Remade in the Image of Perfection

Jeremiah 18:1-6

I. Introduction – creating pottery on a pottery wheel is hard work. It takes time and talent. One who doesn’t know what they are doing can easily mess up. The potter is making a vessel when Jeremiah arrives. This morning I want us to look at that vessel.

II. The Vessel Was Chronically Damaged
a. It was spoiled in His hands.
i. The vessel would not have held up the way it was.
ii. It would not have been able to serve the purpose for which it was created.
b. When we fell into sin, we because Chronically Damaged. Human beings were no longer able to worship in the way they were created. The Damaged was permanent and irreversible.

III. The Vessel Was Calculatedly Discarded
a. The potter had no choice but to discard the vessel. What would he have done with it? It was of no use to him any longer.
b. God made a calculated decision to discard us, much in the same way that the potter did.
i. The potter took the vessel he had and remade it.
ii. When God sent Christ to this world, he wanted a new creation. 2 Cor. 5:17 says if a man be in Christ, he is a new creation. That all things have become new.
c. The old must be discarded and everything returns anew. Same clay, different vessel.

IV. The Vessel Was Creator Delighting
a. The vessel was remade in a way that pleased the potter.
i. The first vessel was flawed and would not be useful to the potter.
ii. The remake on the other hand was something that pleased him. Something he would be able to put to use.
b. If you are a new vessel here this morning, the question is, are you pleasing to your potter?
i. The God of the universe has reshaped you from something that was flawed and useless to something He has a plan for. Do you live that way?
ii. This morning if your still on the wheel and he’s still waiting for you to let him mold and make you into that vessel that He desires, open your heart to that today.

Who is this Jesus who sleeps while the boat fills up?

Mark 4:35-41

I. Introduction - In the world we live today, there are many questions about who Jesus is. Some tell us He was a good teacher. Some thinks He is one of the many ways. Some say He never even existed. If we are to have revival we need to know who He is, because it seems today people, even church members question who He is.

II. He was cozy in the disorder
a. Jesus doesn’t get frantic when the storm comes.
i. He doesn’t begin to worry when things get tough.
ii. He was clam to the point where He could sleep while the boat was filling up.
b. We are unlike Jesus because we worry about everything, even things that don’t even matter.

III. He willed calm in the disarray
a. Who is this man who can calm the storm?
i. Jesus didn’t get them together and try to figure out what to do.
ii. He didn’t need to get help from others to accomplish His plan
b. We are unlike Jesus because we can’t simply will calm to come.


IV. He wanted conformation in their doubt
a. Jesus says why are you afraid? Do you still have not faith?
i. He has already healed lepers, those who were paralyzed, cast out demons, and healed a man with withered hand.
ii. What more did He need to do to prove who He was?
b. We have doubts. We doubt ourselves, we are doubt others, we doubt God. We can see all the things that God has done for us and done for others and still doubt.

V. Challenge - Mark uses the entire first part of his book to answer one question. Who is this Jesus fellow? The evidence is clear. Jesus is God. Who else can make the wind and sea obey Him? You want to have revival? You better know who Jesus is. It is a sad day when Christians fail to realize that God is God and he is in control. You want to start revival, start with that.

Ministry: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Part 2: The Good
2 Kings 2:19-22

I. Introduction - last week we looked at the lack of leadership Elisha displayed when he first took over as the Prophet of God. We also examined that we too need both to be leaders and groom leaders. That we have to face hard facts as a church we have to be engaged in our community if we are going to see them come to know Christ and our church thrive, not merely survive, or worse. So what needs to be done?, you might ask. I’m glad you did, let’s find out.

II. Elisha saw what Jericho needed
a. They had a need for clean water to drink and for their fields
b. How many times as a church do we try to reach a community without knowing their needs?
i. How many churches and church people expect people to come to their church simply because it is there?
ii. We will not meet the needs of the people and see their lives changed until we know what they need and are willing to provide it for them.

III. Elisha threw salt from a new jar in the spring
a. We all know that if you throw salt into a spring it always takes care of any of the problems that spring has, right?
i. Of course not.
ii. So what was the cure?
b. Look at the end of vs. 21. God says he purified the waters.
i. If we are to experience the good of ministry, we must trust that even when we do things that in and of themselves seem to have no merit, God uses those things to His glory.

IV. The water was purified
a. The Bible says that the water was still running pure when the Kings was written several hundred years later.
i. This is a testimony to what happens when God purifies something. Nothing can remove God’s the change that God has instituted in a person.

V. Challenge – when Christ comes into our lives and saves us, we become a new creation, and like that new jar, we are clean on the inside. We become filled with the Holy Spirit, and should have a desire to let what is within us spill out. The jar wasn’t important, it was what was within that God was going to use, the jar just got the salt to where God wanted it.
a. Are you being used? Are we as a church being used? This story is a wonderful example of what happens when a simple person is obedient and is willing to be used.
b. This is what happens when we strive to meet the needs of others, not worrying about ourselves.
c. Bud Miller president and CEO of large company, comes in, cuts staff and closed regional offices to turn away company, which he did, but in the end, he fired himself because he too, wasn’t needed to make the company run best. He didn’t have to, but he was selfless and wanted the best for his company. Are we doing that for our church? Are we doing that for this community? Because if not, we should be!

Ministry: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Bad: Don’t follow the Leader
2 Kings 2:15-18

I. Introduction – In ministry there are times when things go well. Others, to the contrary. Elijah has just been taken into heaven and Elisha has been designated as the prophet of the Lord. Elisha had just performed his first miracle by parting the waters of the Jordan River and crossing to the other side.
II. There was a group of prophets who had seen what happened. They come to Elisha and bow down saying that “The Spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha”
a. They seem to recognize the leadership that is present in their midst.
i. In our own church, are we looking for leadership?
ii. Are we grooming leaders for the future?
b. They not only recognize leadership, but they acknowledge leadership.
i. By bowing before Elisha they were giving him the position of leadership.
III. They acknowledgement doesn’t last long. They ask if they could go and search for Elijah. They were present when Elijah was taken into heaven, but thought somehow it had only been his spirit that was taken and that his body had most likely been dropped somewhere and they should find it. The Bible says he became “ashamed” and said “Send”.
a. They were both at fought
i. Elisha should have stood firm. It was a waste of time to look for Elijah, since they were going to be unable to look for him in Heaven.
1. Our churches today no longer take a leadership position in our community; we give into everything
2. We no longer have people in our churches who want to take truly leadership positions.
ii. The group of prophets is also wrong here. They want to go look for the old leader, the old way, instead of seeing what they new guy has to offer them from the Lord.
1. Frank Paige, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention has said that there is a good chance that 20,000 SBC churches will be dead in the next 25 years.
2. Where do we fall in Dr. Paige’s assessment?
IV. They searched for three days and found nothing. Is this surprising? They had watched God take Elijah up into heaven, what did they expect to find?
a. Elijah tells them that he had said not to go, but in reality he had given in and just went along with the flow. It’s time for that to stop.
i. With the body of Christ in relationship to this fallen world
ii. Here in our church in respect to how we do business with God.
1. We have grown comfortable.
2. We have no plan to the future
V. Challenge Look around you this morning. We’ve been here for 177 years. Twenty-five years from now most everybody here today will be gone, it’s a fact. Let’s commit ourselves to ensuring that no matter what happens in the next twenty-five years, unless Christ returns, there will be a group of believers, serving the Lord at High Shoal Baptist Church.