Control

Manuscript Template

Title:  Giving Up...Control

Focus Statement:  

The only way to find lasting peace in a world full of stress is to give up control.

Function Statement:  

We need to focus only on what we can control - keeping our hearts soft and moldable.

We need to faithfully follow God’s leading, allowing God to shape us (and re-shape us) into whatever vessel He determines we should be.

We need to stop trying to control the outcomes of our lives and the lives of those around us, as only God has the power to do that.

We need to walk in faith that if we obediently follow God’s will for our lives, God will lead us exactly where we need to be.

Tweetable Phrase:  

Main Text:  Jeremiah 18-19

Supporting Text:  

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  Isaiah 30:12-15 / Luke 22:42

Benediction:  2 Timothy 2:20-21

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

It has come to my attention that I have allowed my to-do list to get far too long.

I have used the excuse of cold weather throughout the winter to put off quite a few tasks that need to get done, causing my to-do list to grow much faster than I am currently able to get things done.

Fix my grill that broke last fall

Build a blanket chest that was supposed to be Andrea’s Christmas present - right now all she has is a pile of wood in the garage and a carboard box in the living room with all the blankets in it

Clean the garage - which may require me to do the first two things first before I am able to accomplish that

Finish a craft with Ellie

Finish another craft with Wyatt

Anyone with me on this? It seems like the amount of stuff we have to do never ends.

The problem is, even if I completed all these side tasks that I’ve been putting off, there is still a steady stream of things that we all need to get done daily / weekly / monthly. And these are common to all of us.

Household

Laundry

Cleaning

Shopping

Cooking

Paying Bills

Fixing what is broken around the house

Yard Work

Jobs

Projects to complete

E-mails to answer

Deadlines to meet

Meetings to attend

Kids

School

Homework

Sports

Appointments (doctor / dentist / friends)

Social

Date night

Dinner with friends

Personal

Hobbies

Exercise

Faith

Church

Small Group

Daily Devotionals

Obviously Andrea and I share these regular responsibilities, and in truth she does far more than her share, but at least for me, the constant stream of to-do’s can easily become a source of stress causing me to constantly question if I’m doing the right things.

Every to-do becomes a question rattling around in my mind.

Household

Do we have enough money to pay the bills?

Did I remember to pay the bills?

Is the house clean enough for the company we’re having over?

Is the yard nice enough for the neighbors not to see us as a problem?

Jobs

Did I get everything done?

Am I working too many hours? Not enough?

If you’re working at a company

What does my boss think of me?

Am I positioned well for the next promotion?

Kids

Are the kids doing well in school?

Am I saving enough for college?

Are they having fun in their sports?

Did I schedule all the appointments (dentist / doctor / etc) they need correctly?

Are my kids growing spiritually?

Social

When was the last date night I had with my spouse?

Are we talking enough, about the right things?

Am I loving my spouse as God loves them?

Do I even have friends?

Do I have time for friends?

Personal

Do I even have any hobbies?

What would I even want to do if I had time?

Am I exercising enough to stay healthy?

Am I exercising too much, and not spending enough time with the family?

Faith

Am I modeling proper faith to my children?

Am I growing spiritually?

Am I doing what God is asking me to do?

Am I putting to death every sinful desire?

Every to-do is a source of stress.

My problem is that I like having a clean to-do list.

I’m probably a little OCD in that area.

I want everything done.

I want everything done on time.

I want everything done to my standards.

To feel successful, I feel like I need all my boxes checked.

To feel successful, I need to feel like I am in control.

WE - Tension

How many of us live like this?

How many of us live like the goal of our lives is managing our lists? Defining success based on task completion.

How many of you have your unfinished to-do list items and the internal dialogue surrounding them running through your head on repeat?

That way of living is guaranteed to lead to stress.

This best definition of stress that I’ve come across is

Stress: Trying to control things we were never meant to control.

Because as much as we want to be in control of our lives,

and do everything we are “supposed” to do as adults...

...God did not create us to have that level of control.

This week we’re starting a 4-week series that is going to take us to Easter, where we’re going to take the final name of God we discussed last week, “Adonai” (God is my Master) and flesh that out a little more of what that means with the goal of preparing our hearts for Easter weekend.

