Latest / Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons / The Potter and the Clay
Transcript
- 0:00to me, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done, declares the Lord.
- 0:07Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
- 0:17God in his word uses many ways and illustrations to describe his relationship with his people.
- 0:25He speaks about familiar things that people would see around them and that they could relate to.
- 0:31He uses the illustration of the shepherd and the sheep on a number of occasions, both in the Old and in the New Testament.
- 0:39He uses the relationship between a husband and a wife.
- 0:44He uses the relationship of a father to his children.
- 0:48These are just a few of the different ways in which God describes the relationship that he has with his people.
- 0:56And all of these ways of describing these relationships, they teach people both when the hearers then, but also ourselves today.
- 1:05Things about life and how we live.
- 1:08Things about ourselves, how we are and our different needs.
- 1:11But they also teach us about our Lord and his ways towards us.
- 1:17So he uses many different ways.
- 1:20He uses the sheep as an illustration of how being protected and provided for by the shepherd.
- 1:27He uses his people as a wife and God as the husband in that relationship of love and a love so often described as steadfast and unconditional.
- 1:39He uses the illustration of his people as children, relying on the father for his loving care and his watch and also at times his rebuke.
- 1:52So he uses all of these different relationships.
- 1:55And here in these verses, we're given another way of describing the relationship of God towards his people.
- 2:02A relationship that was shown to Jeremiah when he was told to go down to the potter's house.
- 2:09And there what he saw God used to describe his relationship to the people.
- 2:15And even though it's, as it says, the clay, as it was being worked on, didn't work out the first time.
- 2:24What he saw was the potter taking that same lump of clay and reforming it and working on it into what he wanted it to be.
- 2:36That's a great reminder to ourselves as it was to the people who Jeremiah was speaking to.
- 2:42Jeremiah was speaking to the people of Judea and Jerusalem at the time, describing their relationship with God in this way that the lump that has been spoiled,
- 2:55it's like they're wandering away from God, turning away from him.
- 2:59But the God's longing and desire is to bring them back and to shape them into what he wants them to be.
- 3:05And the idea of this vessel, this pot of clay, is that it would be useful to God, be a servant of God once again.
- 3:17But they had to yield.
- 3:20They had to put themselves into the potter's hands and allow him to work.
- 3:27So it may have been spoken to the people in the days of the Old Testament, but it still speaks to us alongside other passages throughout the scriptures of this special relationship that God has with his people.
- 3:41And especially as we come into the New Testament, where we see God giving his son and our greatest relationship being with him and our dependence on him.
- 3:53It's like a reminder that Jesus gives in John 15, that great passage that speaks of another way of describing the relationship of God to his people.
- 4:06In John 15, verse 1, it says,
- 4:08I am the true vine, and my father is a vine dresser.
- 4:13Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
- 4:16And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
- 4:22Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
- 4:27Abide in me, and I in you.
- 4:30As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
- 4:36I am the vine, you are the branches.
- 4:40Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
- 4:45But apart from me, you can do nothing.
- 4:48So there's similar kind of reminders to us in both the potter and the clay and the vine and the branches.
- 4:57We can do nothing apart from God.
- 5:01And so there's so much importance in our relationship with God.
- 5:05As we well know, when our relationship is not right with God, we know we suffer.
- 5:12But God longs for us to come to him and lean upon him and always to depend on him.
- 5:20So the theme is of the potter and the clay.
- 5:24God making a people once again to be his servants.
- 5:27And that is what we long to be ourselves or should long to be too.
- 5:32The clay in the potter's hands.
- 5:35That the God would shape each and every one of us to be a useful vessel, a useful servant for God.
- 5:43And we should never let ourselves think that we can do it on our own strength.
- 5:49Apart from him, we can do nothing.
- 5:52And so Jeremiah is speaking here, God's word of the potter and the clay.
- 5:59And just two things we want to take from this this evening.
- 6:02First is the potter's intention.
