Clay in the Potter's Hands [Part 1]

Pastoral author and Bible teacher Alan Wright relents and re-spends it makes it move from the very same way faster excited.

Today the series we may as presented with an old Georgian North Caroline will stay with us throughout the entire room today. Mr. will make sure you know how to get our special resource right now you can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright so as you listen to the message go deeper as we send you today's special contact is a Pastor Alan.org that's Pastor Alan.RG or call 877-5448 60 really be more on all this later in the program but right now let's dig in and get started with today's teaching is Alan's life sometimes feel like it's spinning spending spending micros sometimes all you spinning out of control. You are seated a clay in the modern science and as surely as the centrifugal force of the spinning clay on the potter's wheel is part of the process of being formed into that which is glorious so it is that you are in the potter science. It means a lot that in some of the most uncertain times when you might feel like things are swirling, swirling your actually right where God wants you in his hands. We are starting today. A series from Jeremiah on the prophecies of restoration and hope that we see in his life and I want us to dive in in the middle of his ministry in the middle of the book to this scene in the potter's house in Jeremiah chapter 18 it be from this chapter. By the way, that will be receiving our New Year's blessing that were going to be speaking over one another's lives in a series that I'll just call remade because it's all about how God can remake anything Jeremiah chapter 18 verse one the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there will let you hear my word. So I went down to the potter's house and there he was working at his wheel and the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do then the word of the Lord came to me, O house of Israel cannot do with you as this potter has done, declares the Lord will hold like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Have you ever had a project that you started out didn't turn out right. You just wish you could do it over again, but I was when I was a kid, I was all into arts and crafts all of the paint acrylic paint was my choice. I liked it better than oil. It drives way faster.

But the problem with that is that it drives way faster.

So what does on the canvas. You know you don't have longer work with it and I but I love painting as a kid and then I kinda gave it you all in and so some years ago as an adult I thought I need to get those old acrylic paints out and try to paint something again and I would just be funded, and so I got out the canvas. I got out my paints that I went and bought some new brushes and excitedly started into this painting that it had perfectly envisioned in my mind I wanted to paint a beautiful horse in the middle of a lovely field in a rural setting on a misty morning and the fields turned out pretty good, and the trees in the background. They were good enough and but the horse always had issues and I thought I like I said the horses legs don't look right. But then I remembered this is a horse on a misty morning.

It's a horse in the midst, and so since I was artist I let the mist grow. It was a little little more dense than originally envisioned.

And, and that Mr. rose up over most of the horses legs and so I stepped away from it for a while and I came back to it and I noticed that honestly the horses body didn't look at proper proportion either. And so I decided to let the mist grow even more intense and so that the mist grew a little higher and started covering the horses body. I stepped away for a while and I thought was going be good to go now is a misty, very misty morning and the next day I came by like that and I said honestly. The horses head that look right at all is so instead of being a misty morning. It became a heavy fog. When I finally got done with that and I said to my wife I said how you I'm a horse in the mist. She says where's the horse is it's gonna famous in our household. Of all my paintings of the most famous, the horse in the midst you have time to live it all were you just feel like if I could do that over again and yet you can't and lots of things in arts and crafts and so far you can't you can't redo it is just you know it's not but not so with soft clay on the potter's wheel is a different matter and what God calls Jeremiah to do is to go down to the potter's house and see demonstration so that he can show him some layers of prophetic insight that is centered in this beautiful thing that happens where potter is working on a vessel and finds that in some way that is marred and he takes it and re-lumps it and re-spends it and makes it new from the very same clay remade. I think there's something important for us in these times in this image and in the prophet Jeremiah. It is a relevant prophetic book for us in these times, so Jeremiah lived in a span of time that would see the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon and his ministry takes place under three different kings and Israel. The times were tough, so about a century earlier. 722. The Syrians had invaded the northern part of Israel. The northern kingdom. Sometimes that's called Israel and sometimes others called Judah. The northern already been invaded, so they'd already these are people that had grown having seen what they knew of their land to have been radically changed by great foreign powers that have come and and changed the landscape of history and now they're in a time that there is increasing uncertainty about what is going to happen with the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and and the Babylonian empire which is taking over much of the known world.

