1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,280 Hallelujah. Aren't you glad you met him one 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,680 day? Changed, altered your life, 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:09,080 Amen. Completely. 4 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,160 I'm not him, but I know who he is. 5 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,400 Amen. They came to John the Baptist, 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,720 said art art thou the Christ? Should we look for another? 7 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:22,040 He says I am not the Christ, that I know who you're talking 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,440 about, Amen. And I'm point you in that 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,000 direction today, Amen. What a great Amen, opportunity 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,600 to be in the House of the Lord this morning. 11 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,720 So glad to have each one of you, Amen, with us, Amen, Today in 12 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,120 the House of the Lord, we appreciate you, Amen, being 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,560 here. We do miss the Mason family. 14 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,760 We love and appreciate them, but we're glad to have the champion 15 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,160 family, Amen, in their stead this morning. 16 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:49,160 Thank you for their sacrifice and being here. 17 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,240 Hey man, I was going to talk to their pastor at camp and then he 18 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,400 wasn't at camp and so I called him while I was at camp or 19 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,800 gotten a hold of him and seeing if we could use them and then 20 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:01,440 had a conversation with a champion. 21 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:02,840 This has been a busy week for them. 22 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,520 They as a church, they have a couple of booths at the fair 23 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,280 this week and so they work every night. 24 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:10,600 He's a contractor, so he's working during the day, they 25 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,040 work during the day, work at night. 26 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:13,880 Today they're going to do 3 services. 27 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:15,840 They're going to be here. They have their 3:00 service 28 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:17,840 back in Sullivan and they're coming back tonight. 29 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,440 And so they're sacrificing, Amen, for the Kingdom. 30 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:22,960 Amen. I appreciate that. 31 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:25,480 And they're not here to perform. They're here to worship, as you 32 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:26,800 can tell. Amen. 33 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,160 We're thankful for their diligence. 34 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,960 So glad to have each one of you. Kevin, it's good to see you back 35 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:32,760 there this morning. Amen. 36 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,360 Good to see you back there today. 37 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,160 And we have special guests, Aiden and Emma. 38 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,600 They're not out here right now. They went to class, Aiden and 39 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:44,240 Emma, Amen. Sure. 40 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,440 Amen, here today. And so we're so glad to have 41 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,400 them, Amen, as well, in the House of the Lord. 42 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,520 We're going to be turning to the book of Isaiah chapter #30 this 43 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,000 morning. We have our, our Ignite youth 44 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,600 with us this morning here in the sanctuary, Amen. 45 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,120 And we're grateful for them. Hallelujah, Isaiah chapter #30 46 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,640 I'm going to read just one verse of Scripture. 47 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,000 Just one verse. I know it's hard to believe in 48 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,720 that, but one verse of Scripture today in the House of the Lord. 49 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,840 Thank you for all of our media, staff and team that may be 50 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,360 taking up slack or so on and so forth today. 51 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,080 Thank you, Amen, for that. Amen. 52 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,040 Those take care of the live stream and such, and we 53 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,440 appreciate that. Isaiah chapter #30 and I'm going 54 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:32,760 to read verse #1 the Bible says, and he shall break it. 55 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaking of a nation, and he shall break it as the breaking 56 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:42,320 of the Potter's vessel that is broken in pieces, he shall not 57 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,920 spare, so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a 58 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:53,920 Shard to take fire from the earth or to take water with all 59 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,640 out of the pit. He's basically saying for this 60 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:03,520 particular nation that going to break them so severely, it's 61 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:09,280 going to be like a pulverizing leaving but dust and ash, and to 62 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:14,680 understand the completeness of that brokenness unlike it would 63 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,080 normally be, he said. There's not even going to be any 64 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,880 fragments or pieces big enough to use for any other purpose or 65 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,120 any other method for a little while today with the help of the 66 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,760 Lord and, and please, I, I, I'm a strong believer whenever you 67 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:33,040 minister and preach and teach, keep the, the, the context of 68 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,520 the text. But my focus isn't so much the 69 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:41,160 context today as it is what you set up as a comparison that 70 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,800 Isaiah did here in Scripture. I want to minister this, this 71 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,440 morning in the House of the Lord, a future for the 72 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:54,240 fractured, a future for the fractured. 73 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,120 Can we lift our voices one more time in prayer and ask the Lord 74 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,720 to help us today? Father, we come to you this 75 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,040 morning. We're thankful, God, for another 76 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,560 opportunity to be in your house. We're thankful today, God, for 77 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,760 the songs of Zion, Lord, that has went heavenward, Lord, as 78 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,200 we've entered worship, God, and we praise Lord with our lips, 79 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,280 Lord, these songs. I pray God that you're able to 80 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,760 touch us now, Lord, with a fresh touch. 81 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,920 Lord of your anointing. God let your word go forth and 82 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,640 do that which it was sent to accomplish in our hearts and our 83 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,400 lives and failed to thank you and praise you for what you 84 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,480 accomplish in this service today. 