Sunday Evening Worship Service

hallelujah if you're thankful to still be standing in this house why don't you give him a shout of praise he said when the enemy comes in like a flood they shall raise up a standard i wonder if we could give a standard of praise tonight he said when you've done all you can do just stand regardless of what the circumstances around you look like just stand he said you shall be like a tree that's planted by the living water a tree out in the middle of a desert when everything around you is seen to be desolate and dying he has got a blessing and provision upon your life because you are committed to him in this last day give the lord another handclap of praise thank you praise team and musicians you can be seated across this house it's the highest honor and privilege and i don't say this lightly every opportunity i have to speak to the absolute greatest congregation on the face of planet earth and that is first apostolic church of knoxville i want to pay special welcome tonight to the schneider family this is a family of apostolic christian school and they have three students in our school if you could give them a great big hand it's an honor to have you all worshiping with us and we we count it the highest honor and privilege that you all are worshiping with us i got some awesome news this week that my wife and i are expecting a baby boy so that's awesome and i'm even more so happy that i have the opportunity to raise my children in this great assembly because first apostolic church personifies what it looks like to look out for to prepare and to equip the next generation i give the lord a great big hand i give thanks to all of our sunday school teachers all of our christian school staff all of our teachers and all of our parents just across this mighty audience during covet and even until now they weren't always able to assemble and even now so uh you might hear a baby cry out in this audience or something and you know what i encourage it that means there's growth taking place and you mothers and fathers and guardians grandparents don't you feel the least bit bad if a baby cries out or is loud or if you have to take them out or sit in here with them if we have to repeat something up here that is okay we encourage and we're just thankful for another generation uh coming on i've been in so many settings where you you felt like if a baby cried out somebody was going to come up and usher you out or something like that but that is not the case at first apostolic church of knoxville we're trying to fulfill the commission when jesus was asked who's the greatest in your kingdom and he said unless you become like one of these little ones you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven and we feel that children are the absolute greatest in his kingdom and as i mentioned i feel so blessed for my children to be raised in this great church i saw earlier on social media that brother brady wilson is having a birthday let's give him a great big hand [Music] and i say that as well because i had the opportunity this past summer to baptize brady and his brother blake at our youth camp in the name of jesus christ and i begin to think they may be baptizing my son one day and it's just so awesome we took eleanor to a volleyball game the other night and she woke up the next morning naming every one of those girls on the team and i hope you all know high school students and middle school students that these younger ones will forever remember the impact and the example that you all have on their life and they just look up to you all so greatly and i say they've got a great group of students to look up to because y'all are the very the very best [Music] if you have your bibles tonight if you would turn to the book of jeremiah chapter 18 verse 6 and i want to say welcome to sister england as well this is brother cody's mother he's a great friend of this church brother cody doesn't preach or sing in a praise team or play an instrument but he is in the insurance business in the corporate uh business world and he goes around and assists churches in insurance manner and that is his ministry and i think that's absolutely uh fantastic and uh just another example that god wants to use the talents that you have to be used for his glory and for his kingdom and whatever god has called you to do it can be used to extend this gospel and a greater and a great impact jeremiah 18 6 and you can just remain seated o house of israel can i not do with you as this potter saith the lord behold as the clay is in the potter's hand so are ye in mine hand o house of israel as the clay is in the potter's hand so are ye in my hand o house of israel just right where you're at if you'd put your bibles down i want to speak to you and let the word of god speak to you most importantly tonight on the subject i must get to the potter's house let's pray over this sermon mighty god we thank you tonight for what you've already done already done on this sunday this is your day and we collectively rejoice in it lord i thank you for the great elders of this great and mighty assembly who give us guidance and leadership and who haven't faltered in this last day who epitomized the song the praise team saying that we will not be moved and then future generations look to them as immovable fortresses in this last day but lord collectively together as we look to your word about going to the potter's will we make a commitment tonight to reaffirm our dedication to you that we must get to your house and to the potter's house at whatever cost because we know that whatever stage of life that we are in whatever we are facing that you are never done working upon us and through us so that we may represent you in this last day and the church said in jesus name amen i must get to the potter's house an enacted word god sent the prophet jeremiah to watch the potter do a work on the wheel this word which came to jeremiah from the lord saying arise and go down to the potter's house and there i will cause thee to hear thy words when i went down jeremiah speaking to the potter's house behold he wrought a work on the wheels jeremiah had been equipped by god for this specific