Celebrating Brokenness - The Message

 › Broken bone stories Today is a day of celebration and of remembrance. And this is what we celebrate… Colossians 1:11-14 - We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. But we must start this storyline from the beginning. We must begin with brokenness - WE ARE BROKEN I am sure everyone of us has a story to tell of a time of brokenness. And at the time, there probably wasn’t much celebrating going on. I personally have a lot of broken stories to tell. We would be here all day if you wanted to hear them all. But one thing I remember is the last broken story was a surrender cry to my Jesus. Mended When you see broken beyond repair I see healing beyond belief When you see wounded, I see mended You see your worst mistake But I see the price I paid You see the scars from when you fell But I see the stories they will tell You see worthless but I see priceless — Matthew West I felt at that time Jesus could relate to me and that he could do something with me Jeremiah 18:1–6 - The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. I wanted and needed Him to mend/heal my brokenness and give me worth again. › Kintsukuroi - Japanese art repairing broken vessels and giving them more worth WE ARE SCARRED There are two stories that come to mind concerning scars What Thomas the disciple’s experience with touching Jesus’s scars did to him John 20:28 - Then the words spilled out of his heart— “You are my Lord, and you are my God!” The story of the lame man who Jesus told to stand up, pick up his mat and walk! John 5:8 - Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Our scar stories are our testimony - The saints were saved by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony (TO DO IT AGAIN) Revelation 12:11 - And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. WE ARE GLORIFIED Ephesians 1:19–20 - I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 2:5–6 - that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. That same power that raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, gives us a heavenly identity! Because Holy Spirit lives in us we can have our identity in everything Jesus went through here on earth and now in the heavenlies • He was broken for our sake and can identify with our brokenness • He has scars which are His testimony of what He did for you and me • He is glorified in the heavenlies seated next to the Father… and so are we! So yes! We can celebrate our brokenness today. Because it leads us to the Healer, who leaves us with scars to tell a story (testimony - to do it again), that leads all who receive in faith, into an eternal glory like we could never fully imagine!