85 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,440 And the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ that I pray Amen 86 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,560 and Amen of the church say Amen, Amen. 87 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,240 You may be seated this morning in Jesus name. 88 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:44,600 We Live Today in what is notably known as the throwaway 89 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:49,040 generation. We have as time went on and has 90 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,600 marched on, become more of a throwaway society. 91 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:59,520 We tend to dispose of items rather than repair them or we 92 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,040 dispose of them rather than reuse them or or or repurpose 93 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,320 them. Several factors in our world 94 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,560 today attribute or contribute to that. 95 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:15,280 We are conditioned more as a society for this, this approach 96 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:18,560 in our modern day because we live in an era of constant 97 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,840 consumption. People are buying and then they 98 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:25,200 buy again what they bought before it's constant 99 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,800 consumption. Items even are marketed today 100 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:33,920 with limited lifespans as part of the marketing strategy that 101 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,160 will encourage then a consumer for a repeat purchase. 102 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,680 You, you go and buy a new set of tires today, say, well, you want 103 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,360 60,000 mile tires or 70,000 mile tires. 104 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,800 They're, they're letting you know that you're probably going 105 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,880 to get about that much, that much work or that much out of 106 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,520 those particular set of tires. Even if you just go buy a light 107 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,080 bulb, you're standing there. Of course you got, you know, 108 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,960 half a million different ones that you can choose from. 109 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,960 But even before you, you know, they're all graded, you know, 110 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,920 well, this is about suitable for 1000 hours of use. 111 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,040 So it, it has a lifespan that is connected to it. 112 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,400 And also with all of the technological advances, you 113 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,800 know, people are in the mindset, why in the world would you even 114 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,040 want to fix something that's owed when you can get something 115 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,040 that's newer and you know, better? 116 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,960 The most recent model has all the bells and whistles and horns 117 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,760 and switches. Why in the world would you even 118 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,640 want to go with something old? I've, I've heard my dad speak 119 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,720 many a times, you know, he keeps his own vehicles because you can 120 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,240 work on them and, and even just simple things, you know, 121 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,120 starters and things like that. You know, used to they, they 122 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,240 would rebuild those type of things, but now they got them 123 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,640 all sealed up where you can't even unscrew them. 124 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:46,800 It's a permanent thing on there. You're just going to throw it 125 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,720 away and you're going to get a new one. 126 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,480 You can't repurpose it because the mindset today is it's easier 127 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,760 to get something new than to take time to fix something 128 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,320 that's owed or, or to be inventive or to even repurpose 129 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,920 what was owed. The more inexpensive the broken 130 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,920 product or item is, the greater probability someone's just going 131 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:08,800 to dispose of that. They're not going to take the 132 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,440 time or the energy that may be required. 133 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,840 And as a result of that, we've really conditioned ourself in a 134 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,280 place where there's fewer that even possess the skills to 135 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,640 repair since we don't repair anymore if you're possessed the 136 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,120 skills to repair. And there's others that just 137 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,960 don't want to take the time to repurpose because that just 138 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,440 takes time and investment. And so all of this shift in 139 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,080 society is valuing the new, valuing the the novel over 140 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,760 what's old or worn or maybe broken, though yet still yet 141 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,400 maybe functional or have a purpose, but broken. 142 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,000 And so we live in a cast aside mindset. 143 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,120 And that is the tempo of today. But it's not always been that 144 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,400 way. It's not always been that type 145 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,800 of mentality. Generations before us prided 146 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,240 themselves on how long a product would last. 147 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,440 You know, I, I've had this me, it's with 250,000 miles, you 148 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,320 know, or, or I've had that washing machine for 25 years, 149 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,200 you know, and we had a 10 year warranty. 150 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,680 But you know, we've prided themselves for how long a 151 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,880 product could last. It it was the mark almost of a 152 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:21,080 skilled, intelligent person who could repair or even be 153 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,960 inventive and repurpose a broken item. 154 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,640 In ancient times, ancient, ancient times, survival hinged 155 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:34,480 on what a person did with the broken things in their lives. 156 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,919 Many of the tools and the utensils of ages ago where the 157 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:45,120 products of a Potter after the clay has went through the firing 158 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:50,040 of a kilner, it kept its shape. And so there's bows and jugs and 159 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:54,560 jars and spoons and all types of different instrumentation that 160 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,560 were made from clay that a Potter had made. 161 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:01,640 And so that piece of pottery in many senses became very 162 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,520 enduring. And what that meant was this is 163 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,600 that it could break, but it would not disintegrate. 164 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,160 That's the reason why archaeologists today can find 165 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,880 these mounds of, of layers and layers because cities would 166 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,040 build up on the ruins of other cities. 