- 6:06The potter's intention.
- 6:08And then secondly, the potter's message.
- 6:12The potter's intention and the potter's message.
- 6:16So firstly, we think of the potter's intention.
- 6:22What does a potter want to do?
- 6:25When a potter has a lump of clay, he's got it for a specific purpose.
- 6:31He plans to take that clay and from that clay produce a vessel.
- 6:38He wants a vessel that will be useful, that people can use.
- 6:43And so when we think of how the potter here is being described as God and the clay as his people, what does God want?
- 6:54What's his intention with his people then and with his people now?
- 6:59It is that we will be shaped and molded by him.
- 7:04That we will be found useful by being in his hands.
- 7:09But you think of what the potter has to work with.
- 7:12In order to make a vessel of good use, the potter must work with material that when you first look at it, it leaves little to be desired.
- 7:25A lump of clay isn't much to look at.
- 7:30And in the hands of the wrong person, that lump of clay is useless.
- 7:35But in the hands of the right person, that lump of clay can be made into something beautiful.
- 7:44And that's the same as God's relationship with his people.
- 7:49When we look at ourselves, we are far from perfect.
- 7:54We are just like a lump of clay.
- 7:56Useless, sometimes in our own eyes and in the eyes of many others.
- 8:01We are in our sin.
- 8:03We are worthless to God in our natural condition.
- 8:06But you know, as the potter is being described here with the clay, the potter was working on the clay initially, but it was spoiled.
- 8:19Now, it wasn't that the clay, that the potter made a mistake.
- 8:23The fault was in the clay.
- 8:25But that same clay, the pot was able to take and remove the blemishes and make it into something useful.
- 8:34So God has these things to work on.
- 8:38He's got this lump of clay being described here, and he's got his people, imperfect people.
- 8:45People, as we see here with Judah and Jerusalem, God's people of Israel, who have gone away from him,
- 8:51who have done wrong in his eyes, strayed away from him, and yet God is still able to use them.
- 9:00And it's a reminder to us of how today God has his people, imperfect people, people full of blemishes,
- 9:08but yet Jesus came to save us from our sins.
- 9:13And it's such a great reminder to us, I don't know if you've ever watched a potter working on clay,
- 9:31of the patience involved in it.
- 9:35The patience to work in that clay, to make it into something useful.
- 9:40We don't often have that patience ourselves.
- 9:44I remember trying to make something in school out of clay on the wheel, and I just wasn't up for it.
- 9:52It was going to take too long.
- 9:53I didn't have the skills.
- 9:54But there was others who could do it.
- 9:57And that is the way God is.
- 9:59He can do with us whatever he wants.
- 10:03But he's patient with us, and thank God he is.
- 10:07Because some of us take more work than others.
- 10:12Some of us maybe have more blemishes to be ironed out than others.
- 10:16But God just works away patiently in us.
- 10:20We're never immediately the finished product.
- 10:24We're not just bought off the shelf, as it were, ready for any purpose.
- 10:29It takes time.
- 10:31The potter takes time to shape us.
- 10:34Indeed, he's always shaping us.
- 10:37Always working in us.
- 10:41Because as we see, even in the potter's hands, things can go terribly wrong.
- 10:47There are times when, even in the best of care, the vessel can go out of shape.
- 10:53Because of faults in the clay.
- 10:57But God continues to work in us.
- 11:01And the potter can sense in the clay itself just where the blemishes are.
- 11:08He instantly knows when there is a problem.
- 11:12He senses a change in the clay.
- 11:14And he takes steps to address that.
- 11:18And that's the way God has worked with his people down through all the generations.
- 11:23Being with his people through highs and lows.
- 11:27Times of blessing.
- 11:29Times of hardship.
- 11:30But God always knows what his people need.
- 11:33And when they need it.
- 11:36He knows, as we so often come with prayers, asking for the Lord to help in times of trouble.
- 11:44He knows all of these things.
