I Need A Do Over

Fresh Start

Synopsis of Sermon January 4, 2020

Delivered by 10Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III, D.Min.

Jeremiah 18:1-6, “1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the [a]wheel. 4 And the vessel that he [b]made of clay was [c]marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!”

• As we reflect back over our lives, we must focus on areas that was not fully functional. Some stuff wasn’t just other people’s fault, it was yours. God is pulling for you and he is working things out for your benefit.
• No matter what has happened in your life, know that it is never too late for a do-over. God is going to do something new in your life. Deep down, you know He is, but you just don’t know how.
• A new year means new opportunities. God saw something worth salvaging in your life. He will do whatever he needs to do to make that happen. Perhaps you experienced pain, but there is grace on your life. You are due a do-over.
• Some people will testify that they couldn’t have done what they have, if God hadn’t given them a do- over. Sometimes you have to thank God for the Do -Over!
• Jeremiah is summoned by God to go down to the Potter and observe his process. God will use these circumstances to give a spiritual revelation to Jeremiah as it relates to the children of Israel.
• During the process of the clay, things happen. The Potter stops what he is making, and he makes the decision to make it all over again. This is a do-over! God does us the same way. God gives us a do-over!
• God is sovereign and in control over everything that happens to you. When the Potter has to do a do-over, he may have to re-pound the clay, he may have to kneed it again, he may also need to re-roll it, but it will be ok, because the Potter is in control. Just like this, some things may be unnerving, but know that it is ok, if God is in control.

       I.            GOD HAS GREAT PLANS FOR YOUR LIFE

• “His plan in your life means His work in your hands, and you can be sure it is work He has chosen and gifted you to do.” — Jill Briscoe, – Have Faith Enough To Finish
• Your life is not a random act of creation. Some of the circumstances that got you here may be peculiar, but it is not a mistake!
• Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”- God is looking for alignment and relationship with him. Even your car will not drive properly without a proper
• Jeremiah observes that we are the clay and God is the Potter. Often, we try to make ourselves the Potter. Know that it is God that has control of our lives. It is the Potter that is in control, not the clay.
• Realize that we are no more than glorified dirt. If it hadn’t been for the grace of God, we wouldn’t be where we are.
• We are the clay and God is the Potter.
• Clay is becoming. Clay is designed to make something. It is always in the state of be Clay wasn’t designed to sit.
• When you are becoming, your purpose is in the mind of the maker.

A.     YOUR PURPOSE IS IN THE MIND OF THE MAKER

1. The Potter has the purpose in mind for the clay, before he puts it on the wheel. In like manner God put the ingredients in you, before He made you for your purpose.
2. You can’t be a cup, wishing you were a vase. God wired you the way he wired you, to fulfill the purpose He has in mind for you.
3. God placed inside you, everything you need. The DNA, the swag, and the personality you have is all for what you are about to become.
4. “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.” — Leonardo da Vinci. – In other words, my work needs to be a key for what I am supposed to do. When I realize what I am becoming, then God will complete what He started in me.

     II.            GOD WILL COMPLETE WHAT HE STARTED

A.     This is the Process of origination and destination.

• You have on the Potter’s wheel, an unbothered block of clay. When God finishes it, the clay becomes a valuable vase.

1. How did the clay go from origination and destination? It was the mess in the middle.

1. If you look in the messy process, you must know that God is still working in that stuff. You might have a messy season, but God is still working on you.
2. Scripture Reference: Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

  III.            YOU CAN BE IN THE MASTER’S HANDS AND STILL BE MARRED

A.     The Potter was on the wheel working and Jeremiah realized something was wrong. Can you be in the master’s hand and yet something still be wrong with you? Just because you are in the Master’s hand, doesn’t mean nothing is wrong with you.

IV.            YOU CAN’T BE THAT CLOSE TO HIM AND NOT OWN WHAT’S WRONG

A.     You are one decision away from another walk of life.

B.      We want to spend eternity with God, but we don’t want to spend time with Him. We want to be all the way in, without being all the way out there.

1.      You can’t be close to God and be a liar. The closer you get to God, the less judgmental you become. You ought to become better, because you are in his presence.

2.      The grace extended to you ought to be extended to other people.

a.            Whether you smoke crack or weed, it’s all the same with God. You ought to just give God glory that he looked beyond your faults.

3.      Know that something is wrong with you. We are in the hospital waiting on the physician to come fix what is wrong with us.

    V.            WHATEVER IT IS, STAY IN HIS HANDS

A.     God didn’t throw you down, because something was wrong with you. He kept you in his hands. God loved David, because he said David was one after His own heart. He honored that David was willing to repent after doing wrong.

B.      There is nothing more powerful than something in the hands of God. Put something in my hands, you might come up short. Put a ball in our hands and you may get a few baskets. Put the ball in the hands of a Michael Jordan and you get championships. We have to put ourselves in the hands of God.

VI.            GOD SEES YOUR POTENTIALITY WHEN OTHER’S SEE YOUR ACTUALITY

A.     People look at your actual life now. The Potter never sees what everyone else sees. Some people see one big clump of clay when they look at you. The Potter sees what that clump of clay will become.

VII.            YOUR VALUE IS NOT ALWAYS IN WHAT IS VISIBLE

A.     Just because the clay was marred, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.

B.      Some people compare their lives to others on Instagram and as a result, they suffer depression. 1 Samuel 16:7  (NKJV) ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[a]refused him. For^[b] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”– God told Samuel not to look at their appearance. God looks at the heart, not the outside appearance. The stuff that makes you who you are is the stuff people can’t see.

VIII.            WHEN THE WORLD CONDEMNED ME, HIS MERCY COVERED ME

A.     Mercy will cover you, despite your flaws. God covers you like they do when they prepare you for surgery. Aren’t you glad God covered you before he worked on you?

B.      God worked on me, until I got it right. There are things that the Potter has to do, before his will comes to pass in your life.

  IX.            HE HAD TO BREAK ME TO BLESS ME

A.     If he hadn’t broken me, I wouldn’t be who I am today.

    X.            YOU MAY NOT SEE A SCRATCH BUT THERE IS A STORY

A.     The same marred vessel, the clay, didn’t look like what the Potter had in mind. As a result, the Potter took the same vessel and made it another way. In other words, I am the same, but I’m not the same. I give God the praise for another chance. God made me another way.

1.      I look the same maybe, but I’m not the same.

B.      I thank God for saving me. When they try to handle you the way they used to, tell them you have been made over again. You have been made another way! You had a do-over!