167 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:22,000 And so they do their excavations and they find in many places 168 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,560 broken pieces of pottery. They've they've not deteriorated 169 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,320 or went back to the earth biologically in any form because 170 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,400 they're there, they're durable. Amen. 171 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,800 And there's just the broken pieces of what once was. 172 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,280 They could be broken, but they would not go back to just a 173 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,040 disintegration. As a matter of fact, they were 174 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,960 impervious to decay. They they were impervious to 175 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,800 corrosion. They could be broken, but they 176 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,200 couldn't just totally disappear. And so archaeologists depend 177 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,880 have depended upon those types of things. 178 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:59,360 Pots heard if they're called or just pieces of pottery, broken 179 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,200 pieces, ancient pottery from almost every time period a 180 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,800 person can imagine they they have found from years and years 181 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:12,280 ago linking people to they pass and linking them to whatever the 182 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:16,520 idea of the purpose of that piece of pottery was, the shape 183 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,240 or design. Maybe they would find a partial 184 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,800 rim or a partial base or a partial handle, and from that 185 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,680 they could date about what time that was made according to its 186 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:30,480 design, according to its purpose. 187 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:35,280 Whole pots and whole jugs have been discovered several times, 188 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,520 but most of the time it's just pieces. 189 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,320 The prophet Isaiah, stay with me this morning just for a little 190 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,520 bit. The prophet Isaiah delivers a 191 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,360 warning in our verse in our text today. 192 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:53,080 It is a warning and it is also a judgement message to Judah 193 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:57,360 because they are in a position that they are rebellious people 194 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,480 at this time. In our text, the Bible says that 195 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,720 they have refused and rejected the law of God or the word of 196 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,320 God. They were speaking to their 197 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,880 prophets and their seers in that generation. 198 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,280 And they're basically telling them, please don't speak a 199 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,200 prophecy of truth to us. We would rather you tickle our 200 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,360 ears. We, we would rather you as a 201 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:23,160 prophet or a seer to say something that was pleasing to 202 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,480 us. We would rather hear lies from 203 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,760 you than truth from you. And the Bible then describes as 204 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,880 a result of the rebellion that their iniquity, it's making 205 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,040 metaphors. Their iniquity was like a breach 206 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,680 in a wall or a bowl in a wall. You ever seen a brick that was 207 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,960 stuck out of a of a wall? That was a brick wall. 208 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,000 Over time, because of the pressure and the stress up on 209 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,000 that, that's only going to get worse. 210 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,000 It's not going to get better. That bulge is going to become 211 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,080 worse and may even turn into a breach. 212 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:58,840 He said your iniquity is like a breach or a bulge in a wall and 213 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,280 it's just going to progressively get worse until it collapsed. 214 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:07,440 And then he begins to describe God's judgement against them for 215 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,360 where they were. And he begins to liken God's 216 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:15,840 judgement to as when one breaks a Potter's vessel. 217 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,000 And he says this breaking will not leave. 218 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,400 And this is what Isaiah says. He says the breaking that God 219 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,280 does will not leave any pieces for use. 220 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:31,040 God will not spare any of them for any type of purpose or 221 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,320 utility in their brokenness. God, he says what God's going to 222 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,600 do, He's going to pulverize them. 223 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:39,800 He's going to crush them to dust. 224 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,400 He's going to be unmerciful in his ruling. 225 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,080 But I told you this morning, my context isn't as important as 226 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:52,920 realizing the extent of this nation's and people's 227 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,160 brokenness, that this pulverizing to dust, this, this 228 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:03,560 reducing to ashes is in most cases outside the bounds of a 229 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:07,320 typical broken vessel. A typical broken vessel doesn't 230 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,520 go to ash. A typical broken vessel doesn't 231 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,880 go to pulverize. Amen. 232 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:17,080 Unable to be assembled pieces. Only God can do that. 233 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,600 But naturally brokenness doesn't take place like that. 234 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:26,600 Someone say man, if a vessel of pottery would just drop or fall, 235 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:29,600 it's not normally reduced to power powder. 236 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,160 The only way it would be powder or dust is if it was an act of 237 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:38,000 God. So what I'm saying is this. 238 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:43,840 Most broken vessels do not get reduced to powder. 239 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,200 Most broken vessels do not get reduced to dust. 240 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:53,600 Most broken vessels are not in such a way that they can't be 241 00:13:53,600 --> 00:14:03,560 assembled or used. Someone say man Isaiah, what 242 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:08,000 Isaiah is doing here in this verse with his few words, he is 243 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,440 underscoring the unlikelihood of what is happening. 244 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,480 He really is because he says it's going to be pulverized. 