- 11:46So we bring our prayers to him in confidence.
- 11:50But he also knows the flaws and faults in our attitudes.
- 11:56The things that need correction.
- 11:58So just as he provides in our needs so often, so he provides when we go astray, when we're going wrong.
- 12:05He corrects us.
- 12:06We cannot hide anything from God.
- 12:11Psalm 139, at the beginning of it, describes that for us.
- 12:15How there's nothing that is hidden from God.
- 12:19And so we are.
- 12:22And the best thing we can do is to just allow ourselves to be responsive to his touch.
- 12:29To yield ourselves to his active work in our lives.
- 12:37The sooner we reach the place he desires us to be, the sooner he can use us for his glory.
- 12:45So this is talking about servants of God.
- 12:49Being useful servants of God.
- 12:52And that's the potter's intention.
- 12:54God so often shows in remarkable ways how he is able to change people's lives.
- 13:04Some of you may have heard of a man called Bill Gilvere.
- 13:08Or read his book.
- 13:10It's called Rough Diamond.
- 13:12A story of his testimony of how God brought him from darkness to light.
- 13:19Bill Gilvere was a man in Glasgow in the 1940s.
- 13:22Who was much to be feared.
- 13:26His father died when he was young.
- 13:28And he became a member of the Glasgow gangs.
- 13:32Youth gangs first.
- 13:34On the fringe of the main Glasgow gangland scene.
- 13:40They were young men who didn't carry on in school.
- 13:44They left school as soon as they could.
- 13:46Or even before they were even allowed to leave.
- 13:49They didn't go into employment.
- 13:50Instead, they just went round the streets of Glasgow.
- 13:55Much to be feared.
- 13:56Looking for trouble all the time.
- 14:00And Bill Gilvere himself acknowledged that he would carry weapons with him wherever he went.
- 14:06Designed to either scare or scar.
- 14:09It was best to be on Bill Gilvere's good side.
- 14:18Yet this unlikely character, if you like.
- 14:23He became used by God in wonderful ways.
- 14:27He became a nurse in the Navy.
- 14:30He was a missionary to Africa at one point.
- 14:34He obtained medical qualifications.
- 14:38Both in French and in English.
- 14:41He worked back in Scotland to help seamen involved in the Falklands conflict.
- 14:48He became a great evangelist.
- 14:51Praising God and telling others about the glory of God wherever he went.
- 14:56So what was it that caused this turnaround?
- 15:00Well, he went from one danger of conviction in the sense of going to court for his crimes.
- 15:08To instead becoming convicted by God.
- 15:12Convicted of his need for forgiveness.
- 15:15And turning to a loving and gracious God.
- 15:20He found in him one who was able to forgive his past.
- 15:25And use him wonderfully in so many different ways.
- 15:30His book was called Rough Diamond for a reason.
- 15:35Because God had to shape him.
- 15:37Just like the potter and the clay.
- 15:40God worked on him in a wonderful way.
- 15:44And it's a great reminder to us.
- 15:47If we ever needed.
- 15:48That God can have anyone.
- 15:51Take anyone.
- 15:53Bring them up.
- 15:54And use them for his glory.
- 15:58But so often.
- 16:00First we have to be brought down.
- 16:03We have to be brought down to realize.
- 16:05Our need of God.
- 16:07And that's the situation.
- 16:08That Jeremiah was speaking into here.
- 16:11Israel being brought down.
- 16:13Down.
- 16:14Down from dependence on self.
- 16:18And trusting in self.
- 16:19To being brought to a place of trusting in God.
- 16:23But we see in verse 12 that they weren't there yet.
- 16:26It says.
- 16:28They say that is in vain.
- 16:29We will follow our own plans.
- 16:33And will everyone act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.
- 16:37They weren't ready yet.
- 16:40But God was bringing them low.
- 16:42So that he could rebuild them.
- 16:44Reform them.
- 16:46Dwight L. Moody.
