God Of The Pieces | Rev. Johnstone by Nick Johnstone First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN) Kind: sermon Scripture: Genesis 15:7-17, Genesis 12:2, Genesis 12:7, Genesis 13:15, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 15:1, 2 Samuel 22:2-3, Psalm 18:35, Psalm 28:6-7, Proverbs 30:5, Genesis 15:5, Isaiah 44:24, Psalm 119:105, Jeremiah 18:2-6 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nick-johnstone--god-of-the-pieces Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ Genesis the 15th chapter is where I want to go today and while you're turning there uh I give honor today to our senior pastor first lady all of our pastoral staff we love them very very much as I know you do as well and we're very grateful that they have the opportunity to get away and uh I know I was texting with pastor this morning he wants you to know how much they love you and they miss you and Pastor's going crazy right now there's no place in the world he'd rather be than standing right here today we're thankful for them it's not lost on me that it was exactly the first Sunday of 2024 that I stood in this pulpit and here I am on the last Sunday of 2024 I don't know how that happened or how that worked out but here we are and uh I don't know what 2024 looked like for you the Josh when he was praying earlier I believe under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he began to pray and to minister in prayer towards different things that have happened throughout the year I I look across this place and I see faces that represent loss things that transpired in lives amongst our congregation we the family of God we all suffered this year we went through some things we had to face some difficult battles this year but I believe that through it all we're still here I'm still standing here it hasn't been easy it's hard to believe it's been a year but here we are I'm still standing I'm still praising God I still have breath within my lungs I still had the ability this morning in the altars the choir saying to say what a God what a God look what he's brought me through and I can't wait to see where he's going to take us and what he's going to do in our lives I give honor to my family today my wife my children and I am under strict orders and I quote dad there's no kids quest keep it short Genesis 15:7 and he said unto them I am the Lord that brought thee out of ear the caldes to give thee this land to inherit it he said Lord God whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it he said unto him take an heer of three years old and a she goat of three years old and a ram of three years old and a turtle dove and a young pigeon and he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against the other but the birds divided he not verse 11 says and when the fowls Came Upon the carcasses Abram drove them away and when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and low and of great Darkness everybody say great Darkness great Darkness fell upon him and he said unto Abram know of assurity everybody say he sure know of assurity that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and Shall Serve them and they shall afflict them for UND years verse 14 says and also that Nation whom they Shall Serve will I judge and afterward everybody say afterward shall they come out with great substance and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace Thou shalt be buried in a good old age but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet full and it came to pass that when the sun went down everybody say the sun went down everybody say it got dark it was was dark and behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces with the help of God today for just a few short moments I want to leave you with this thought the god of the pieces the god of the pieces would you lift your hands before your seated today would you ask the Lord to talk to you specifically he knows exactly where you're at he knows exactly what you're in the middle of and he knows exactly what your need is today Father we need you today our complete Reliance is upon you we cannot do this without you it is impossible with us but it is not with you for with you God all things are possible we pray anoint our minds our hearts understandings to receive I I want to receive from you from your word today father let a word of encouragement go forth today and I pray you would fill somebody with the Holy Ghost I pray that somebody's sins would be washed away in the waters of baptism today in the name of Jesus we pray all these things today in Jesus name in Jesus name God bless you you can be seated the god of the pieces in our scripture text today Genesis the 15th chapter we encounter a a very powerful and intimate moment between God and Abraham scripture allows us to to kind of see behind the curtain for a little bit in Genesis the 15th chapter and I don't know about you but I love that kind of stuff I love it when it's like almost like God pulls a curtain back and you can read scripture and if you read it too quickly you can gloss over things but we we kind of get this behind the scenes look at this intimate moment between God and Abram it's it's a place it's a moment where God's promises that he started in the 12th chapter of Genesis they seem to be hanging in the balance yet in spite of this hanging God is reassuring Abram that he has unfailing faithfulness you see at this