Sermons
The Lesson of the Potter
Series: Reflections about the “last days” of 2024Link to sermon video: The Lesson of the Potter - L Siegle
Reflections about the “Last Days” of 2024 II
“The Lesson of the Potter”
(Jeremiah 17:23; 18:1-8)
Series: These are the last days of 2024…. What has God accomplished in our lives?
Thesis: The Scriptures teach the ‘beginning is near’ of a New Year filled with possibilities!
INTRODUCTION
1. The title of this series is Reflections about the “Last Days” of 2024
2. This is the second message in the series, “The Lesson of the Potter”
3. As we begin our reflections in these ‘final days’ of 2024, it is important to consider where the “church” is, the
direction that the “church” is taking (forward or backward?), and what we hope to accomplish in 2025.
THE “CORPORATE” PERSPECTIVE
1. The Bible addresses the “church” from two perspectives in the same way, God in the Old Testament addressed the
nation of Israel.
a. Collectively, God addressed His people “Israel” as a nation (Deut. 7:1-8)—YOU is a ‘collective’ (corporate) term in
which the whole nation is being given instruction.
b. Individually, the actions of people are addressed, and instruction is given to each person who is in ‘covenant
relationship’ with God (Psalm 1:1-3).
2. There are times when the whole nation suffered the consequences of the disobedience of an individual (Josh 7:1, 10-
12, 16—20, 25).
a. Achen (“troubler”) sinned as an “individual” but the whole nation suffered defeat.
3. The “church” likewise is pictured both collectively and as individual believers (Matt 16:18; I Cor. 1:1, 2, 10-12; 5:1-13)
a. The actions of the individual affects the “church” as a whole
b. God’s desire is that each of us examine ourselves to make sure we are walking faithfully before the Lord in our
thoughts, words, and actions, or collectively (as a congregation) it is possible to keep ourselves from being
blessed by the Lord in our work and efforts (I Cor. 9:24-27; II Cor. 13:5).
c. The account of Ananias and Sapphira spoke to the “whole church” about the consequences of the actions of the
individual.
JEREMIAH THE WEEPING PROPHET
1. Jeremiah was called in about 626 BC, in the 13th year of King Josiah because judgment was coming on the “whole
house of Israel” (collectively). The individuals would suffer the consequences of those who were living in
disobedience to the will of God (Jer. 1:1-3; 2:1-3, 11-13, 32)
a. In 722 BC, God has sent the armies of Assyria to invade the northern Kingdom (Israel) and they were carried away
into captivity—it was a “divorce decree” because of their unfaithfulness.
b. In 586 BC, God was going to send the armies of Babylon into the southern Kingdom (Judah) to destroy the temple
of Solomon and carry them away for 70 years of captivity because of their sin and disobedience.
2. Jeremiah was sent to the people with a message and then God sent Jeremiah to the house of a “potter” to receive a
lesson about who God is, how God works, and what God expects to be the result of His work (Jer. 17:23; 18:1-3)
3. God uses resurrection language in his instructions to Jeremiah (“arise” “stand up” and go)… (LXX) and learn from what
you see at the house of the Potter.
a. The word “potter” means a “shaper” one who applies “pressure” in order to affect the end result or “shape” of
the clay in the palms of His hands.
b. God ‘working at the wheel’ is all that God uses to speak into the lives of His people (people, circumstances,
situations) and the counsel of His Word to mold and “shape” us into being what God wants us to be.
4. God, in the first century was bringing Jews/Gentiles together into the “one body” (Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:4; 5:27)
a. The “church” collectively and individually are the “purchased possession” of the Lord (Acts 20:28).
b. The lesson of the potter is that it is God who is working to change us from the inside out, into the glorious
“image” and nature HE intends for us to be and to become (Col. 1:9-14).
CONCLUSION
1. This past week the snow was falling, covering the trees, the grass, the fields, the roads (something that our life in
Hawaii was missing).
2. There is an overwhelming sense of quiet as you go outside into the snow…it allows us to experience the beauty of the
winter season of rest, where creation sits in silence and rests for a season.
3. In the springtime comes the “awakening” with the return of the plants, trees, flowers—life emerges from the
quietness of the wintertime.
4. In 2025, God wants of “awaken” each of us in this congregation—fill us with newness of life, revive our spirits, to
energize us for the work that lies ahead of us as we reach outward into the community.
5. Yesterday I saw an advertisement about a “church” of the Lord that had closed its doors and was in the process of
selling the building—something for us to reflect about as more and more we see this happening all around us.
6. I knew of a person who wanted to create a “megachurch” in his community and so he raised support from all over the
United States to help him accomplish his goal.
a. At one point he went out to the shopping centers and offered to pay people to come and visit his church.
b. Often it worked…for a short time, until the money ran out and those who had been bribed to attend stopped
coming.
c. It is not about having fancy buildings, a professional band or choir, having a “big show” on Sunday with the
people leaving the service having been entertained but without substance.
d. God desires people who love Him and who love one another and who bear HIS “image” in all that we think, say,
and do.—God wants genuine authenticity.
7. The hands of the “Potter” (shaper) are ready to take us collectively and individually to be what HE wants us to be in
2025.