- 16:48Once when he was visiting Scotland.
- 16:49He was with Andrew Bonner.
- 16:52A Scottish preacher.
- 16:54And he was talking to Andrew Bonner.
- 16:56About the sheep.
- 16:58In the highlands.
- 16:59And how strange they seemed to be.
- 17:01At times and places that they would go.
- 17:04And Andrew Bonner started talking to him about this.
- 17:07And why they would often go into places where they shouldn't be.
- 17:11He said.
- 17:11They would always go where the grass looks good.
- 17:16And they would go into places.
- 17:17And get into places.
- 17:18But then all of a sudden find themselves they couldn't get out of.
- 17:22He said.
- 17:23You would often find sheep.
- 17:25Up on the hills.
- 17:26And they jumped down onto a ledge.
- 17:28Because the grass looked so green and lush.
- 17:31And they would stay there.
- 17:33And eat the grass.
- 17:34But once the grass was done.
- 17:36They'd realize there was no more.
- 17:37And then they'd realize.
- 17:38They couldn't get out.
- 17:40And they would start bleating.
- 17:44And Dwight L. Moody was asking.
- 17:45Andrew Bonner.
- 17:46Why don't the shepherds just go down.
- 17:48There and then.
- 17:49And take them up.
- 17:51And Andrew Bonner explained.
- 17:52Well.
- 17:53If you're a shepherd.
- 17:54You know that that's not going to work.
- 17:56You see.
- 17:57If they're fit.
- 17:58And strong.
- 17:59And healthy.
- 17:59And you try to go down.
- 18:01They're so stupid.
- 18:02He said.
- 18:02They're just going to jump off.
- 18:03And die.
- 18:04Jumping off the cliff.
- 18:06He says.
- 18:07You have to leave them.
- 18:08Until they're so tired.
- 18:10And weak.
- 18:11That they're unable to do anything.
- 18:13And then.
- 18:14You go down.
- 18:15And put a rope around them.
- 18:16And take them up.
- 18:19And he said.
- 18:20That is just the way it is.
- 18:22With men.
- 18:24They won't go back.
- 18:25Will God.
- 18:26To God.
- 18:26Until.
- 18:27They're at their very lowest ebb.
- 18:30And sometimes.
- 18:31God has to leave them there.
- 18:32Until they're so tired.
- 18:34And weak.
- 18:35And then.
- 18:36He is able.
- 18:37To work.
- 18:39That's so often the pattern.
- 18:41You find in scripture.
- 18:43That God allows.
- 18:45His people.
- 18:46To go a far.
- 18:47Far away.
- 18:48To a point.
- 18:48When they realize.
- 18:50They can do nothing.
- 18:51And then.
- 18:53He brings them back.
- 18:54He has his intentions.
- 18:57For his people.
- 18:59We've looked at this recently.
- 19:01The plans.
- 19:02Here we see again.
- 19:03The idea of.
- 19:03Our own plans.
- 19:05Are to go away from God.
- 19:06God.
- 19:07But God's plans.
- 19:08And intentions.
- 19:09Are to work.
- 19:10In his people.
- 19:11To bring them back.
- 19:12And to use them.
- 19:14For his glory.
- 19:16So the potter's.
- 19:18Intention then.
- 19:19Is to use.
- 19:20His people.
- 19:22For his glory.
- 19:23The second thing.
- 19:24We see here.
- 19:25Those.
- 19:25The potter's.
- 19:27Message.
- 19:27And the potter's.
- 19:32Message.
- 19:33What the word.
- 19:34That was coming.
- 19:34Through Jeremiah.
- 19:35The word of the Lord.
- 19:37To the people of Israel.
- 19:39Was to put yourselves.
- 19:41Into God's.
- 19:43Hands.
- 19:45And that's the message.
- 19:46To ourselves.
- 19:47As well.
- 19:48And there's two aspects.
- 19:50To this message.
- 19:52The first is this.
