Hope for restoring broken lives
Jeremiah 18:1 through Jeremiah 18:6 (NIV)
1This 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.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Intro: Jeremiah lived in a time when the world was under the power of evil tyrants. The religious world was corrupt; God’s priests were pawns of the state; the people were living in sin. All the laws of Moses were broken which left sin and chaos.
God spoke to Jeremiah and told him to go to the potters shed and there he would be given words of hope. It was there Jeremiah received a message of truth, God showed him 3 things He wants to show us to give us hope.
1. God is still at work! (Jeremiah 18:3)
A. Many people believe God exists, but that he quit work a long time ago.
1. Some say he created the world and then set it loose.
2. Others say He doesn’t care about us as individuals.
B. Many believe God exists but the day of His miraculous work ended with the Apostles.
Hebrews 13:8 through Hebrews 13:9 (NKJV)
8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
1. Pentecostal faith is built on a God who doesn’t cancel His promises. (Acts 2:17, 39)
a. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is still available to all who will receive.
b. The gifts of the Spirit are still operational
2. God was at work with broken things (Jeremiah 18:4)
A. Jeremiah saw the potter at work with clay.
1. God has always seemed to do His greatest work with worthless material. He even created man from the dust of the ground.
2. God has a plan for every life.
A. He did not create man without a divine reason
B. He is constantly working with each piece of clay “God don’t make no junk”
Illustration: Michelangelo saw a great piece of marble, and asked why nobody had used it to make anything. He was told there was a flaw in the marble making it useless. He then studied it, and took it to his studio and created a masterpiece, “David”
When asked how he did it with a piece of flawed marble he said “I saw David struggling to get out and I chipped away the flaw, and set him free” Jesus does the same with us with all our flaws He see in us an image of Himself which is our hope.
b. The prophet saw the marred vessel, a broken design a failed masterpiece.
1 the potter had a desire to create a special vessel out of this piece of clay.
2. The clay had a flaw it wanted to work against the potter.
A. In every person there is a fatal flaw called sin which rebels against the will of God.
B. The power of sin is to destroy life as God intended.
3. God was at work recreating things (Jeremiah 18:4)
God doesn’t cast aside broken lives! His grace has no limits.
A. The scriptures are full of people God made over again.
1. Jacob, the liar, became Israel’s prince
2. David, the adulterer, was restored to greater glory.
3. Saul of Tarsus, the murderer of saints, becomes Paul the Apostle.
B. Every church is filled with people God made again!
1. Every Christian is a miracle
2. The church is not a gathering of “perfect people” but those God is still making again
God is ready to take your broken life and create a masterpiece!