Isaiah 64:8 - Yet You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the Potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Romans 9:21 - Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
Jeremiah 18:3-4 - So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot that he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Pastor Mike started the book of 1 Peter a few weeks back and so tonight we decided to take a look at Peter.
Peter was one of the apostles and one of the first followers of Jesus. He followed Jesus for three years and was a natural-born leader. He was a rough and tumble sort of man whose emotions often got him into trouble. He was enthusiastic and often spoke before he thought and his words sometimes led to embarrassment. Yet he had a big heart and was clearly one of Jesus' favorites.
We talked about how, as Simon, he was just another piece of clay in the Potter's hand, but then Jesus changed his name to Peter and his transformation into a rock for Christ began. John 1:40-42
Then we looked at some of the stories about Peter in the Bible and the lessons God taught Peter and teaches us through those encounters.
- Jesus calls Peter to follow Him. Luke 5:1-11
- Jesus sees us as He intends us to be and uses ordinary people for the extraordinary.
- Peter walks out on the water to Jesus. Matthew 14:22-31
- Jesus overcomes fear when we keep our eyes fixed on Him in faith.
- He was the first to declare Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew 16:13-20
- He attacked the servant of the High Priest when they came to arrest Jesus. John 18:10-11
- Jesus patiently teaches us.
- Peter denies ever knowing Jesus, let alone following Him. Matthew 26:31-35, Luke 22:54-62
- Jesus forgives Peter and reinstates him. John 21:15-17
- Jesus forgives unfaithfulness.
The bottom line is that God takes each of us in our imperfections and sinful states and, when He calls us to Him and we put our faith in Him alone, He begins a transformation process. He breaks us and melts us down into clay He can use and then begins to mold us more and more into His Son's likeness. The trials and circumstances we go through are what He uses to mold and shape us for His plans and purposes.
While we taught the kids these truths, we gave them clay and they worked on clay pots of their own to be a constant reminder to them of the work in progress that they are. We also showed them a YouTube of a real-life potter molding a lump of clay into a beautiful pot.