assignment god had to work with him and god had to work on him to prepare and equip him for an assignment that would last at least 40 years jeremiah was born in the city the town of anathoth a village really a few miles northwest of jerusalem where his father was a hebrew priest his ministry spanned the reigns of five kings of judah and was filled with persecution because of the controversial message that god had placed on him to share to his people judah had left the only true and living god and had begun to worship idol gods in the form of baal and milock even offering their children as sacrifices to moloch and god was displeased god sent jeremiah to watch the work on the will so he could relay a message to judah that despite their rebellion and despite their disobedience to him though they were like a pottery jar that had been smashed and scattered and rendered useless under the sight of god if they will turn their lives back over to him if they will acknowledge him as the one who can provide in their life as the one that can shape and mold them that he will begin to do a work and mold them into something even greater and god sent jeremiah to watch the work on the will so he could relay a message to judah that even though they had done all of these things even though they had offered their children as sacrifices that god was willing to still be in covenant with them if they would repent and change their ways god would forgive them and use them despite their failures and mistakes in jeremiah 18 and 19 the prophet was commanded by the lord to proclaim this divine message to the people of judah however god directed jeremiah not to just speak these words but to physically and literally and with great imagery enact them by first making a visit to the potter and then by smashing a pottery vessel at the entry of the eastern gate such symbolic actions were a powerful way for the prophet to make god's word visible and not just audible to his audience it should be understood though that as symbolic actions did more than just illustrate this prophetic message the symbolic action was understood to be an enactment of god's word through his mouthpiece his prophet jeremiah jeremiah carrying in chapter 19 after going to the potter's house carrying an earthenware pot in his hand he took the leaders of jerusalem to a place outside the city walls where old pottery was dumped and this was in the valley where the judeans once sacrificed their children to malik and carried out other pagan rights and through their leaders the people of judah are told that in this valley jeremiah says this is where you have killed your children this is the place that you will die as well if you do not turn your life back over to god and jeremiah smashed that earthen vessel right in front of the leaders of jerusalem and said though this is what you look like in the sight of god this is the sins and these are the sins that you have committed and though it looks like there's not any chance god is willing if you'll turn your life back over to him to put these pieces back together and he will restore relationship with you and form you into something even greater than you once were jeremiah smashed the pot to symbolize god's judgment on jerusalem saying you will be smashed and destroyed unless you turn your life back over to him the initial symbolic action as we work through jeremiah 18 and 19 is intriguing and that it was not an action jeremiah performed but rather an action that he observed in and of itself the potter's work was not out of the ordinary there was no sense in jeremiah 18 that the prophet was observing some unusual or supernatural or marvelous circumstance rather the potter was just simply conducting business as usual as was to happen on any given day in the process of the potter's house this vessel that was marred and this vessel that was disfigured this vessel that was impaired was taken by the hands of the potter and the text makes a subtle but important important point it was not the clumsy hands of the potter that created the imperfection in the vessel rather the skillful work of the potter revealed a flaw already present and the lump of clay jeremiah did not relate the precise nature of this flaw but by inference we gather that the flaw was significant enough to prevent the potter from continuing to make the vessel he has first set out to make and this and jarrah maya 18 introduces some dramatic tension to the reader what is going to take place next once the potter has seen this flaw in the clay what will he do next for the audience is left to briefly wonder will he simply throw out that lump of clay and find another without dire flaws that would seem what society would do something that is so flawed that would be the obvious and that would be the easiest solution for this clay was marred this clay was disfigured certainly this master potter who has all of this museum and and retail of pottery cells and these beautiful earthen vessels that are created and now painted for all types of different uses certainly there's no way this marred piece of clay would be able to make the cut but we read it seems we are not by surprise in the prophet's next words jeremiah 18 4 says so he made it again another vessel as seemed good to the potter to make it jeremiah was taken back by this master potter doing his vocation his calling with such intricacy and such masterful precision he noticed the potter's patience as he shaped the clay gracefully and carefully the potter was meticulous pertaining to the vessel because he wanted to make sure that it was the very best it could be even when the vessel had deficiencies even when the vessel had issues even when the vessel had flaws or in other words the bible says it was mar the potter continued to work through those issues the issues had no effect on the work because the potter never got rid or gave up on that piece of clay and at the precise moment when it looked like the lump of clay was bound only for rejection or destruction the potter was able to save it by transforming it into something all together different the focus of jeremiah's prophecy of jeremiah's parable of his sermon illustration trying to wake up his city