particular stage in Genesis the 15th chapter Abraham has left his homeland he's been thrown out of Egypt he has separated from lot and then he's gone to war over lot because lot was a p he has journeyed far and followed God's call and trusted God in all of the unknown this is where he's at in Genesis the 15th chapter he's done a lot but now at this particular intimate moment between him and God he's been waiting for 10 years following the promises of God for 10 years and we we find him asking Lord How will I know that I shall inherit the promises that you've made how in the world is this ever going to come to pass but it is in that place of uncertainty and I would be willing to say that there's probably the majority of people in this room today who could identify with Abram with that kind of question and with that kind of uncertainty but it was in that place of uncertainty where Abram's faith is stretched to its limits might I propose to you that it's stretched so thin you can probably see through it not sure what is next where are we going and what are we doing but God responds to Abram's question and he doesn't just do it with a simple answer of well trust me well just keep following me and we'll see but but God responds with something deeper it's something more than just a simple answer but it was a profound Covenant that spoke to the deepest parts of Abram's question about the promises of God you see it was not just a response that God gave him but it was a covenant that God gave him and it wasn't just any Covenant but it was a covenant that embraced the broken BR en pieces of Abram's life you see it was in this moment that God reassured Abram that even in moments of Darkness God is present even in moments of Darkness God is working and even in moments of a questioning God is faithful to complete his promises this was the moment I've come to declare to you today with the help of God that we serve I and I'm speaking for all of us today but I'm speaking emphatically from my own faith and hopefully somehow by the by the grace of God I can impart that same Faith to you I serve a God who is the god of the pieces oh he's the god of the broken pieces of my life he's the god god of the Broken Dreams he's a god of shattered expectations uh that's the God that I serve uh he has the ability to step into the middle of any one of those situations and manifest himself he wants us to know that he's with us in our darkest moments he's fulfilling his Covenant promises with us even when everything around us seems seems uncertain see in this life and story of Abraham we see that God is present not only in our victories but he's also there in our greatest vulnerabilities I'm going to say that again God is not just there in our victories but he's there in our moments of greatest vulnerability uh he is there on the mountain mountain top but thank God David said he's also there in the Valley of the shadow of death he's not just God when everything's going good but he's still God when everything's falling apart he's not just God when my bank accounts flush with cash but he's God when there's nothing there and the bills are due tomorrow he is still God through the good and through the bad you see job brother job we all know him real well he got a revelation and here was job's Revelation he said it early on in in the Book of Job there he said I'm paraphrasing here the God who gives for the Perry is the same God who takes away don't you dare think that I can come down here and praise the God who gives and then turn around and curse the same God who took it away job said no you're out of your mind my God's the god of the pieces when everything's broken he's still God when everything's together and I've got livestock and children and parties and Festival he's still God that's my God he's the god of the pieces he's still he's God when I got it all together he's God when life is stressfree he's God when my health is good and I haven't seen a doctor in 2 years and he's still God when I'm sitting in an emergency room trying to figure out what's going on and and why is this going he's still God I've got to understand today that he is unchanging cares so Abraham gets this Covenant this point in the scripture he's he's still referred to as Abram he gets four visitations from the Lord four different promises that he got the first one that we find is in Genesis 12 and verse 2 he said I this is the Lord speaking I will make of thee a great nation I Will Bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing that's a great promise anybody here thankful for the promises of God today Abram got a word from God Hey listen dude you're going to leave and it's tough to family it's tough to strike out and follow the will of God but listen I'm going to bless you I'm going to make you a blessing it was a great promise and then in verse 7 the Lord reaffirms it again he appears unto Abraham in Genesis 12:7 and said unto thy seed will I give this land and there he build an altar unto the Lord that appeared unto him Genesis 13 and 14 is the third time that God shows up and the Lord said unto Abraham after that was separated from him lift up your eyes look around Abram what do you see look to the north look to the South look to the East look to the West what do you see see land yes yes I'm going to give this land to you everything that you see in verse 15 I'm going to give it to you and to thy seed forever and I will make