245 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,240 It's going to be crushed, he says, so that there shall not be 246 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:28,120 found in the bursting of assured to take fire from the earth or 247 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,920 to take water with all out of the pit. 248 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:36,120 The home and Christian study Bible says it like this, that no 249 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:41,600 fragment will be large enough for either of these things of 250 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,040 carrying fire or water. It will not be large enough. 251 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,400 In other words, Isaiah was one to picture. 252 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,120 It's going to be so shattered that no sizeable piece could be 253 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,560 found for any type of practical use. 254 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:02,720 And Isaiah is illustrating this to show how conclusive God's 255 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,720 judgment will be for them if they don't change. 256 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:12,000 But he's shown how conclusive it will be by showing what God does 257 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,280 will be an uncommon happening for normal pottery. 258 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:22,760 Because normally a pot that falls is not obliberated as an 259 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:28,080 earthen vessel. Someone say man. 260 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,720 Throughout scripture we have the comparison, We have the likeness 261 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:40,920 in scripture that we are spoken of as earthen, clay or pottery 262 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,440 vessels. And yes, throughout scripture 263 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:48,200 they are depicted as vessels that are easily broken. 264 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:53,080 In reality they're common and they are fragile, and they have 265 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:54,880 a easiness. Amen. 266 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:59,480 As far as being broken, the Psalm is said in Psalms 2 and 9. 267 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,920 Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potter's vessel. 268 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:09,760 The psalmist used some imagery of a broken vessel whenever he 269 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,960 wanted to express his feelings that he was being and felt like 270 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,680 he was being ignored and felt like he was being neglected. 271 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:23,800 When he said in Psalms 31 and 12, he said I am forgotten as a 272 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:29,200 dead man out of my mind. He says I am like a broken 273 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,880 vessel because many would just discount broken vessels. 274 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:38,360 Some of those pieces were just discarded and forgotten about. 275 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:43,440 The archaeological hills that they discover of broken vessels 276 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,120 is proof enough that some were discounted and some were 277 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,160 disregarded. But in Scripture there isn't a 278 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:59,560 more compelling picture of God as the Potter and we as the clay 279 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,760 be informed. Then when we read in the Book of 280 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,200 Beginnings, Genesis chapter two and seven, where God formed 281 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:14,800 mankind from the dust of the ground with His very hands 282 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,599 there, there isn't a more compelling picture than that in 283 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:21,520 the beginning of the master Potter having his hands on the 284 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,640 clay as it were, forming and shaping you and I. 285 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,480 The apostle Paul picks up on the same symbolism in 2nd 286 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:36,920 Corinthians 4 when God compares us there and Paul says, but we 287 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,880 have this treasure Speaking of the power of the Holy Ghost and 288 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,280 the Spirit. We have this treasure in earthen 289 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,960 vessels. Know ye not that ye are the 290 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:56,800 temple of the Holy Ghost? But it's in a earthen vessel, a 291 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:03,280 vessel that is easily broken. Someone say man. 292 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,800 The likelihood of a pottery vessel breaking into pieces 293 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:15,080 beyond use is almost naturally impossible. 294 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,280 That's the reason why Isaiah illustrated it happening as 295 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:32,360 being God's doings to get to such a minute dust powder like 296 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:34,960 place. In other words, Isaiah want us 297 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:40,360 to know that's not natural and that's not nature. 298 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,960 God threatened to do it to a nation. 299 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,560 But can I tell you as a vessel this morning that I've yet to 300 00:18:49,560 --> 00:19:05,040 see an ordinary person? I need to say it again. 301 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:10,200 I've yet to see an ordinary person, saved or unsaved, to 302 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,520 experience such brokenness that they are useless. 303 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,240 What does that mean? That means everybody earned the 304 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,440 sound of my voice this morning. There's still purpose in your 305 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,440 life. There's still purpose in your 306 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,560 journey. There's still purpose in your 307 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:35,280 path. There's there's purpose, Brother 308 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,080 Fred. I've broken a few ceramic 309 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,880 things. Sorry mom, if you're watching, 310 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:47,880 I've broken a few ceramic things and I've noticed that whenever I 311 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,920 broke that little figurine and I was fumbling with with my 312 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,320 fingers and it hit the floor and it hit the ground and pieces 313 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,920 went. I've noticed that that thing 314 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,760 does not break in equal sized pieces. 315 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,760 I'm noticed sometimes when we're trying to find the pieces that 316 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,920 there's some large unavoidable pieces that broke off, and then 317 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,960 there's other minute little things that maybe your feet only 318 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:24,400 find later. When it breaks, it just doesn't 319 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,440 break equally. They're small, minute, but 320 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:33,560 there's also larger pieces that break as well or that are part 321 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,760 of the brokenness. I've never hand on the Bible, 322 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:45,920 I've never accidentally broken a ceramic item that the moment it 323 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,920 made impact with the tile floor, it went to ash. 324 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:54,560 I'm just telling you and all of my 46 years, I've never had 325 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,560 anything like that hit the ground. 326 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:01,600 And then it's it's just dust. Never. 