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Nov 24, 2019

The Father Potter

Passage: Isaiah 64:1-9

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Isaiah

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: sin, trust, hope, beauty, repentance, clay, potter, broken

In our Great Wreck-ness, God becomes the Greater With-ness as He, our Father-Artist, mosaics our brokenness into glory. We are utterly wretched and needy. Even our righteousness is filthy. But God has come down from heaven in Jesus as one of us to rescue, redeem and restore us to our relationship with him...to re-create us broken cracked pots back into the glorious works of art we were originally made to be.  

ORDER of Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP: Hebrews 10:16-17 & Colossians 3:16-17

MUSIC: 

  • Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me
  • Great is Thy Faithfulness
  • In Christ Alone
  • Oh Lord My Rock and My Redeemer

CONFESSION & ASSURANCE

Confession of Sin:

ALL: Father, forgive us for thinking small thoughts of you and for ignoring your immensity and greatness. Lord Jesus, forgive us when we forget that you rule the nations and our small lives. Holy Spirit, we offend you in minimizing your power and squandering your gifts. We confess that our blindness to your glory, O triune God, has resulted in shallow confession, weak conviction, and only mild repentance. Have mercy upon us. In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon:  Ezekiel 36:25-26

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  

PRAYER: The Convicting Spirit (from The Valley of Vision) 

ALL: O blessed Spirit of Christ, conveyor of all grace and truth. Come work repentance in us; Melt our hearts with the majesty and mercy of God. Show us our ruined selves and the grace there is in Him. May we confide in His great love through faith. Bear His image. Observe His laws. Pursue His service. Captured by Jesus alone. Help us to receive Him. Walk in Him. Commune with Him. Conform to Him. Find in Him wisdom, righteousness, redemption, and renewal.

MESSAGE: The Father Potter

CENTRAL TEXT: Isaiah 64:1-9

ILLUSTRATION TESTIMONY: Phil Nelsen - The Potter & Clay

RESPONSE: 2 Corinthians 4:7-10,15 

BENEDICTION: Numbers 6:24-26

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES:

  • Micah 7:18
  • Isaiah 38:17
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21
  • 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
  • Isaiah 7:14
  • Matthew 1:21-23
  • Romans 3:10-12
  • Philippians 2:8-9

MEDIA:

11.24.19 Album

QUOTES:

  • “The moment we begin to feel satisfied that we are making some progress along the road of sanctification, it is all the more necessary to repent and confess that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Yet the Christian life is not one of gloom, but of ever increasing joy in the Lord. God alone knows our good works; all we know is His good work.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
  • “Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.” - Tim Keller
  • “You see, a potter can only mold the clay when it lies completely in his hand. It requires complete surrender.” - Corrie Ten Boom
  • “Christ alone, of all the philosophers, magicians, etc., has affirmed eternal life as the most important certainty, the infinity of time, the futility of death, the necessity and purpose of serenity and devotion. He lived serenely, as an artist greater than all other artists, scorning marble and clay and paint, working in the living flesh. In other words, this peerless artist, scarcely conceivable with the blunt instrument of our modern, nervous and obtuse brains, made neither statues nor paintings nor books. He maintained in no uncertain terms that he made ... living men, immortals.” - Vincent Van Gogh
  • “I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” - Vincent Van Gogh

BOOKS / ARTICLES

When The Potter Is For Us by John Piper (Devotional)

Repentance by Tim Keller (Devotional)

Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp (Book)

SERMONS / TALKS: 

He Came To Himself by Tim Keller (Sermon)

Divine Surprises by Charles H. Spurgeon (Sermon)

With Us In Our Sin by David Plant (Sermon)