thy seed verse 16 he says I'm going to make your seed so that if a man could get down in the dust and could count the dust of the ground if he could number the dust of the ground that's going to be the number of your children it's going to be even greater than anything man could do these were the promises he was receiving I don't I don't know about you I guess I'm just a little too human sometimes when I read the Bible I get a little too excited I I I mean I don't know maybe you've maybe you've never received a word from God but if you have you know what that feels like you're in the Altar and you're praying I there there's been a couple of times the Lord spoke to me one day right there in front of brother Cole laying in the altar on my knees on Sunday night I think brother Hammond had preached and the Lord began to speak to me and he just he just gave me one word that was all he did but but man it it ignited something in me it it energized something in me and I knew what it felt like I knew it was the Lord in that moment because I wasn't down there saying oh God give me a word oh God give me a word no the Lord just came in a beautiful moment when we were worshiping together and he dropped something in the my spirit and I latched a hold of that so that's mine woo God gave me a word God gave me a promise somebody clap your hands right now and thank God for a promise but everybody knows with the word comes a wait and with the promised sometimes comes a lot of petition Lord hello hello that that word was the last Sunday night of 2023 and well it's the last Sunday of 2024 where you at we don't see that in Abram's life he's just getting words chapter 12 chapter 13 he's just getting words from God God's giving him promises God's telling him things that are going to come to pass God God's telling him things he's going to do in his life and then in Genesis 15:1 this fourth visit after these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram the vision saying fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward wait hold on just one second we were talking about kids and children and Offspring and promises and lands and all and you see this shift now God's saying listen you're going to have to trust me you're going to have to make me your Shield Abram I I'm here to be that for you you've got a lot of words and you've got a lot of promises and I've even shown you along the way and given you signs that the things that I have spoken will come to pass but this word Abram is trust me let me be your Shield quit you see he was on the heels of coming out of Egypt stop trying to figure this out on your own stop trying to resolve how this is all going to work out in your own way and just trust me let me be your Shield you see this fourth visitation it was 10 years into this journey some 10 years since he's left his family's house 10 years he's been out walking and and going where the Lord leads him building altars setting up tents getting words feeling invigorated and energized and and here he is he's just like he he's just following God he's just got faith he's just believing that God is going to do what he said he's going to do he's also just ended a war to Fe to to free his what he calls his brother lot who was taken captive in chapter 14 and in these first three encounters there is not a single recorded response between Abram and the Lord a couple of different times the Bible records that Abram called on the name of the Lord I don't know what that sounded like or what that looked like the Bible doesn't give us any insight into that but he just called on the name of the Lord but in every word that he received in chapter 12 when God said go the Bible says that he just got his wife and stuff he just started walking now can can I be transparent with you just for a few minutes today I'm kind of a questions guy in fact if Pastor and sister Ericson were here they they'd probably tell you there's a little bit of green in me in the color color test right I got some questions I want you to leave ER and I want you to go to a place that I'm going to show you what place how do we get there wait what it's going to take a few years what what about tomorrow I mean I just got questions and then the Lord has a a great sense of humor he gave me three kids and two little boys who have lots of questions he knew exactly what he was doing Dad what's that well that's you know that's this well why man because well because why well be it's in our nature right a lot of us need to know why we got questions we love I said at the beginning we love to know how things work we love to see behind the curtain we want to know what it is that make things tick but in all of those 10 years and those first three encounters there's not a single recorded response all the words in Genesis 12 that God chose to record and holy R all the words in Chapter 13 all the words in chapter 14 brother Andrew everything he said they don't record a single conversation between God and Abram all we see is trust he just starts walking where you lead Lord I'm going to follow what you whatever you want here I am if you said you're going to give me something I believe you're going to give me something you said you're going to heal my body I believe you're going to heal my body it's yours you can have it I I'm just trusting you and this is the element of trust that we see through these first three encounters but at year 10 in the fourth