You got it you can envision yourself in a time like that. This is 630 years before Christ, roughly in Jeremiah's call to preach in this context in which it is certain that the Babylonian empire is going to come and eventually sacked Jerusalem the port number the people in exile in Babylon and Jeremiah is the prophet who sees all of this coming and God speaks through Jeremiah to a people who are troubled, and there is great uncertainty about the future.

The people have been under three different leaders kinds of leaders. Josias, who brought some noble reforms but didn't last. When his son, Jehoiada, Kim rebelled against the Lord and people practice wickedness and then Zedekiah gets put on the throne by Babylon for tenure. Thinking he's going be sort of a puppet, but he's not. He flees Egypt. What I'm saying is, there were a lot of turmoil in the leadership of the nation. There was tremendous uncertainty about the future. There was great fear. Morale was was low and everybody had a different idea about the way Ford if I wanted things we do see that is really just sort of shocking is that the Lord when when it becomes imminent that Babylon's gonna take over the Lord's peaks through Jeremiah Gibson word to give the people that what they're actually supposed to do is to just give into to Babylon Babylonian rule which would just having just like us Christians as I let me the one who would ever say that right is confusing and and and people one person of this idea and others. We go to each of another Simpson fight others.

A which is given to Babylon. The people to enter just tremendous uncertainty and great invasion and and and and and polarity of thought uncertain rule and this impending judgment and then what happens is Babylon comes and and for an 18 month.

They put Jerusalem under siege and then and then they come in Jerusalem and the temples destroyed, which represents their whole way of life. So what I'm saying is that Jeremiah is a prophet whose life and ministry spanned this transitional turbulent time amongst the people of God and it reminds me a lot of today is relevant for us and Helen Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series. Many Christians in America today. You're starting a nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed. Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a difficult one to make you feel like an alien in your own culture. There's a lot to learn from Danielle when he was exiled to the page Amanda I. Through our special offer. This month you can learn to live under the favor of guarding and carrying culture the way Daniel dad gave before the end in mind.

The senior Pastor Alan's idea series, Daniel favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is God should favor to Daniel and his four man God's grace is upon you as well.

Nation will not only help you through these troubling times.

It will also help someone else thinks for your partnership with how I might ministry misty Collison 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.org today's teaching now.

Can you once again is Jeremiah was was born in a little town north of Jerusalem. So Jerusalem becomes his main place of ministry, he came from a priestly family sort the way John the Baptist did. But he was young when he was called into the ministry. Probably not old enough to be at the age it was required to be a priest so he is comfortable and Jerusalem, but he's not a Jerusalem night he still a bit of an outsider.

As one commentator said to think of someone who has tried to move to Texas maybe California or maybe North Carolina.

I don't know you know you like you've been close by, but it takes it's as you know me, know quite totally ever fit in. Jeremiah was we was in Jerusalem but he wasn't born there from a little town and that he wasn't a priest, and yet he was comfortable in the context of that and God comes to Jeremiah as will learn next week and calls him from a powerful sense of God's purposes that have far preceded anything. Jeremiah got a good sleep and in the middle of his ministry, where God is given Jeremiah so many words of judgment to give to the disobedient people about the destruction that was coming and and yet in these beautiful interjections of prophetic hope that that seemed beyond his years and see into the century you sent ultimately point us to Jesus and and here in the center of this Jeremiah 18 the Lord wants Jeremiah to see something that's very important to God's heart so he tells them to go down and observe the partner go down because he is probably speaking of urine Jerusalem Mike of the Temple Mount and go down into one of the valleys may begin on Valley and and as is the case today. Most people work from their home and so just go to the potter's house, and you'll see him working there an object lesson, so to speak… A little.

Not unlike what we have attempted in bygone years to do and are we used to do little children sermons back a week. I think structural different and we bring all the little kids up front in the middle of the service and try to give them a little object lesson. No, the point them to Jesus and the kids.

Of course, they're pretty savvy they figure out that it's you know where it's always going so is like the story of the day of the guy given the children's sermon. He said I'm thinking of five kids. I'm thinking of something that is little and gray and furry has a bushy tail and hides nuts for the winter and 11 logo raised her hand.

She said it sounds like a squirrel but I bet the answers Jesus like that but they will be the last physiologically doing the children's sermon and I and I send those out as a well you see what time we would you rotated around much differently.