trying to wake up and get the attention of the leaders of jerusalem was on the power of the potter the potter expressed no frustration with the flawed nature of the clay jeremiah never noted any impatience or even any hesitation in the potter's work there wasn't a line of questioning with the clay of well how did you get in this condition i'm not sure if this condition of clay is going to be good enough for me to be able to transform it into what it needs to be oh no the potter just began to do what a master potter does and begin to sculpt and to mold patiently gracefully and meticulously the potter left the clay on his will and simply begin again as the word of god says to remake the vessel and suddenly almost magically and i would say miraculously what had fit for service perhaps it was so obvious that it escapes notice it for not for the expertise of the potter the flaw and the clay would have been rendered it useless but the potter makes it not even equivalent to what it once was before marred but the potter makes it into something even better than it was before it was flawed we are like the clay in the potter's hand and as the prophet jeremiah watched the master potters skillfully reform the flawed clay into a vessel of beauty he heard the voice of god speak interpreting the sign he had witnessed as a message of hope jeremiah 18 5 says then the word of the lord came to me saying o house of israel can i not do with you as this potter saith the lord behold as the clay is in the potter's hand so are ye in mine oh house of israel you've been guilty and found guilty of a great deal of wickedness but if this nation will repent and turn back to me then i will reshape you into something even greater oh individual reading this passage psalm 2500 years later if you will understand that no matter what you've done no matter how much this world has rendered or identified you as useless no matter what lies the enemy has told you that you're too scarred up to ever be used for anything good if you can find yourself going to the house of the potter he can reshape and reform and make something great out of the imperfections out of the mistake written past out of the sin ridden past if we'll get to the potter's house when we recall that god's overriding purpose is to use all things in our life to be used for his glory and for his good we will discover the ability to remain at rest in the lord even in the most difficult of circumstances the only task assigned to the clay and jeremiah 18 was the task of complete submission and yielding to the hand of the potter our surrender to god can take many forms it could be in the form of staying in a current job even though monetary increase might be calling my name from another city or state but it's keeping in mind my close proximity to the potter's house it's keeping in mind that in order for my family to live for him that i've got to position and align myself where at any given time i can find my way to the potter's house oh it can be watching in pain as loved ones walk away from god it can be having pain when i've had insults and hatred and wickedness hurled my way but refusing to become angry and bitter and right in the face of evil personified saying i'm going to pray for those that despitefully use me it could be giving up on our own self dreams and ambitions to pursue and serve a ministerial calling whatever the case may be in your life it's keeping the potter's house the very central filter for where i spend my time and make my decisions in big ways and in small ways these acts of release bend us ever so slightly creating greater conformity to god's will and purpose in our lives when i think that i've done too much in my past when the marring of the clay might even be self-inflicted i've marred this clay where the enemy tells me it's useless the consistent god we serve identifying himself as a potter in our lives is always willing to look past our mistakes and still carry us and shape us and mold us to the future we can get so caught up in our own plans and our own desires and our own dreams where we forget needing to be shaped and molded at the hands of the potter always remember when we try to live out a dream without god we are truly destined for a nightmare and ultimately this is what would happen to judah john maxwell the great leadership trainer said if you want to keep leading you must keep learning yesterday's growth cannot suffice for today we must remain teachable and flexible god is the potter we are the clay he will do what he wishes and we must allow him to mold us in the way he desires another benefit of understanding the purpose of divine discipline is that it allows us to be open and it allows us to be honest about our own flaws in jeremiah 18 the potter never could have made anything out of that lump of clay if it insisted on keeping the flaws hidden from the sight of the potter's watchful eye yet that is precisely what we try to do sometimes to cover up the things in our lives that we might feel shameful about but those things that we think are mars and scars in our life god says to use that as a testimony to say hey this is what i looked like when i came into the potter's house if you could only see where i came from or what i looked at like or what i was destined to be before he began to shape me and he began to mold me i mentioned this a few weeks back but it bears repeating in john 20 27 then he sailed to thomas reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing there are a few details on the risen body of jesus and we are told that he was able after the resurrected body to pass through walls and doors and his natural body which died at calvary was raised and transformed into a spiritual body the details listed by the disciples are imperative to note because in our flesh and in our human eyes and what we would depict jesus resurrected glorified body to look like certainly it would be absent of the scars that he bore on the cross certainly it would be absent of the marks and the suffering of this world but we read jesus purposefully showing that he sky pulls the scars on his hands and on his feet and says don't be faithless but believe he said disciples this is the proof