encounter Abraham's first response to the Lord in chapter 15 and verse two it's almost like we we we don't have all the conversation but with what you piece together between chapter 15 verse one and everything that was said in 12 13 and 14 you could almost assume that Abram snaps and he just says Lord God we've had all all these conversations about kids we got all these conversations about Offspring we've talked about dust you told me to count the dust I can't count the dust you said I'm going to have more kids than you can count a dust you you said you're going to give me lands you said that all my offspring are going to live in those lands you promised me all those things but FYI if this was a text conversation it' be fwiw for what it's worth I don't have any kids I don't have any Offspring what are we going to do about that and then he you know here he is still trying to figure it out he goes I got I got a steward in my house El's are I mean he he could fill in if you need somebody anybody here am I the only one who tries to figure things out for God you don't have to raise your hand it's okay try to figure things out for him hey God hey I know hey another text message did you forget about brother Eleazar he's here he he capable Abram that's not my plan that's not what I planned he said what what Willl thou give me he said there's there's there's no seed in my house but I find it interesting at this encounter this particular juncture before Abraham ever said anything God came to him and said hey Abram hey hey come here hey oh oh great here we go again another promise more kids more land you haven't even fulfilled the last 10 years of promises okay what do you want let me be your Shield let me be my shield yeah see the Lord knows that with a word come fiery darts of Doubt from the enemy every time God gives you a promise there's a voice that said that you made that up every time a word word is preached across this pulpit and our pastor so gifted and under the anointing and the unction of God preaches a word that hits squarely right in the head and stabs me in the heart and I know that God's got my number and God's read my mail and he knows exactly where I'm at and exactly what I'm doing the enemies in the Pew next to me saying oh you can ignore that that's not for you that's for somebody else that's that's how the fiery darts work oh that wasn't for you Pastor was Pastor was talking to somebody else God was talking to somebody else today but the Lord said to Abraham let me be your Shield I I can feel the doubt radiating off of you Abram I know you haven't said a word to me in 10 years but the doubt is just oozing off of you let me be your Shield you look into the word of God you see there's all kinds of things about shields written in the word of God David knew a little something about a shield he said in second Samuel 22 and verse 2 he said the Lord is my rock he's my Fortress my deliverer the god of my rock and him will I trust he is my shield I wonder if somebody today before you leave this place could make him your Shield Psalm 18:35 he said thou Hast also given me the shield of thy salvation his shield is going to save me from myself his shield is going to save me from Talking myself out of the promises of God maybe that's just something I I only struggle with anybody here ever try to talk yourself out the promises of God well that just that couldn't be true that couldn't be for me Psalm 28 bless be the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my supplications verse 7 the Lord is my strength and my shield my heart trusted in him and I am helped proverbs 30 and5 every word of God is pure he is a shield unto them that put their trus in him and then the New Testament Paul summarizes it wraps it up like a Christmas present puts a bow on it and he says above all get yourself a shield of Faith wherewith you can be a able to stand and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one oh somebody ought to get them a shield of Faith right now somebody ought to let your faith reach out toward heaven right now and say I refuse to allow one more fiery Dart of Doubt plague my mind concerning the promises of God but his promises are yay and amen if God says it if God says it if it's in this book get ready because he will perform it he said here the prophet Isaiah said it best he said the grass withers he said the flower Fades but this word it's not going anywhere you can take it out of schools you can tell me I can't put it on a stone monument outside of a courthouse or the capital or anywhere else but you can't destroy it because his word stands forever it's forever established in heaven this word is infallible I'm glad I'm not the only one who believes that today this is my shield time the enemy comes to me God doesn't love you oh yeah really the scripture says that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind I think you need to shut your mouth oh where's God at now you have that need you've been praying about that thing hey you know what be quiet be quiet I got my shield up but my God my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and come on somebody you need to make the word your Shield today he said Abraham let me be your Shield let me defend my own word I don't need you getting in the way I don't need you trying to defend yourself let my word be its own defense then he tells him verse five and I'm hurrying I got a time crunch