People come to Joan's arm. You never know what you get in your wood and scream ahead of time. It just showed up and is only am I to be anyone I'm not. I'm not doing great and his brothers. Good brother will well well intended but he came in on his big man and he came and and and the kids all gather around up here and there. This know this, and he walked out his got a big guy think of them even trap the big think big steel thing on spring-loaded you know with the claw type thing like that and and and and Amy's out there and and any show them how the jagged edges to write that on animal and ended to CM to visit. Is it it looks enticing within his job back to Pasadena where we are neutral and some is a more well-off, you know the heart of the helpless feeling when you have the bridge and some by the middle of that like I did a lot of children.

God loves you okay anyway he's got he's got is still God is of use in the right object lesson that actually convey prophetic insight and remember Jeremiah as a prophet. He lives his life in the stream of revelatory insights. So when he goes down to look at the potter. He sees things layer upon layer deep spiritual insights and watches the potter you know.

Interestingly, this is one of those crafts really hasn't changed that much over the years to show you this modern-day this clay that's gotten in that we got the video to show its clay that that you grab me put it onto a wheel, much as they did centuries and centuries ago, and potter finds a lump of ordinary clay chooses along slaps it around a little bit lump together rolls the clay just a bit of mud just a bit of dust and dirt puts it onto a wheeled today.

Look course, a lot of them are electric. The differences that and Jeremiah time is still in most places the world thereto wheeled one up top one below and it works like a flywheel so the legs can operate the wheel below. Make the top wheel spin and the clay is kept moist and kept in the potter's hands and where he presses the clay goes the other direction and so he molds it makes it as it spends and spends and spends and then when he chooses it says it's his creation. That's his. It's his design is his image he has in mind. He then can begin the press down and make whatever kind of vessel that he wants to make it into and isn't something how something so so mundane can become so beautiful with a little bit of spinning and then I become something that's treasured and cared for and what's interesting is that it really hasn't changed that much over the years. So when Jeremiah went down to the potter's house, he he saw much like what we would say so marvelous an image want to go with them and imagine Jeremiah there was a sea onesie notice. I think you notices in the first place. That clay is common, that there's nothing more basic or unimpressive than clay a little dust a little water a little more that by itself it without any shaping from the potter is not much to look at and not much use, but he notices that the potter can take something this completely amorphous, something that has no shape, no purpose yet and the potter. The potter it's a vision for the clay, the potter gets in his mind something beautiful for that which is not yet lovely. Potter has in his mind and idea of usefulness for something that in its present form as it is a very useful it begins is the potter's creative instinct, love that we end pain in her brilliant chapter called creative power and insightful book the healing presence spoke of Michelangelo and commented on how Michelangelo would set of his greatest works like the sculpture of Moses was famous David that Mike Landrieu said that they were in the stone clamoring to be freed and he said he just chipped away the stone to uncover it. Allen right. Today's good news message playing in the potter scene needs from our series remade and past relatives joining a specular in the studio with a parting good news thought for the day to carry with you in just a moment. Many Christians in America today.

You're starting a nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed. Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a difficult one to make you feel like an alien in your own culture. There's a lot to learn from Danielle when he was exiled to the page Amanda I. Through our special office not you can learn to live under the favor of God in Aryan culture the way Daniel dad gave before the end in mind.

The senior Pastor Alan's idea series, Daniel favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is not shared favor to Daniel and his four man race is a timeless brown nation will not only help you navigate through these troubling times. It will also help someone else links for your partnership with our night ministry. We missed us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.work with Pastor Alan and as we kick off the series remade in. If you could see the visual behind this really was a lot of the themes of of the potter nets with this teaching was clay in the potter's hand. Where was nourishing to me, Daniel, to study and learn more about about how potter spins the wheel and shapes the clay. I've never done that before. Maybe want to learn how to do it, but one things for sure. The potter gives his full attention to the clay and that clay is will see some more tomorrow is always in the potter Saints. Sometimes the pressure of just pushing the pushing inward on the clay is the potter's wheel spins. That's what makes the vessel start moving vertically and shaping into so I just leave listeners with this thought that if you're feeling some pressure doesn't mean God is left you. It means that your clay in the potter chance.

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