- 19:54It's a message.
- 19:55About.
- 19:56Control.
- 19:57That God.
- 19:59Is in.
- 20:00Control.
- 20:01In verse six.
- 20:02It says.
- 20:02Oh house of Israel.
- 20:04Can I not do with you.
- 20:05As the potter.
- 20:06Has done.
- 20:07Behold.
- 20:08Like the clay.
- 20:09In the potter's hand.
- 20:11So are you.
- 20:12In my hand.
- 20:14Oh house.
- 20:15Of Israel.
- 20:16God is in.
- 20:17Control.
- 20:19And as we went on.
- 20:20To read.
- 20:21You see.
- 20:21In his hands.
- 20:23He can do good.
- 20:25And bless.
- 20:26When we return.
- 20:27Turn.
- 20:28Or he can bring.
- 20:30Us down.
- 20:32If we don't.
- 20:33If we do not yield.
- 20:35Into his hands.
- 20:37Both sides.
- 20:38Are there before us.
- 20:41But the message.
- 20:42Of the potter.
- 20:43Here is.
- 20:44To come and yield.
- 20:46Ourselves.
- 20:47Into his hands.
- 20:50He is in.
- 20:51Control.
- 20:52He can do.
- 20:53What he wishes.
- 20:55With his people.
- 20:56But surely.
- 20:58We want.
- 20:59Blessing.
- 20:59From him.
- 21:01And yet.
- 21:02So often.
- 21:02As we see.
- 21:03And this was prayed.
- 21:04Before.
- 21:05Our nation.
- 21:06And nations.
- 21:06Of the world.
- 21:07We just put God.
- 21:08Away.
- 21:10But he is still.
- 21:11Calling us.
- 21:12Back.
- 21:13To himself.
- 21:14But we think of it.
- 21:16Even individually.
- 21:17As well.
- 21:18It's not just about looking.
- 21:20Beyond these walls.
- 21:21It's about looking.
- 21:22In ourselves.
- 21:23And asking of ourselves.
- 21:26What are we.
- 21:26In the hands.
- 21:27Of God.
- 21:29Are we putting ourselves.
- 21:30And all our desires.
- 21:32And all our needs.
- 21:33Into the hands.
- 21:34Of God.
- 21:35That God has a purpose.
- 21:37For all of his people.
- 21:39We are all.
- 21:40Lumps of clay.
- 21:42We are all.
- 21:42Able to be made.
- 21:43In God's hands.
- 21:45Into servants.
- 21:47From him.
- 21:48You think of the variety.
- 21:49Of different kinds.
- 21:51Of pots.
- 21:53That the.
- 21:53The potter would make.
- 21:55Some are made.
- 21:56For everyday use.
- 21:58And a constant use.
- 22:00Others are more delicate.
- 22:01And expensive.
- 22:02There's such a variety.
- 22:04Of things.
- 22:05And so it is.
- 22:06With God's people.
- 22:08A variety of people.
- 22:10Used for different purposes.
- 22:13But all.
- 22:14Useful instruments.
- 22:16In the hands.
- 22:17Of God.
- 22:19And so the message is.
- 22:21That God is in control.
- 22:23That God.
- 22:24Is building.
- 22:25His church.
- 22:26That we as his people.
- 22:28Are to be.
- 22:29Like the vine.
- 22:30In John 15.
- 22:32We are to abide.
- 22:33In him.
- 22:34That he may abide.
- 22:35In us.
- 22:36For apart from him.
- 22:38We can do nothing.
- 22:40He is able.
- 22:41To bear fruit.
- 22:43Through his people.
- 22:44So God.
- 22:45Is in control.
- 22:48But the second part.
- 22:49Of the potter's message.
- 22:51Is about compliance.
- 22:52It's about.
- 22:55Being faithful.
- 22:57Not being stubborn.
- 22:59Or turning away.
- 23:00But being faithful.
- 23:02And obedient.