I'll get in big trouble when I get home the Stars he says go look at the stars Genesis 15:5 he brought him forth abroad he says let me be your Shield Abraham's got all these but I I don't even have any kids could we could we choose Eleazar all these things and God says just go outside get out your tent look up you see all those Stars here we go again if thou be able to number them and he said unto him so shall thy seed be now he's back to promises now he's back to the future Hey listen man I'm not done yet this isn't finished yet you see the study of the Stars was was very prominent back in Abram's day before GPS men relied upon the stars for for navigation and they were constantly looking to the stars and and then they had astrologers and all these people who tried to tell the future from the stars and and and I I don't think it's any irony that God caused Abram to walk outside and look up at the stars and he said whatever you see in the Stars whatever you perceive in the Stars it might not tell you some fortune that says you're going to have more children but can I remind you that I am the god who hung the stars in the heavens and if I flung Stars into orbit then you got to trust that I can give you Offspring that's greater than a number than those Stars I love what Isaiah 44 and 24 says thus says the Lord thy Redeemer and he that formed me from the womb I am the Lord that maketh all things I stretch forth the heavens alone I don't need any help I don't need astrologers to tell me what's not in your stars I don't need astrologers to tell me Well if the stars align Abram Maybe that'll come to pass I I the Lord I stretch forth the heavens all alone I spread it the Earth all by myself trust me and then in verse eight here comes the the question of the hour How will I know he keeps saying all this stuff he made all these promises to me how in the world am I going to know that this is actually going to come to pass how how will I know that I shall inherit it and God takes Abram into this interesting Covenant that we read about in our scripture text today and we're we're here to look at it just a little bit deeper but he says bring me five animals he said' bring me a hepher a she goat a ram Dove a ram a dove and a pigeon now for all of you who don't know a heer is just a a cow that hasn't had a calf yet just a good old cow but that heer that hasn't had a cow yet is just a baby she's of Great Value it's something that is going to be a part of your farm or of your sustenance long term God said bring me a e e e all around you know that feeling when you wish what you were looking at was just a bad dream somehow some way you could wake up and Escape it and be like thank God that was just a dream reach over and hug your wife hug your child and oh thank God they're still here thank God everything worked out that was just a dream man I don't want to eat that again before I go to bed that that was terrible know what that feels like know what that looks like and this is the picture that we have of Abram here he is with these highest valued animals in his life now in pieces all around him in verse 11 says while it was light while he could see what was there fouls of the air begin to come in and try to take away the people I know what it is to have everything in pieace is everything shattered in your life and still be fighting with everything inside of you over the pieces get away from this this was mine God says is it yours or is it mine was that your life or was it my life do you mean what you say when you sing my life is not my own to you I belong I give myself I give myself did you mean that or is it your life fighting over the pieces trying to keep the enemy away from what the the the last remnants what I value and then as if a horror movie was playing out it gets dark in verse 12 first of all vers verse 12 it starts off saying that he just falls into a deep sleep I just imagine if you fought off Critters all day over the pieces of meat that he had split in half he probably got tired after a while you probably wear out after a while so he falls into a deep sleep chapter 15:2 but he doesn't just follow into into a deep sleep the Bible says that a great of Darkness compassed about him like a cloud it set down on him I don't I don't know I don't know if maybe you identify with this today a spirit of heaviness sometimes we call it depression oppression that that can settle in on a person and it's like darkness that you couldn't beat your way out of if somebody gave you two baseball bats oppression that holds you down things that you wish you could break out of and you say to people if I could just break through this if I could just get through this week if I could just get through this month if I could just get 2024 behind me if I could just get into the next quarter if I can just get through this season of life then I'll be okay but it seems like it follows you everywhere you go and this is where Abram was in this moment a whr of great Darkness surrounds him but the voice of the Lord pierced the darkness chapter 15 and: 13 He said know of assurity Abram Affliction is coming I don't I don't have a Rosy story for you today Abram there's some Affliction coming things aren't going to be great they're aren't necessarily going to always be good no the shy Affliction is coming but also know in verse 14 he said said Affliction is not forever and they will come out somebody needs to stand on