of the grave that was conquered this is the evidence that no weapon formed against you is going to prosper this is what victory looks like and when you have transparency before him when you say lord i have sinned and you come to an altar of repentance and say father i have sinned and my life is marred he will give you forgiveness and he says take on my name jesus and baptism because you are going to be a vessel that i pour my spirit into and you are going to be the visible manifestation of me in this world regardless of where you came from regardless of what you've done if you will acknowledge that you need to get on the potter's will if you'll turn your life back over to me no matter what you've done though your life might be scattered like the pieces of this jar though your marriage might be scattered like the pieces of this jar though your family might be scattered like the pieces of this jar if you'll turn your life over to me i'm not going to question why you got to where you were i'm not going to question why you did those things i'm just going to begin to mold and begin to shape for our lives to be truly transformed the first step is to reveal and acknowledge our flaws it is true that owning our flaws should never be confused with celebrating them however just like the prodigal son there is a process of coming to oneself that proceeds a return to life with the father and what is most amazing is that when we own up to our own shortcomings and our own hang-ups we discover the beautiful authenticity that allows the glory of god just to shine through us in a way that we never thought possible the lord's discipline may be painful to endure sometimes that molding and the shaping we might not understand why when i decided to get on to the potter's will why would this situation begin to take place why did when i made a bold proclamation of faith to step forward how could others treat me so wicked full with uh wicked and evil why could this dramatic chaos just break forth in my life all of the sudden when i decided to put my life on the potters who will let those things be proof that he's just beginning to work and beginning to shape and beginning to pray prepare you for something even greater not only for yourself but something great that his spirit can just be poured in through to minister to others jeremiah's visit to the potter's house yields some practical advice for allowing god to do his work in your life we must first as mentioned never attempt to hide our flaws or shortcomings we must always be honest and transparent with god and those closest to us trying to hide those things in our lives only delays the transformation but these things can become great testimonies that save others second we must allow god to take over our life completely and when god decides to make you another vessel it doesn't mean that he's made you an inferior one god's plans are perfect even when they don't align with our own even when we don't understand them and we must never allow the pain and discomfort in our lives to drive us out of his house drive us out of where we know we need to be for him to shape and mold us there's nothing like a sudden job loss or backslidden child or unexpected illness to make us pray more fervently and frequently than ever before and rather than being ashamed of if this circumstance is what it took to truly awaken us instead of being ashamed that it took such an extreme circumstance recognize that it might be part of the shaping and the reason god allowed to come into your life while we celebrate the beauty of jeremiah's great sermon this great parable this this object lesson if you will to his people and to the leaders of jerusalem of the potter's house none of us are unfamiliar with that term the potter's house great churches have this name there's been countless books entitled the potter's wheel the potter's house we sing songs about the potter's house there's been mighty paintings of artistic renderings of the potter's hands and your life of clay on the potter's wheel and it's a beautiful imagery of what can take place when we allow ourselves to truly be molded by him but at the same time as you read through jeremiah 18 and 19 yes it's so powerful to get to the potter's house and i'm preaching that fervently tonight and i agree with it a hundred percent it's sobering to remember that the sermon jeremiah preached to his people and to the leaders of jerusalem it didn't do anything to them judah did not heed to this prophet's powerful invitation they didn't repent and turn their lives back over to god it sounds like real life doesn't it there wasn't a renewal of relationship there there wasn't a great jubilee after jeremiah smashed that pot down jeremiah 18 12 says and they their immediate response was there is no hope but we will walk after our own devices and we will every one of us do the imagination of evil in his heart judah persisted in sin and degradation until divine destruction came it all could have been avoided if judah had simply obeyed the lord and as you read this it's growing up in the church and growing up in all of these different metaphors and comparisons of the potter's house great sermon jeremiah but where do you go from here the people didn't even turn their lives over to you this great sermon illustration and this great imagery of the jar being shattered in their presence certainly they would say oh let's get to the potter's house thankfully we serve a god who's ready to bring restoration to our life no they locked him up put him in prison mocked him and scoffed at him not adhering to the message from almighty god but what do we do with this scripture how do we wrestle with these two chapters what's the point if there was no restoration if there was no repentance at all the more points to something even greater and when we think about human history as we look at genesis to revelation it's interesting to notice that god chose to showcase his power not by preventing the fall of genesis 3 from happening but by immediately launching a long plan to reverse the fall's impact on the human race as we start off in the word of god in genesis we realize that god's first creation adam couldn't fix the