327 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:09,480 I believe the Apostle Paul could understand the message that I'm 328 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,640 attempting to preach here today because while he did in 2nd 329 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:20,760 Corinthians 4 compare us to earthen vessels, he also then 330 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:26,480 described some things that those people earthen vessels would be 331 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,320 subjected to. And he said in verse eight, he 332 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,360 said we, but he just called us earthen vessels. 333 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,320 So he's talking about in that line of thought. 334 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:43,000 We as earthen vessels are troubled on every side, yet not 335 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,240 distressed. We are perplexed, but not in 336 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,640 despair. Persecuted but not forsaken, but 337 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:59,520 watch it cast down, but not. I believe somebody might have 338 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,120 experienced some brokenness today, but it's not over. 339 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,160 You're not destroyed. The last, the last sentence in 340 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,440 your life has not been written. There's not a period for it's 341 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:17,480 just a comma. There's still future for the 342 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:24,400 fracture. There's someone say glory 343 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,160 Hallelujah. Sometimes we're living under the 344 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,080 cloud. A man of a misconception that 345 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,360 says I'm broken. I don't have anything to offer. 346 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,960 I'm broken. I don't have no purpose. 347 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,480 I'm broken. I don't have no use. 348 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,360 I come to combat today. It doesn't matter where life has 349 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:55,680 served or what life has served. There's still utility, there's 350 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,800 still purpose. There's there's still a future, 351 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,160 though you may have been fractured. 352 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:20,280 We love you, we love you, he says. 353 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,840 We're cast down, but not destroyed. 354 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,000 Paul understood something that the ancients knew. 355 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,520 I believe he grasped what I'm attempting to relate today, that 356 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,160 even broken vessels have their use. 357 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:50,560 Someone say man broken does not mean obliterated. 358 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,400 Cast down does not mean destroyed. 359 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,600 Brokenness does not equal uselessness. 360 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,920 You can be seated. Isaiah said What he said because 361 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:13,120 he understood that use him He said what he said, that I won't 362 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:18,160 leave them where there's a piece large enough for carrying fire. 363 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:23,400 What he said what he said because he knew culturally the 364 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:28,360 custom that use him broken pieces was a familiar practice. 365 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,560 He was calling like he did to show how different it was from 366 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:41,000 the typical and the different would only be God's doings. 367 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,720 But any other typical way. This is how it usually is. 368 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:51,560 There's something left for use. The familiar practice was there 369 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:59,680 was still yet something that could be employed because if 370 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,200 there was a large ton of peace of that pottery fragment. 371 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:11,080 He says history says that they could be used to carry hot coals 372 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,120 from the earth and water from a cistern. 373 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,200 This is not listen. This is not let me be like the 374 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,320 apostle. This is not some cunnily divides 375 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,040 fable that we are, you know, speaking here today. 376 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:27,000 All right, This is not a fable story where we come preaching 377 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:28,120 from the word of the Lord. This is true. 378 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,560 This is this is actual happenings, but if you need 379 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,920 something else to kind of smash up against that, years and years 380 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,720 ago the ancient city of Pompeii was buried by the eruption of 381 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:44,200 Mount Vesuvius in 79AD and the city sudden burial under all 382 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,440 this volcanic ash. It preserved many aspects of 383 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,120 their daily life, providing a little bit of a snapshot when 384 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,400 they begin to pilfer and dig into that later what the Roman 385 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,360 society in the 1st century AD may have been like. 386 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,800 And in their unearthing of this they unearthed. 387 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:05,920 Among the ruins are numerous examples of how broken pottery 388 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,680 was repurposed this practice. Of course, we can read through 389 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,360 history that this is not just unique to Pompeii. 390 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:18,040 It was a common practice in the ancient cultures of the world to 391 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:24,160 repurpose broken pottery. One of the fascinating uses of 392 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,720 these pieces of pottery is, as Isaiah alludes to in our text, 393 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,520 broken pieces of pottery could be used to transport fire. 394 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,720 Before there were matches, before there were modern 395 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,080 lighters. Keeping the fire going was 396 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:51,040 absolutely critical and crucial. They had fires in the hearse 397 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:55,200 that were maintained continuously, but yet the fire 398 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,800 went out somewhere and needed to be restarted. 399 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:06,080 Somebody was searching around for a broken piece of pottery to 400 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:12,800 scoop up some hot God almighty. I'm about ready to have a fit to 401 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:18,600 pick up some hot coals and carry the live coals to another place 402 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:30,280 where a fire needed to. You know why they did that, 403 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,160 Brother Reese? Because that is a piece of 404 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,880 pottery and that piece of pottery has already went through 405 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,560 a kiln. That piece of pottery has 406 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,560 already went through a fire. So the fire is not going to 407 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,040 bother it because it's endured the fire one time already. 408 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,960 So I can use that because it's already endured the fire to pick 409 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,640 up some more fire to restart another fire. 410 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:59,400 Because it's already, I'm telling somebody today, it's not 411 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,960 over, honey. It just might be beginning. 