the word of God today that even amidst my Affliction it's not forever even in amidst what I'm facing right now it's not forever but God has a plan and God has a purpose he will bring me out he will bring me out see I believe that the darkness and the peace is represented the Brokenness and trials that were to come to him but God was establishing right there in that moment that I am the god of the pieces in your darkest hour your greatest moments of horror Abram my voice can still Pierce through the darkness and my voice can still bring peace my voice can still bring Comfort if you'll let it I'm the god of the broken places of your life but that wasn't the end Genesis 1517 that was all going on in the daylight that's why it was still light outside then comes the night the sun is now down and for for for a lot of people they hate the night they hate the dark so many people in our world today struggle sleeping at night some of them just for medical reasons others because they're so terrified of the dark they're so terrified of going to sleep we we live in a world that is is taking every kind of sleep aid they possibly can just just to try to get rest and I I I I'll be honest with you I I'm one of them sleepers my head hits the pillow and two minutes later I'm asleep and generally I sleep through the night I'm blessed I'm very blessed I'm praying for you if you're somebody here that struggles with sleep and you can't sleep the night and you have trouble falling asleep I'm praying for you I believe that God can work a miracle in your life but but here's Abram he's he's he's now through the the horror of Darkness that came in the daylight but now the sun's gone down now he's got to live through the actual Darkness he's got to try to survive through the night but in Genesis chapter 15 we find that in what is typically Our Moment of greatest fear I don't know about you but I got a couple kids scared to death of the dark if I'm being honest I don't even like the dark that much but in that moment of greatest fear in the darkness God showed up and the Bible said that a lamp a burning lamp begin to pass between the pieces and God was letting Abram know listen I haven't gone anywhere I'm right here and all the broken pieces of your life and all the Shattered Dreams of your future I'm right here I'm still here here's a lamp here's a li I can see it all I have a plan in all of this Abram this isn't the end it's only the beginning see Abraham couldn't see the future until the lamp came I love what Psalm 119 says my word it's a lamp to my feet and it's a light into my path I'm preaching to somebody today God is in the broken pieces of your life I know that's hard to imagine I know that for some of us that's so difficult to wrap our minds around because all we see around us are broken relationships broken marriages and broken friendships and shattered lives but I'm telling you today that God is in the pieces he is the god god of the pieces and if you will allow him today before we leave this place like he did with Abraham he can begin to shine his light into the broken pieces of your life and he alone will step into the broken pieces of your life uh begin to pick them up uh and put them back together again and restore the dream restore the vision he can show you what's next he can revive his promises stir them up back within you again I can't I can't tell you everything's going to be okay I don't have that ability I can't tell you everything's going to be fine all the time that's that's not my place but I can tell you today of assurity and in faith and with the authority and the power of the Holy Ghost that we serve a god of the pieces I'm coming to a close of the music positions would come I don't believe there's a person in this room today at some point in your life can't identify with Abram nobody here who can't identify with some part of his story some part of his life you see Bible is full of everyday people just like you and I who found themselves at some point in their life living amongst standing amongst the broken pieces of their own lives if you live long enough something will go wrong I remember as a young man sitting in Services camps conventions hearing people's testimonies about the goodness of God and what God had brought them through right or wrong I remember sitting there saying I hope I never have to go through that hope I I hope I never have to deal with that because nobody signs up for problems nobody signs up for Shattered Dreams nobody pleas signs up for broken pieces oh crush me God destroy me that's what I want please no we beg God oh God help keep my family together God save my children oh God heal so and so's body it's too early we don't want to lose them we ask the Lord to help us keep things together but the inevitability is that at some point in life we're going to find ourselves among broken pieces disappointments failed expectations Joseph knew a little something about that a man with dreams rejected by his Brethren thrown in a pit sold into slavery falsely accused thrown into prison forgotten in jail yet at the end of it he said what you meant for evil God meant for good God was in The Broken Pieces Of My Life I can see and now I look back and I realize he was there all along in the pit he was there come on in the jail he was there forgotten in the prison he was there job we mentioned him earlier immense suffering he lost wealth Health his family but in the