even when we are scarred, stained, cracked, or broken, His hands don’t let go. He doesn’t discard us, He remakes us. He doesn’t cancel us, He restores us. He doesn’t abandon us, He repurposes us.

Somebody ought to thank God today that He doesn’t throw flawed clay away! Aren’t you glad His mercy is greater than your mistakes, and His grace is stronger than your flaws?

Flawed but Still in His Hands

When Jeremiah looks closely, he sees the clay is marred—flawed, imperfect, scarred. Yet here’s the good news, church: though the clay was marred, it was still in the potter’s hands.

That little detail is shouting material all by itself. Because the truth is, all of us are marred clay.

Romans 3:23 says, “Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives.” Not some. Not most. All. That means the preacher, the deacon, the choir, the ushers, the saints in the pews—we all carry cracks, we all carry scars, we all carry flaws.

But here’s the hope: our flaws do not remove us from His hands. Psalm 37:24 says, “When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.” That’s shouting news right there! We may stumble, but we won’t be snatched out of His grip. We may fail, but we are never forsaken.

Think about it: when life drops us, when sin stains us, when guilt tries to bury us—God doesn’t let us go. We are still in His hands. That means His presence covers us, His power keeps us, and His purpose still holds us.

Illustration: Have you ever dropped a glass and it shattered into pieces? What do most of us do? We sweep it up and throw it in the trash. Broken glass is useless. But God doesn’t treat us like broken glass. He treats us like clay. Clay can be reshaped. Clay can be remolded. Clay can be worked with again. Broken, yes—but still moldable. Flawed, yes—but still in His hands.

Turn to your neighbor and say: “I may be flawed, but I’m still in His hands!”

And church, that makes all the difference. Because being “in His hands” means you are under His care, under His authority, under His love. It means you are not defined by your flaws—you are defined by the One who holds you.

So before we go any further in this sermon, let somebody take courage right now: you may feel unworthy, but you are still in His hands. You may feel overlooked, but you are still in His hands. You may feel cracked, but you are still in His hands.

That’s the first truth Jeremiah teaches us: We are flawed—but we are still held. And if God is still holding you, He’s not finished with you yet.

Flawed but Fit for Remaking

Jeremiah says, “The vessel was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel.” Notice the potter didn’t throw the clay away. He didn’t say, “This one is ruined, let me grab a fresh lump.” No—the same clay that was marred is the same clay that was remade.

Church, that’s our story! God doesn’t replace us—He restores us. He doesn’t discard us—He develops us. What the potter started with wasn’t what he finished with. And what God starts with in you isn’t what He’s going to finish with either.

The Bible confirms this truth again and again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].” Did you catch that? God doesn’t patch up the old vessel—He makes a new creation.

And Philippians 1:6 gives us confidence: “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].” That means God never leaves His project unfinished. If His hands are on you, He’s not done with you.

Illustration: Think about recycling. When you toss an old plastic bottle into the bin, it doesn’t end up as trash. It gets collected, melted down, reshaped, and repurposed. That bottle might come back as carpet, a jacket, or even another bottle. What looked worthless is actually useful again in a new form.

That’s what God does with us—He recycles grace. He takes what the world calls waste and remakes it into something worthwhile. He takes what others gave up on and turns it into a testimony. He takes our past failures and fashions them into future purpose.

Now somebody needs to hear this today: Don’t count yourself out just because you’re cracked. Don’t give up just because you’re scarred. You are not too broken to be blessed, and you are not too flawed to be fashioned for God’s purpose.

Tell your neighbor: “I’m under construction—God’s still remaking me!”

So let this sink in: You are not defined by the flaw that marred you—you are defined by the potter who remakes you. If He kept you in His hands, He’s able to form you again, and again, and again until you look like the vessel, He always intended you to be.

Flawed but for His Glory

The Lord ends this vision with a powerful reminder: “As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand.”

Don’t miss this—when God remakes us, it isn’t just for our comfort, it’s for His glory. The potter doesn’t shape clay without a design in mind. Every twist, every press, every turn of the wheel has purpose behind it. In the same way, God’s shaping of your life is intentional. Nothing is random. Nothing is wasted.

Ephesians 2:10 says it best: “For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” That word “workmanship” means masterpiece. You may feel flawed, but in the hands of the Potter you are becoming His masterpiece.

And Isaiah 64:8 gives us this confession: “Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.” Notice the humility: we are the clay, He is the potter. The clay doesn’t get to tell the potter how to shape it. The clay doesn’t get to dictate the design. The potter decides the purpose.

Illustration: A sculptor once chipped away at a block of marble. To most, it looked like a useless chunk of stone. But the sculptor had vision. When asked what he was doing, he said, “I see an angel in this stone, and I’m just chipping away until it’s set free.” That’s what God does with us! He sees what nobody else can see. Where others see flaws, He sees future. Where others see failure, He sees potential. Where others see brokenness, He sees beauty.

That’s why your story is never just about you. It’s about Him. Your survival was for His glory. Your breakthrough was for His glory. Your testimony is not just about your strength—it’s about His power working in you.

So, the next time you wonder, “Why did God keep me? Why didn’t He throw me away?”—remember this: He kept you because your life will tell His story. He remade you so the world can see His glory shining through a flawed vessel like you.

Turn to your neighbor and say: “I’m not here for my glory—I’m here for His!”

Celebratory Close – Remade by His Hands

My brothers and my sisters—Jeremiah’s vision is our testimony:

Flawed, but still in His hands.

Flawed, but fit for remaking.

Flawed, but for His glory.

Can I preach it like I feel it?

I was flawed—but He saved me!

I was cracked—but He kept me!

I was marred—but He remade me!

Aren’t you glad today that the Potter never gave up on you? Somebody ought to lift up holy hands and say, “Thank you, Lord, for remaking me!”

He took my broken pieces and gave me peace.

He took my past mistakes and gave me a brand-new mission.

He took my flaws and made me a vessel fit for His use.

So don’t you weep over what you used to be—rejoice over what God is making you into! Because when it’s all said and done, the Potter is still working, His hands are still molding, and His glory is still shining through flawed but remade vessels like you and me.

Shout with me: “I’m flawed and remade by the Potter’s hands!”