412 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:24,800 They're just, if we may, just just practical tools for 413 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,960 ensuring the fire doesn't go out. 414 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,160 Someone say, man, you know what I read? 415 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:41,840 They said the story of Pompeii. They said it could be used 416 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,400 either to transfer the fire to another place of their home. 417 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,680 I love this. Or if their neighbour's fire had 418 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:56,240 went out, that broken piece of pottery could be used to scoop 419 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,600 some hot coals from their house and convey it to their 420 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,680 neighbour's house because they didn't want anybody in their 421 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:16,640 vicinity to be without the fire. Only whole jugs and whole jars 422 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:24,160 can have a witness wrong the broken have a testimony that 423 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:35,240 somebody next door needs to experience the heat of someone 424 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:43,560 Say man, you can be seated. It was used in not just the fire 425 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,640 management, but also the water management. 426 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,880 Sometimes when there were large broken pieces of pottery, they 427 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:56,200 would serve as makeshift scoops or ladles. 428 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,000 Archaeologists have even found evidence of such practices in 429 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,840 the ruins of Pompeii. They have found this is just 430 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,040 whatever. I'm a preacher, so it's just 431 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,000 like, overwhelming to me. They have found broken pieces of 432 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:19,640 pottery with wear patterns on them, indicating that thing's 433 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,640 been used to scoop up water and poured out in the where the side 434 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,600 it's typically poured on. A little groove has been worn 435 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:31,560 over time as the water's been poured out, indicating that 436 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,320 thing. This is just not a discard. 437 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,720 This isn't a discarded broken piece that we've come and found. 438 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:44,520 This is a purposeful piece. This is a purposeful piece. 439 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,280 I'm here to tell you someday, we're going to meet rapture 440 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,480 someday and stand before God. And I'll tell you, most of us 441 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:54,360 are going to stand before him, broken, broken pieces, but he's 442 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,520 going to look at our life and on our lives will be the 443 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:02,640 indications of our purpose. The grooves, the worn marks, 444 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,840 they indicate they didn't stop, they didn't give up. 445 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,400 They seen they still had something to offer the Kingdom. 446 00:31:20,130 --> 00:31:23,410 Two things those societies would have daily need of fire and 447 00:31:23,410 --> 00:31:28,010 water and partially to the discretion of the broken. 448 00:31:28,930 --> 00:31:37,450 They would have it pieces, shards, pots, herds cast down 449 00:31:38,130 --> 00:31:44,890 but not destroyed. Someone say Amen. 450 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,280 I realize. I realize we're the reefs. 451 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,240 We all come to those places and some maybe perhaps more than 452 00:31:53,240 --> 00:32:01,560 others, we feel beyond use due to our fracturedness or our 453 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,560 brokenness. Some of us have been similar to 454 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,800 Mephibosheth and we've been dropped by somebody else. 455 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:15,240 Our our brokenness is the result of the mishandling of somebody 456 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,640 else. But there's others of us that's 457 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,800 like the demoniac of Gadera or even the prophets of bail that 458 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:28,040 we've cut ourselves. Hey man, and our brokenness is 459 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,920 is equal or associated with our doing and our actions. 460 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:38,000 But my message to you today is whether you are the cause of 461 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,440 your brokenness or whether somebody else is the cause of 462 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,920 your brokenness. Even broken vessels and pieces 463 00:32:44,920 --> 00:33:00,160 can be used and have a future. I understand when I broke those 464 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,840 ceramic items that were there were some minute pieces that 465 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,200 maybe maybe was going to be lost forever. 466 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:11,240 I get that, particularly when me as a human being was trying to 467 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:12,880 put it back together before mom knew about it. 468 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,200 Add up the Super glue that at times didn't seem as super as I 469 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,480 wanted to be. It needed a tape on that bottle 470 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:24,880 and you're you see that little slither? 471 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:30,480 It's like, I mean, I had it good, but there's this little 472 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,000 and I never could find that thing. 473 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,320 But when it comes to our story, it's not about that. 474 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,280 There may be some things that are just lost forever. 475 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:43,760 But my question is, do you have a large enough peace? 476 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:52,520 Do you have an A large a large enough peace to transport some 477 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,320 fire? Do you have a large enough peace 478 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,400 to carry some water to your home, to your neighbor? 479 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,800 Can can what's left be a carrier of some live codes? 480 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:10,120 I'm confident this morning in this house there is, because 481 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:15,639 it's naturally impossible to reduce you to uselessness. 482 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,840 Hear me again. It's impossible to reduce you to 483 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:33,679 uselessness. Amen. 484 00:34:42,500 --> 00:34:46,659 Someone say glory. Let me tell you something about 485 00:34:46,659 --> 00:34:50,300 First Apostolic Church. This should be any church, but 486 00:34:50,300 --> 00:34:51,580 I'm going to speak for our church. 487 00:34:52,219 --> 00:34:54,820 First Apostolic Church isn't in the throwaway business. 488 00:34:57,780 --> 00:34:59,300 We're not in the throwaway business. 489 00:34:59,860 --> 00:35:03,660 We're in the restoration and repurposing business. 490 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,480 Listen, God compares us to earth and vessels. 491 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,760 Hear me well. God compares us to earth and 492 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,560 vessels. Not because we're easily broken, 493 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:26,000 but because if we are broken we still have a purpose. 