end job realized God was in the broken pieces of my life he was here you can stand everyone knows David everyone's aware of David's failure adultery murder shattered life he's the king man after God's Own Heart everybody loves him everybody regards him a man of battle how amazing he is oh I just I can't even begin to imagine the guilts and in the shame of that moment that must have rocked his life perfect world Shattered by decisions that he made nobody forced David to do anything but David made poor decisions that found him sitting among the broken pieces of his life but yet he would pin the words a broken and a contrite heart oh God you don't despise that you're still in the broken pieces of my life Jeremiah I love this portion of scripture and I'm closing with this Jeremiah 18-2 God sent Jeremiah Down To The Potter's House he said arise and go down to The Potter's House and there I will cause thee to hear my words verse three so he went down to The Potter's House and behold he wrot a work on the wheels anybody here feel like you're a work in the Potter hand verse four says and the vessel that he made of clay was marred broken here it is in the hands of the Potter it's it's not quite what he thought it was going to be so he made it again he made it again can I tell somebody today under the authority of the Holy Ghost it's not over it's not the end I know you're sitting in the pieces today but you're still in the Potter's hand he picked it up he took the mark vessel and he he made it again another vessel and it seemed good to the Potter to make it the word of the Lord came to me saying in verse 5 and six oh House of Israel can I can I can I do with you is this Potter God not have the ability to do with your life but the Potter had to do with the clay I'm reaching for somebody today for some of you it's your own decisions that you're sitting among the pieces of today for others it's just happened life has happened dreams have been broken family shattered marriage is shattered all kinds of things has happened and you're you're sitting here today you're standing right now in the presence of God Almighty among the broken pieces of your life but as I open this altar today and we begin to enter into a season of prayer I'm I'm imploring somebody today that God is in the broken pieces of your life just like the Potter took that marred vessel and put it back on the wheel and begin to make it again I'm telling somebody today in confidence that God's going to take the pieces it might not be all today but I believe he's going to take the pieces and he's going to begin to put them back together again and oh just you wait and see what he makes out of you you see you you think it's over you think it's the end and God says I'm just getting started just you wait and see what I make out of you I wonder if you'd close your eyes all over this room would you lift your hands and begin to talk to the Lord right now I feel such a beautiful presence of the Lord oh in the name of Jesus you you know every heart in this room father you're aware of every situation in this room you're aware of every family Dynamic that's in this room you're very you're aware of every broken dream you're aware of every shattered dream father you're aware of every situation every broken home you know father better than anybody here the pieces that we sit in today but father I know you was the great Potter I know you was the one who can take a life and begin to put it back back together again oh this altar is open right now if if you know what it is if you need the father if you need the Potter to take some to to take a mar vessel and begin to put it back together again would you make your way to the front right now this alters for you today you can come have a conversation with the god of the pieces I know it seems it seems broken I know it seems like it'll never be the same again oh but just you wait and see what God can make out of the pieces oh in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus that's it that's beautiful he oh if you're holding the pieces today if you're holding the broken pieces of your life today would you leave them at the altar if maybe you've been carrying them around hoping to howow you can put them back together could you leave them at the altar today Father I'm going to give this to you I I'll let you reconstruct this I'll let you put this back together again there's still room there's still room don't sit by yourself Among The Broken Pieces today come and bring your Brokenness bring your Brokenness to the King today bring your M vessel to the Potter today let him make it again oh he's the god of the pieces oh yes I believe you're restoring right now I believe you're restoring right now I believe you're picking up I believe you're remolding I believe you're reshaping right now I believe there's a work of your spirit going on right now in this room oh Jesus Jesus Jesus Oh in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus Gods my for my my gracefully broken father my life is not my own my life doesn't belong to me my life doesn't belong to me in the name of Jesus oh I feel him in the Brokenness right now feel him in my own Brokenness right now I feel him working in my Brokenness right now hallelujah hallelujah I know he's in your Brokenness oh I feel him walking among the Brokenness right now come on the lamp the light of his word it's walking among the Brokenness right now