This series is going to be called “Giving Up”, where we’re going to focus on everything we naturally try to do with our lives, but God calls us to give up, and give over to Him.

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Jeremiah 18-19: Sanctuary Bible Page # 631]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text - HEAD

Sovereignty

To give a little context as to the passage we’re going to talk about today, Jeremiah was a prophet of God.

God would speak to His people, the Israelites through His prophets.

Jeremiah served under kings Josiah / Jehoiakim / Jehoiachin / Zedekiah.

The passage in Jeremiah 18-19 occurs after King Josiah’s attempts to reform Judah failed.

King Josiah in 2 King 22-23 attempted to bring Judah back to God.

After the Book of the Law was rediscovered

Josiah ordered all Idols to be removed

And all Pagan worship sights to be destroyed

But it didn’t last.

After King Josiah’s death the people turned back to

Idolatry

Political corruption

Social injustice

It is at this point where God gives Jeremiah a word for the people.

And like most illustrations in the bible, God chose to use an analogy everyone knew about - the process of making clay pots.

A quick aside, when you go to Israel or anywhere in the ancient world, you literally see pieces of clay pottery coming out of the ground.

There was so much clay pottery throughout history it’s nearly as common as finding rocks when you look down.

And this common illustration is what God uses to try to call His people back to himself.

So let’s start in Jeremiah 18:1-4:

Jeremiah 18:1–4 NIV

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4a But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands

Before we go any farther I want to help us get a better understanding of what the people Jeremiah was originally talking to would have already understood.

The process of making a clay pot back then was not the same as it is today.

You did not just pickup clay from the craft store, you had to make it.

[Video: Pottery - Ancient Method - Making Clay - 1:00-1:30]

Clay was collected from riverbanks / hills / natural clay deposits

The clay was mixed with water and dissolved to remove the stones / roots / sand / debris

It is then left in the sun to dry until it reached the right consistency

[Video: Pottery - Ancient Method - Wedging - 1:30-2:15]

The clay then needed to be wedged before it could be shaped.

Wedging (as you can see) is where they throw the clay down into the table (or floor) repeatedly

They do this for a few reasons

Align the clay particles

Remove Air

Evens out the moisture levels throughout the clay

If this is not done the pot will explode during the firing process if it is not prepared properly

And I think this is where the Israelites had a problem,

and where most of us (if we’re honest) run into problems.

The passage said the clay was marred in the potter’s hands.

Just like the clay, we need to be prepared for what we will face later in life.

And the process of wedging is violent!

I don’t know about you, but I want to avoid everything that is unpleasant in my life

But God (the potter) knows that it is necessary so our lives don’t blow up when we’re in the fire.

Even though it doesn’t always make sense to us, we need to GIVE UP CONTROL and submit to process God uses to prepare us for the future plans He has for us.

Like the passage said, we are the clay in God’s hands, it is His hands that mar us.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

We are called to acknowledge that God is Sovereign over our lives.

God is the only one who has the absolute authority / wisdom / control over all creation

Where in your life right now do you feel like you’re being wedged?

Where is God working the impurities out of your life?

Where do you need to GIVE UP CONTROL and submit to God’s purifying process?

Salvation

But God’s not done with His message to Isreal. Continuing in Jeremiah 18:4b

Jeremiah 18:4–6 NIV

4b so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

The process of shaping the clay pots back then was still very similar to today.

[Video: Pottery - Ancient Method - Spinning - 2:15-3:30]

The pot is then shaped into whatever shape the potter determines

To fit the final use the pot is intended to serve

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried doing this.

It is hard.

Andrea and I did a pottery class for a date night once.

I started shaping a pot and had dreams of making a giant flower vase.

Things were going great.

Until they weren’t and all of a sudden my beautiful flower vase become unstable and completely fell in on itself.

The clay that we used wasn’t going to be a giant flower vase like I intended.

And just like Israel strayed, didn’t live up to God’s original plans, and God needed to form them into a different pot for a different use...

...we had to rethink our plans, and ended up going home with short / thick walled candy dishes.

This is the challenge we face.

The critical requirement for this transformation is yielding.