494 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,280 Let me let me show you you said there there is just no benefit 495 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,600 in the broken. Let's think from NBC to y'all 496 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,040 got to stand here a little later and lead us in another song. 497 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:51,240 So you Fred, brother Fred. I take a jug, a whole complete 498 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:56,320 jug or pot to get embers or water. 499 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,280 I can fill that thing up quite full because of the size of 500 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,960 whatever my container is. And that's my trip. 501 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,560 But if I just have Is this yours, Mariah? 502 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:11,480 This could be my broken piece of pottery. 503 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,200 God, love it. Oh, it's so just jagged. 504 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,640 Look at it. I'd like to try to fit that back 505 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,240 together. But if I have a broken piece 506 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:28,600 large enough, I'm going to get some colds, and I can't get as 507 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,160 many of colds as I would if this was a complete vessel. 508 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,720 So do you know what that means? More trips to where the fire is. 509 00:36:41,420 --> 00:36:48,100 My brokenness in a moment has increased my frequency with the 510 00:36:48,100 --> 00:36:54,620 fire. If I had a whole jug, I can dip 511 00:36:54,620 --> 00:36:57,540 that thing in the cistern and bring out a sizable amount of 512 00:36:57,540 --> 00:36:59,060 water. Maybe it would be sufficient. 513 00:36:59,060 --> 00:37:03,120 But if I just got a piece, I got to keep going to the whale, I 514 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,040 got to keep going to the water. I it increases my frequency. 515 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:15,280 And that's because of my broke. Some people, I just don't 516 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,120 understand why that person's always in the altar. 517 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:18,600 Always in the altar. I'll tell you why. 518 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,960 While they are there and you're sitting in your seat, you still 519 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,080 have wholeness. They've been broken. 520 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:27,800 So they make frequent trips to the fire and to the water 521 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:35,320 because it's necessary, but God still uses them, and God has a 522 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:51,680 purpose for them. Just if you want to take more 523 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,520 notes, I don't know, you write this down. 524 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:01,000 I joke. In addition to what I've 525 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,280 mentioned. Yeah, that don't work too well, 526 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,080 does it? I got a lot of skills, but 527 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:11,680 that's not one of them. In addition to the things I 528 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,960 mentioned to the things that Isaiah mentioned for for 529 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:19,080 scooping water or or transporting fire, These are 530 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:24,680 other things historically that broken pottery, pieces of 531 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:28,880 pottery been used for. They've been used for a riding 532 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,560 medium. Not the whole, but the broken. 533 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:38,880 It's like archaic post it notes. I don't know how sticky the 534 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,560 word, probably according to what was in them, but archaic that 535 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,240 you could write on Broken. They would keep broken pieces to 536 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:48,760 write things on, either with ink or with the engraving of 537 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:50,920 something sharp. They would write on them. 538 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,240 And it wasn't just like, honey, I'll be home, you know, for 539 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:58,880 dinner once the sun falls over the West Mountain. 540 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:03,080 No important things historically, I've read that. 541 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,040 Important messages have been left on broken pieces of 542 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,600 pottery. There's things called the Lakish 543 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:13,960 letters, which were the first hand accounts of the Babylonian 544 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,360 siege during the fall of Judah that we have the account of in 545 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,800 the Bible. That that Hope first hound first 546 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:22,800 hand account. You know what was written on a 547 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,400 bunch of pieces of broken pottery? 548 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,760 Important messages. Pieces were used. 549 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:36,320 Pieces were used to cut. Pieces were used to scrape 550 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,520 various materials. Pieces were used to smooth out 551 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,800 surfaces. Pieces were used as building 552 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,760 materials. Broken pieces were used in 553 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:49,440 walls. Broken pieces were used in 554 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,160 floors. Broken pieces were used in 555 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,960 pavements. Broken pieces was even used in 556 00:39:54,960 --> 00:40:00,440 the mortar between the joints. Broken pieces help repair roofs 557 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,600 and flooring. They were used. 558 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:05,160 Broken pieces were used to maintain heat. 559 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,720 You've seen it, you've done all your reels and your you know to 560 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:12,640 do it and your house gets cold. And put a light up and put one 561 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,680 of those clay pots over it and it'll bring warmth to the room 562 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:19,600 because that clay pots been in a kiln of fire. 563 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,560 It can handle the heat, and it knows how to radiate heat. 564 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:29,040 They were used to maintain heat. Amen in places, and this is one 565 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,280 of my favourites. All right, write it down. 566 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:39,520 Broken pieces could be used to mend other broken pottery items 567 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:47,240 by filling the gaps and reinforcing the weak spots of 568 00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:58,080 something else that was broken. Your brokenness could be 569 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:03,720 somebody else's healing. Your brokenness, your weakness, 570 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,520 might become the strength that somebody else needs. 571 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:19,160 There is a purpose. There is a use, folks. 572 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,120 I know When I understand that I know I have a purpose, When I 573 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,640 understand that my broken pieces may help fill in the gaps of 574 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,920 somebody else's brokenness, and when I understand that I 575 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,440 understand Paul McGee has a high purpose. 576 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,320 I understand that Paul McGee has a noble purpose. 