- 23:03To God.
- 23:05The duty of the clay.
- 23:07Is one.
- 23:10To be in.
- 23:11The potter's.
- 23:12Hands.
- 23:13Because that is.
- 23:15The best.
- 23:16Place.
- 23:17To be.
- 23:18Because he is.
- 23:19The only one.
- 23:21Who is equipped.
- 23:22To make us into what he wants us.
- 23:25To be.
- 23:26To use us.
- 23:28For his glory.
- 23:30Wherever we are.
- 23:31And wherever we may go.
- 23:34We are to be.
- 23:36In the potter's.
- 23:37Hands.
- 23:37Because if we place ourselves.
- 23:40In the hands.
- 23:41Of the potter.
- 23:43Then.
- 23:44He is able.
- 23:45To work.
- 23:47Then he is able.
- 23:48To work in us.
- 23:50And honor.
- 23:51Use us.
- 23:52To his honor.
- 23:54And to his.
- 23:55Glory.
- 23:56That's what Jeremiah.
- 23:57Was seeing.
- 23:58In the potter's house.
- 24:00A reminder.
- 24:01Of where the people were.
- 24:03But also.
- 24:05Where they could be.
- 24:06If they would yield.
- 24:08Themselves.
- 24:09Into the hands.
- 24:11Of God.
- 24:12And again.
- 24:13It's just a reminder.
- 24:14To us.
- 24:15That in everything.
- 24:16We seek.
- 24:17To do.
- 24:17For the Lord.
- 24:19We are to yield.
- 24:20Ourselves.
- 24:21To him.
- 24:24Many years ago.
- 24:26In the days.
- 24:27Of horse and cart.
- 24:29There was a man.
- 24:30And his wife.
- 24:31Driving along.
- 24:32A narrow.
- 24:33And dangerous.
- 24:34Stretch of road.
- 24:35Just the two of them.
- 24:35Sitting on the cart.
- 24:37Beside each other.
- 24:39The woman.
- 24:40Became.
- 24:40Afraid.
- 24:41As they were making away.
- 24:43Their way.
- 24:43Along this road.
- 24:45And in her fright.
- 24:47She went to grab.
- 24:48One of the reins.
- 24:49That her husband.
- 24:49Was holding.
- 24:51She grabbed it off him.
- 24:52And took it.
- 24:53Into her own hands.
- 24:55The husband.
- 24:57Remained calm.
- 25:00And just very gently.
- 25:01He stretched over.
- 25:03And says.
- 25:03Do you want.
- 25:04Do you want.
- 25:04Do you want.
- 25:04The other rein.
- 25:06And the woman.
- 25:07In her fright.
- 25:08Said.
- 25:09Oh no.
- 25:10I can't.
- 25:11Take them both.
- 25:13I could never.
- 25:13Manage that animal.
- 25:14Alone.
- 25:16Well then.
- 25:17Said the husband.
- 25:18Gently.
- 25:18You must make.
- 25:19Your choice.
- 25:21It's either you.
- 25:23Or it's me.
- 25:24We can't.
- 25:25Both drive.
- 25:27The same horse.
- 25:28And the frightened wife.
- 25:31Soon.
- 25:31Just quickly.
- 25:33Gave back.
- 25:34The rein.
- 25:35To her husband.
- 25:36And they carried on.
- 25:38Safely.
- 25:38Along.
- 25:39The road.
- 25:41I'm pretty sure.
- 25:42Similar things happen.
- 25:43In cars.
- 25:44Today as well.
- 25:45Both directions.
- 25:46People panicking.
- 25:47Beside each other.
- 25:49But when we think.
- 25:50About this.
- 25:51In the eyes.
- 25:52Of God.
- 25:53It's so often.
- 25:54The way we live.
- 25:55Our lives.
- 25:56Where we want.
- 25:58To be in control.
- 26:00Or to have some control.
- 26:02Over our lives.
- 26:05Because we're not.