The most important quality of clay is that it yields.

If it fails to yield to the potter’s hands, it will be spoiled, because clay cannot mold itself.

The same is true for us.

Grace is always cooperative.

God works in us, but we must respond.

The path to Holiness starts when we stop resisting the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, and allow God to mold us as He sees fit.

But that’s hard.

I don’t know about you, but I want to determine what type of pot I’m being made into

I want to be one of the pots that is useful - like the pots that are used for cooking

I don’t want to be the pot that is used for storage and sits in the dark basement, forgotten about

I don’t want to be the clay that is used for roof tiles, baking in the sun all day

I definitely don’t want to be the clay used to make pipes, transporting waste

No matter what vessel God is shaping us into

No matter what use God has planned for our lives

We need to trust that His ways are best

Romans 8:28 NIV

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

The good news is WE SERVE A LOVING GOD

Even if you have resisted God’s shaping in the past.

Even if you have held onto control of your life, that you should have handed over to God

Even if the clay pot of your life is misshapen and covered with the scars of years of sin

As long as your heart stays soft and malleable, God can (just like the potter) re-shape you to bring out the image of Christ that you were created to reflect to the world.

As long as you stay soft and yield to God’s will for your life, it is never too late.

That’s the entire idea of salvation.

The truth is that we have all failed, sinned, resisted God’s plans for our lives.

But through God’s grace, God sought us out, and paid our debt through the sacrifice of His son Jesus on the cross.

It is never too late to GIVE UP CONTROL of your plans for your future, and trust God to re-shape you into the person you were created to be.

Sentence / Judgement

But God’s message to the Israelites does carry a pretty strong warning.

Skipping head, God tells Jeremiah to get a finished pot and go to the city gate in front of the people

Jeremiah 19:10–11 NIV

10 “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

The truth about pottery is that as long as the clay is soft, there is hope.

No matter how far from the intended shape the clay is in, as long as it is soft, the potter can start over.

But once the clay hardens, it is no longer workable.

It must be discarded and thrown away.

Israel chose that path.

They allowed their hearts to harden.

Going back a few verse, the Israelites are quite clear about their choices.

Jeremiah 18:11–12 NIV

11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

This is the heart of sin, not just breaking God’s rules, but choosing self-rule, keeping control of our own lives.

We are like the clay pot that wasn’t prepared properly and explodes while being fired.

Here’s a video that I found

[Video: Pottery - Exploding - 4:20-4:30]

And if we don’t submit to God’s process

If we don’t allow God to remove the impurities from our lives

If we don’t allow God to prepare us properly

When the fire of life comes, we won’t be ready

We won’t be spiritually strong enough

And even though this pot looked perfectly fine on the outside, because it was not prepared properly, because internally it had impurities, it was not able to withstand the heat

And just like this pot, our lives will explode as well, when we face the trials / fire of life.

2 Thessalonians 1:8–9 NIV

8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might

Being in control feels good in the moment.

But,

doing things our own way,

making decisions independent of God,

has consequences.

The bible tell us plainly that we will all face judgement at some point, and if we don’t know God and obey the teachings of Jesus, we will be sentenced to eternity separated from God.

YOU - Takeaway - HEART

I don’t know how this lands with you.

Maybe you’re being wedged right now, God is removing the impurities from your life, you are struggling, and it is hard to continue to GIVE GOD CONTROL, and stay in his Sovereign will.

Maybe you are being shaped, and God is not shaping you into the vessel that you would choose to become if it were left up to you. Maybe you are hardening and the challenge for you is staying soft, staying pliable, and allowing God TO KEEP CONTROL of your life to bring you salvation, shaping you to reflect the image of Christ through your life

Maybe you’ve already TAKEN BACK CONTROL of your life, you’ve hardened to the thought of following God, and you find yourself in a rough spot with no where to turn, feeling like you’ve already been cast off and throw away.

But the good news is, as long as you’re breathing, there is hope.

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action - HANDS

Restoration

The bible tells the story of another prophet named Isaiah,

He served during the reign of Hezekiah

after Assyria had already destroyed the northern Kingdom of Isreal

and during the time when Assyria was threatening Judah (the Southern Kingdom),

Isaiah brough this message to Israel as they also FAILED TO GIVE UP CONTROL to God, but instead, turned to Egypt for help.