brokenness though noah found grace in the eyes of the lord and saved his family he wouldn't be able to fix your brokenness oh abraham the father of many nations he can't fix your brokenness oh moses would flee would deliver his people from egypt and lead them to the promised land he couldn't fix your brokenness joshua would knock down with god's help the walls of jericho and lead another generation to great victory but he couldn't fix your brokenness oh david would kill a giant and unite the federation of israel and the 12 tribes but he couldn't fix your brokenness his son solomon would build a mighty temple that you can't even put words to even describe its magnitude and beauty but all of the riches and all of the wealth in that land wouldn't be able to fix your brokenness israel as a strong nation couldn't do it judah as a nation couldn't do it god's prophets even jeremiah with his mighty display couldn't fix your brokenness but there god would see a time and see fit he said none of these people can do it so i'm going to go myself i'm not going to be a distant god that's far removed from the suffering of his people but i'm going to wrap myself in flesh and i'm going to come down to this world and die on a cross and my body is going to be broken for every one of you because in his brokenness is how we're going to have wholeness oh and i want to tell you about a word enacted this evening stand with me i want to tell you about an object lesson i want to tell you about preaching with some imagery john 1 14 says and the word was made flesh and he dwelt among us and beheld his glory the glory of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth jeremiah broke a jar at the eastern gate to try to get the leaders attention of jerusalem and saying this is what's going to happen if you don't turn away from your wickedness but we serve a god tonight who came down and broke his body for us none of those men though great could do it none of those women and the old testament could do it god had to come down and do it himself and through his name tonight through his resurrection power through his invitation of repentance getting baptized in his name the name of the one that died for you he's going to pour his spirit in you as a new vessel and no matter what you've done no matter where you came from no matter how shattered you think your life is when you invoke and call out on that name that part is ready to say hey give me the pieces give me all the pieces he's not going to question you up here when you come to the altar about oh what's going on in your in your marriage why would you come up here oh what's going on financially did you make some bad decisions oh where did you come from who's your mom who's your dad oh what did you do last night why are you coming up here again oh no that's not what's going to happen he's not going to say anything he's going to say this is my child that was created in my image and he's just going to get to work and he's going to pour his spirit in you oh i feel the holy ghost in here after leaving his deity he became god incarnate and walked on earth with a heavenly assignment that not only saved the world but reconciled the world back to god he restored a relationship with god that had been severed by disobedience that had been severed by rebellion and sin why because he loved us and he loves you and his body was broken for you jeremiah broke a jar but jesus god manifest in flesh broke his body for we are but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed if you lift your hands across this place tonight whatever need you have whatever situation you're facing you're not going to be met with a line of questioning that's meant to invoke shame or meant to make you feel bad but there the potter's house is right here and the potter is ready to mold and reshape whatever situation you're facing so i open this altar as an invitation to you tonight for you to boldly come forward and say potter work on me potter i need you to do something great in my life oh i know this situation is marred i know this situation is disfigured i know it seems as if this jar is scattered abroad but i need your masterful hand with a great deal of patience with a great deal of precision just to get to work to shape to mold to make something not as it was but something even greater through his brokenness we have homeless prayer warriors stay attentive to those around you god's ready to do a great work god's ready to do a great work in this house god's ready to begin to get to work and put his thumbprint on some amazing things in this house god is sovereign and all-knowing and he created us in his own image he did it so that we could live our lives to bring him glory everyone that is called by my name for i have created him for my glory i have formed him yea i have made him this people have i formed for myself that they shall show forth my praise god has great expectations for your life god has a purpose that bigger for your life than you can even imagine god has an investment in you and in your children and in your ministry and god wants to use you tonight to go out to reach others and he's ready to put the pieces back together and create something new in this place [Music] i was lost [Music] you held me [Music] [Applause] [Music] left behind [Music] that situation [Music] for the first time [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus [Music] throughout scripture god did not prevent humans from falling into difficult circumstances rather god rescued them when they encountered adversity there are some people under the sound of my voice who the enemy has been whispering and screaming actually loudly in your ears manifesting itself through other people trying to do everything they can to push and to fraud and to drive you out of his house and you feel bent and you feel broken home but let that be proof that there's a master potter who's got his hands on you and he's going to protect you and the weapon forth against you is going to prosper and you're going to be used in a greater way than you would before and your life is going to be a testimony and it's going [Applause] life and know that they can make it because you made it