- 26:06Compliant.
- 26:07We're not fully.
- 26:09Trusting.
- 26:10In God.
- 26:10We think to ourselves.
- 26:12I'll take control.
- 26:13Of this.
- 26:14Part of my life.
- 26:16But God.
- 26:17Is like that husband.
- 26:20He's saying.
- 26:21It's either you.
- 26:22Or me.
- 26:23Which do you want?
- 26:25And that's what he was saying.
- 26:27To the children of Israel.
- 26:29Here as well.
- 26:30The potter.
- 26:31And the clay.
- 26:33He's saying.
- 26:34What do you want?
- 26:36Do you want your plants?
- 26:38Or do you want mine?
- 26:40Are you going to go your own way?
- 26:43Or are you going to comply.
- 26:45With me?
- 26:47And so God continues to challenge.
- 26:49His people today.
- 26:50Yourself and myself.
- 26:52What do we want with God?
- 26:55His way.
- 26:57Or are we?
- 26:58We are to put ourselves.
- 27:00Into his hands.
- 27:03To yield to him.
- 27:04As the pot.
- 27:06That he would make us.
- 27:08To be.
- 27:09His servants.
- 27:12In 2nd Corinthians 4.
- 27:13Verse 6 and 7.
- 27:15There it speaks.
- 27:16Of another way.
- 27:17That the treasure of clay.
- 27:19If jars and clay.
- 27:20Is described.
- 27:21Says for God.
- 27:22Who said.
- 27:23Let light shine.
- 27:24Out of darkness.
- 27:25Has shone in our hearts.
- 27:26To give the light.
- 27:27Of the knowledge.
- 27:28Of the glory of God.
- 27:29In the face.
- 27:30Of Jesus Christ.
- 27:32But we have this treasure.
- 27:34In jars of clay.
- 27:35To show the surpassing power.
- 27:38Belongs to God.
- 27:39And not to us.
- 27:42We are mere servants.
- 27:44Of the king.
- 27:46And whatever we do.
- 27:47We do for his glory.
- 27:51Can we say today.
- 27:53I am yielded.
- 27:55To God.
- 27:56I am putting myself.
- 27:59Into his hands.
- 28:02Or are there places still.
- 28:04We want to be in control.
- 28:06That we haven't fully given.
- 28:08To the potter.
- 28:10Perhaps the potter.
- 28:11Still has work.
- 28:12As he does with us all.
- 28:14To mold.
- 28:15And shape us.
- 28:17Iron out the blemishes.
- 28:19As it were.
- 28:20But let us be a people.
- 28:23Who are willing.
- 28:24To put ourselves.
- 28:26Into his hands.
- 28:28That he will make us.
- 28:29To be his people.
- 28:31For his glory.
- 28:32Here.
- 28:33And wherever.
- 28:35He might place us.
- 28:36May God bless.
- 28:37His word to us.
- 28:39Let us pray.
- 28:41Our father in heaven.
- 28:43We do thank you.
- 28:44For your patient work.
- 28:46In our lives.
- 28:47We thank you.
- 28:48That though we are so imperfect.
- 28:50As it were.
- 28:51Just lumps of clay.
- 28:53In our sin.
- 28:54We thank you though.
- 28:55That you have brought us.
- 28:57From the pit.
- 28:58That you have raised us up.
- 29:00That you are the one.
- 29:01Who is shaping us.
- 29:02And molding us.
- 29:04And we know Lord.
- 29:05That there is so much work.
- 29:06Still to be done.
- 29:07But help us.
- 29:08That we would yield.
- 29:09To you.
- 29:10And put ourselves.
- 29:11Over into your hands.
- 29:13That you might take us.
- 29:15And use us.
- 29:17For your glory.
- 29:19Lord continue with us.
- 29:20We pray.
- 29:21Pardoning all our sin.
- 29:22In Jesus name.
- 29:24Amen.
- 29:27We're going to conclude.