'WANTED FOR 2014: CRACKED POTS!'

Rev. Juliet Schimpf By Rev. Juliet Schimpf    Rev. Juliet Schimpf  is the Minister of  First Baptist  Church in Perth, Ontario: http://www.perthareachurches.ca/baptist_perth_A.htm

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LINK to CFRA broadcast of Sunday, January 12^th, 2014) 

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/18902/good_news_088_jan19.mp3

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Broadcast Notes:

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'Wanted for 2014: Cracked Pots!'

INTRODUCTION

• Thirty-eight percent set resolutions related to weight

• Thirty-four percent set resolutions related to money  (Stephen Shapiro, "Interesting New Year's Resolution Statistics," stephenshapiro.com)

• SOCIETY LOOKS FOR STARS; GOD LOOKS FOR SCARS!
• whereas society focuses on the externals, God focuses upon the heart
• MATT. 9:  “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
• ISAIAH 64:8  “WE ARE THE CLAY, YOU ARE THE POTTER”
• JER. 18:6  “LIKE CLAY IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER”
• 2 TIM. 2:21 EACH OF US MUST BECOME “A VESSEL UNTO HONOR, SANCTIFIED, AND MEET FOR THE MASTER’S USE, AND PREPARED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK”

TODAY’S MAIN BIBLE PASSAGE

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

The Message (MSG)

^7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

FURTHER BIBLE PASSAGES

• 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10  NIV  “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
• THE MESSAGE (BEATITUDES):  “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.  With less of you, there can finally be more of God.”
• MATTHEW 5:  15 Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

POEM (ANONYMOUS)

“I asked for help, that I might do greater things.

            I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.

            I was made weak, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy.

            I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power and the praise of men.

            I was given weakness, to sense my need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.

            I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I hoped for. 

In spite of myself, my prayers were answered.

I am among all people, most richly blessed.”  (Anonymous)

Let’s pray:

“Heavenly Father, We thank you that you are the Almighty Potter and we are but the clay. And this is very good news as we start 2014, because it means that it doesn’t all depend upon us. We don’t have to have our lives all together; you are constantly, steadily, patiently, lovingly, tenderly remolding us and reshaping us, as the perfect potter that you are.

And so, Lord, we come to you, and as we sit upon your great potter’s wheel, we invite you, Lord, to reshape us in 2014 into the vessel of your choosing.

I want to pray for the listener who’s feeling this morning like a cracked pot, keenly aware of their shortcomings, keenly aware of their mistakes, their sins, their addictions, and their flaws. And my prayer, right now, is that, right now, they just come to you – cracks and all – because you are on the lookout for broken people; because, in our weakness then you can be strong and in our cracks, then your light can shine through.

Lastly, Lord, I want to pray for the listener who hasn’t yet asked Jesus into their heart. And maybe all of today’s message didn’t make much sense, because it was all about Second Corinthians, and pots, and clay, but for this listener, right now, the one thing they can hear loud and clear, is that they need Jesus in their heart. And I pray, Lord, that this person, right now, would repeat this prayer: ‘Heavenly Father I believe that Jesus is your Son. I believe that I need Him in my life. Indeed, I want Him in my life. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for my sins and rose from the dead. And I ask Him, now, to take up residency, and presidency, within my life. I give you my life; I give you my 2014; Father, take my shattered, broken life and do with it whatever you please. Amen.’”

Rev. Juliet Schimpf

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/18902/good_news_088_jan19.mp3