Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

In life we see many things that are built.

We see bridges and roads.

We see fences and pens.

We see saddles and boots.

We see horses and dogs.

We see many different things being made or formed.

The one thing we see in this is many things have no say in their development.

Like roads, bridges, saddles, and such.

But horses, dogs, and us people do have a part.

God is molding us into what He desires and if we cooperate, we are rewarded.

But if we rebel and fight, we receive discipline like a dog or horse does.

There is one difference in our training a dog or horse compared to what God does in us: He is perfect and we are not.

The dog or horse may sense that something is wrong and we do not see it.

God knows exactly what is right and wrong and He places us always in places and situations for our growth.

Sometimes we find ourselves in positions that are really bad because we failed to follow God’s grand design.

So, He alters what He was doing and starts working on us from that way.

All the while He is shaping us to be what He has set for us to be.

We see this example clearly in the section of Scripture we will examine this morning.

In Jeremiah 18:1-6

A spoiled vessel was reworked into something different because it did not cooperate.

It may have been originally meant to be a beautiful vase but now will become a chamber pot.

It did not cooperate.

Remember that part.

It became spoiled because it had something lacking in it.

The potter made it into something as he saw fit.

He did because he was not going to waste what he had made.

He just shifted from that direction and made it into something else.

That is what God does for us if we “spoil” in His hands.

If we do not cooperate we may well go from having success to being a chamber pot.

That is what we are going to look at in this section.

First we are in God’s hands and no one elses.

Second we will be formed to His design regardless what we do.

And finally we as living clay can do our part in this development.

So first we are...

In God’s Hands

In this story we see three things.

God is the potter, we are the clay, and life is the wheel.

God put us in life and He is forming us in this life.

If we mess up and become spoiled, life keeps going and God makes us into something else that still is part of His will.

I want us to think about this concept of being in God’s hands.

We are in His hands.

We have Him shaping and guiding us.

He is working us into what He wants.

What a blessing that is.

God, the creator of all things, the all-powerful God who is above all things and keeper of all things, has us in His hands.

He desires to use us and make us into something.

That is a great honor and privilege.

Just think about this when something comes before you that makes you want to spoil in His hands.

Remember that He has you and is forming you.

Let Him work.

God is the one working in and on you.

It is Him making you into the person He desires you to be.

It is not your neighbor, it is not a friend, it is not a spouse, it is not your job, it is not the things you have, it is not money, or anything else that defines you.

No it is the Lord of all that defines you because He is the one who is designing you to be who and what He wants you to be.

We have no control over what He makes us into.

He has a design.

He has a plan.

He is the one who set you on the wheel.

He has a purpose for you before you were even on the wheel of life.

Let Him work.

Let Him design you and make you into what He has desired.

We all to often think we know what we want out of life.

We think “man if only I had this or that, I would be so happy, I would be better able to give more to the church.

I would be better able to serve the Lord.

I would be better able to do whatever.”

God is shaping you now where you are.

Serve Him now.

Serve Him in everything.

Do not become spoiled in His hands and have to be reworked.

Proverbs states that “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Prov.

16:9).

The same book tells us that “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Prov.

19:21).

Our hearts have evil in them even after salvation.

We can become so twisted in our desires that we take good things and make them bad.

We can turn helping our children become good workers with a great work ethic into them seeing that god is not a priority because we are always working or showing or rodeoing rather than being at church gathered with our fellow members of the body.

That was a good thing that turned bad.

We became spoiled in the hands of the potter and He began reworking us.

Our hearts may have been right but they were not in alignment with the Lord.

We need to always ask ourselves when we begin to do something if it is the Lord’s will or not.

Will it be more beneficial for my children to go and do all these things that are temporal or will it be better to get them a solid foundation and a habit in the Lord?

Will this couple hours from working on Sunday hurt what I am doing that bad?

Or will missing church every Sunday for months because the work needs done hurt me more and cause God to begin to rework me?

What am I missing when I am not joining in fellowship with my fellow body members when I am chasing all these dying things and forsaking the eternal?

The Lord still has you in His hands but those gentle forming hands may become a bit harsher and have more pressure bearing down when we become spoiled by our hearts desires and world chasing.

We must remember that no matter what when we are His we will be...

Formed to His Design

Whether we become spoiled or we work out just right, we will be formed to His design.

We will be worked into what He wants.

This can happen with joy and happiness or it can be painful.

We must realize that regardless what we want, what we desire, what we think we should be: God has the right to make us into whatever He wants.

We do not have a say in what He makes us into.

We may become something we have never dreamed we would be.

I know for a fact this is true.

I was subbing this week and I went and stood by a window and looked at the sky.

I thought about all the years I spent riding beneath those clouds and sky.

I loved it.

That was what I was supposed to do.

I was supposed to be a cowboy and nothing more.

God blessed me with that line of work and an ability to learn it and do it well.

I loved it and would never have thought I would give it up.