Isaiah writes this

Isaiah 30:12–15 NIV

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, 13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. 14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.” 15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

God is in the business of RESTORATION

God can bring you back to the path He created for you, replacing what was lost.

The Japanese have brought the concept of restoration to pottery.

They call it Kintsugi

Kintsugi (golden joinery) - Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. 

Rather than hiding damage, this technique highlights scars, celebrating the objects history, embracing imperfections. It views breakage and repair as part of the object's history, rather than a reason to discard it. It emphasizes that broken, repaired objects can be more beautiful and unique than the original.

Here are some pictures of repaired Japanese bowls

[Image: Kintsugi - 1]

[Image: Kintsugi - 2]

[Image: Kintsugi - 3]

God can use all things for Good.

No matter you past choices.

No matter your current choices.

No matter how far you feel like you have drifted from God.

God can restore what is broken, just like the Japanese have restored these broken bowls.

We just need to GIVE UP CONTROL, acknowledging that only God is capable of leading our lives down the right path.

Jesus gives us the best example of GIVING UP CONTROL to God in the Garden of Gethsemane right before He is arrested and crucified on the cross.

Being fully human, He doesn’t want to die.

But, He fully submits to God’s will

Luke 22:42 NIV

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

We are called to follow Jesus’ lead.

We need to focus only on what we can control - keeping our hearts soft and moldable.

We need to faithfully follow God’s leading, allowing God to shape us (and re-shape us) into whatever vessel He determines we should be.

We need to stop trying to control the outcomes of our lives and the lives of those around us, as only God has the power to do that.

We need to walk in faith that if we obediently follow God’s will for our lives, God will lead us exactly where we need to be.

Just like God spoke to a Israel through Jeremiah when they wanted to control of every aspect of their lives, God still speaks to us through the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

Israel refused to repent, their hearts hardened, and they refused give up control to God.

My prayer is that we, individually and as a church:

stay malleable

remain open to correction and shaping by God

daily give control of our lives over to God

and allow God to shape us into whatever vessel He deems fit for whatever purpose He created us for

Because...

The only way to find lasting peace in a world full of stress is to give up control.

So to end...I ask you...

What area of your life is God calling you to GIVE UP CONTROL to Him today?

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

2 Timothy 2:20–21 NIV

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

This week...

Let’s stop living according to our lists, trying to keep control over everything, obsessively checking boxes in an effort to feel successful

Let’s stop following our own plans for our lives

Let’s submit to God’s sovereignty, submitting to God’s work of preparing us for the fires we will face in life, and shaping us for whatever purpose He created us to serve

Let’s accept God’s offer of salvation, keeping our hearts soft and moldable, letting Him take our sin scarred souls, and re-shape us in the image of His Son Jesus Christ

Let’s recognize that there will be judgement, that if we allow our hearts to harden, when our lives are over, we will live eternally separated from God

But, Let’s praise God for being the God that restores, taking our broken lives, repairing the damage we’ve done, and turning us into something more beautiful that we could imagine

Let’s give God full CONTROL of our lives, as He is the only one that deserves to have it

Quick reminder...

No programming this Wednesday for Spring Break - enjoy the time off with your family

We are 3 weeks out from Easter (April 5th) - if God is putting the name of someone on your heart to invite - obey - find a time over the next few weeks and invite them - like Christmas, people are much more open to giving Church a try on Easter

If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

How can we actively practice giving up control in our daily lives?

In what ways have you seen God shaping you as the potter shapes clay in your life?

What does it mean for you to trust in God’s plans even when they are different from your own?

How can we overcome the fear of letting God have control over difficult areas of our lives?

What steps can you take to ensure your heart remains soft and moldable for God’s shaping?

What is one area of your life where you feel the need to have control but may need to surrender to God?

How do you respond when you face situations where you cannot control the outcomes?

Can you think of a time when trusting God led to a positive change in your life?

What are some practical ways you can support your friends in their struggles to give up control?

How can the concept of being shaped by God relate to your passions and future goals?