If Pots Could Talk

Nick Nilson @ Lakewood Church

Isaiah 64:8-12

Still, God, you are our Father.    We’re the clay and you’re our potter:    All of us are what you made us.Don’t be too angry with us, O God.    Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.    Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.Your holy cities are all ghost towns:    Zion’s a ghost town,    Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.Our holy and beautiful Temple,    which our ancestors filled with your praises,Was burned down by fire,    all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.In the face of all this,    are you going to sit there unmoved, God?Aren’t you going to say something?    Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?

1 Potters shapes us all and designs us for different purposes.
All pots start from clay, but before their condition could change, their position had to change.
We come to Jesus as we are.

Comfort is overrated. The potter presses you, molds you and wedges thing out of your life. It's not always comfortable. Sometimes you feel like you're spinning out of control. Don't fight against everything that makes you uncomfortable God may be using those things to shape you.

Drink the water. Ephesians 5:26: hat He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. Always respond with the Word.

Comparison Kills. Don't spend your time wishing that you were like another pot. The potter made me and I'm a masterpiece just as I am.

Romans 9:21-33 Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn’t that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people.

A vase is pretty but when it's time to eat you'll hope that there's a pot for beans. Imagine a house without a garbage can.

Galatians 5:25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

Philippians 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The clay's job is to stay on the wheel.

Pastor Craig's Exhortation
God can use whatever you have in your hand.
It's not what you have in your hand but whose hand is working in your life.


Exodus 4:1-5
Moses objected, “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’”2 So God said, “What’s that in your hand?”“A staff.”3 “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast!4-5 God said to Moses, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.” He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. “That’s so they will trust that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Exodus 17:6-7
God said to Moses, “Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I’m going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink.”6-7 Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, “Is God here with us, or not?”

Sticks and Stones

Nick @ Lakewood Church

"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. "And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?  How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.

Matthew 7:1-5 NLT

1. Giving People the Benefit of the Doubt
1. Nick was meeting the family of his now-wife. Though he had never met Summer’s family, he observed her dad and JUDGED that he was a “serious no-nonsense type of guy. Consequently, he made sure to head there 30 minutes early to meet Summer's parents and was pulled over by cops: His insurance and Driver's License EXPIRED. He was nervous thinking that Summer’s family would see him as irresponsible and unworthy of their daughter. However, his now father-in-law came to his defense giving Nick the benefit of the doubt. Nick’s car had to be towed but he learned that Summer’s dad was gracious and fun.
2. Take Aways
1. His judgement was wrong.
2. He received grace that he wasn’t willing to give.
2. God is constantly rewriting stories.
1. John 8:1-11
1. Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”11 “No one, Master.”“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
2. Let's not judge a person's story based off of one chapter.
1. We're all on a journey. We’re all in process.
2. One of the biggest temptations is to apply the truth of God to others before we apply it to ourselves.
3. Don’t wait to give grace.
1. Matthew 7:3-4: “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eyewhen you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend,[b] ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?
1. You will naturally be limited in your scope of someone else's life so approach people with an immense amount of grace.
1. Don’t wait to give grace
1. Flying with kids.
1. Nick used to be very frustrated on airplanes with kids. He’d complain and judge the person, thinking “How hard can it be to control a 2-year-old on an airplane for 5 hours.
2. Nick Had Kids
1. Now he sees unforeseen struggles that arise
2. He applauds struggling parents on flights
4. Jesus is always working behind the scenes.
1. Proverbs 25:7-8
1. It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table than to be sent away in public disgrace. Just because you've seen something, don't be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?
5. God Blesses people who cover
1. Genesis 9:18-29
1. The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth. After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked. When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: "May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives." Then Noah said, "May the Lord , the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant! May God expand the territory of Japheth! May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant." Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood. He lived 950 years, and then he died.
1. We all have weak moments.
2. Fight the trend and blaze a trail.
3. Your kids can feel your act of honor and grace for years to come. You can set a new trend in your family and your culture.
2. Whataburger
1. Homeless guy walks in and is immediately judged until someone decided to buy him food and pray for him.
1. It's easy to spot a problem be a solution.
3. Pastor Tony
1. Prostitutes in Diner
1. A pastor decided to throw a prostitute a birthday party and she said that was the first birthday party she’d ever had.
1. Bury judgement and throw birthday parties.
4. Care more about the sin than the sinner.
1. John 8:1-11: Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?" "No one, Master." "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."
1. Pharisees cared more about the sin than the sinner. Jesus always cares about people first. Your future is not dictated by the past.
6. John 8:9-11: Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”11 “No one, Master.”“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”
1. Grace defends publicly so truth can correct privately.

1. You build credibility and relationship through grace.
2. Truth corrects privately
3. Throwing stones has never changed anyone's heart.
4. Blocking stones will revolutionize a heart.
7. It's easy to miss someone's story when you're focused on one blemish.
1. God is doing so much more in someone's life.
2. You don't know how the blemish got there.
8. ***Cindy's Pruning Story (will add later)
9. ***Dr. Paul's Mission Report (may add later)