577 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:40,040 If it is a use that could not, it is A use for that broken 578 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:43,640 piece of pottery that could not be accomplished by it being 579 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,360 whole. That can only be used like that 580 00:41:46,600 --> 00:42:01,640 if it's broken. Someone say man, there's a 581 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:07,320 future for the fractured. Someone say there's a future for 582 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:17,560 the fractured. Moses killed in an Egyptian 40 583 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,600 years broken on the backside of a desert. 584 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,680 He comes home broken to Egypt and he delivers a nation. 585 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:32,080 David committed adultery and murder and other things broken. 586 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,840 The Scripture records him as Israel's greatest king, and he 587 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,520 finds himself as an ancestor in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus 588 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:44,080 Christ. Peter denied Jesus three times. 589 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,040 I don't know the man person flailing his arms. 590 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,080 I don't know the man. I don't know who he is broken. 591 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,920 But on the day of Pentecost, when 120 was gathered in the 592 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:58,920 upper room, it was his voice sounding the gospel message that 593 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:03,120 brought conviction and change and alteration to lives broken. 594 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:07,240 Paul was a persecutor of Christians going to houses and 595 00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:10,240 apprehending them here and there broken. 596 00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:14,200 But that same broken man was instrumental in spreading the 597 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,520 gospel. Many and most Gentiles in the 598 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:21,080 New Testament Scripture, the Old Testament, Rahab was a 599 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:26,280 prostitute, broken, but she exercised faith and through that 600 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:30,120 faith joined the ancestors of the Lord Jesus Christ. 601 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:36,560 Jonah ran away, he disobeyed and he struggled spiritually broken. 602 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:41,280 But that broken man got a second chance and he went and preached. 603 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,160 Amen. A message to the sparing of the 604 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:48,360 city of Nineveh. Hannah was barren and childless 605 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,680 broken. But God opened her womb and she 606 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:55,080 gave birth to the greatest prophet and judge, Samuel. 607 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,000 There is a future for the fractured. 608 00:44:11,260 --> 00:44:15,620 We don't throw away the broken. We understand. 609 00:44:15,620 --> 00:44:18,220 We gather the broken. Why? 610 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:24,280 Because there are walls to be built, there's repairs to be 611 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:29,560 made, there's heat to be maintained, there's weak spots 612 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:32,680 to be reinforced from the pieces. 613 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:38,720 Can I say then even today that there are some broken pieces 614 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:41,720 that have a message scrawled on them? 615 00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,320 Some of them had important mess. There's some here today broken 616 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:51,520 pieces that have a message scrawled on you that future 617 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,440 generations need to hear, and they're only going to hear it 618 00:44:54,440 --> 00:45:00,520 through your brokenness. If you understand with me today, 619 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:09,320 I won't hold you much longer. So when a generation when broken 620 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:15,480 things are discarded without a second thought, God's Word 621 00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:22,560 reminds us of the intrinsic value even in our brokenness. 622 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:31,120 If old civilizations could find some type of essential use for 623 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:38,960 shattered pottery, then can we not in the church find purposes 624 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:44,720 and strengths through our fractures and through our flaws? 625 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:47,480 We're not. We're not in the business of 626 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:55,120 casting aside church, restoring, repurposing, finding the beauty 627 00:45:55,800 --> 00:46:00,680 in the utility of the broken. So what do you say this morning, 628 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:02,720 Brother McGee, if we bow our heads all across this place? 629 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,480 What I say is this is that I urge you to reconsider the 630 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,920 fragments of your life. I ask you to reconsider the 631 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,560 fragments of your life that you may have even deemed and 632 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:19,520 considered useless. I challenge you this morning to 633 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:26,200 embrace your brokenness as an opportunity for God to use you 634 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:32,760 in unique and powerful ways. Let your brokenness connect you 635 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:36,880 more frequently to the divine fire in the water, so to speak. 636 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:42,320 What transforming us as broken vessels into a vessel of God's 637 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:48,840 purpose and God's grace? This morning I challenge you as 638 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:53,040 we walk out these double doors. I challenge you to leave here 639 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:58,360 with conviction that my brokenness, it's sum total, is 640 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,080 not going to be a mark of failure. 641 00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:05,280 You hear me? It's sum total is not going to 642 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:08,920 be a mark of failure. But I'm going to, I'm going to 643 00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:15,440 repurpose it to be a testament to my resilience and my 644 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:20,080 usefulness in the hands of a gracious God. 645 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:23,240 This morning. You might need to search your 646 00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:25,240 life. We might need to search the 647 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:28,000 church. We might need to gather our 648 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:32,320 broken pieces and one of you may need to help fill the gap in 649 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:35,600 another individual's void area of their life right now with 650 00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:38,640 your brokenness, build a stronger, if you will, more 651 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:41,640 compassionate church community and family. 652 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:45,400 By each of the Bible said that if one had surplus and the other 653 00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:47,920 lacked that the surplus gave to the one that lacked. 654 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:50,680 The Bible says so that there would be equality in the body. 655 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:53,800 You know what that is in essence, brother Pastor Bishop 656 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,680 McGee, It's taken the brokenness of one supplying strength to the 657 00:47:57,680 --> 00:47:59,960 weak area of another. So there's equality, quality in 658 00:47:59,960 --> 00:48:01,720 the church. So what's your mandate? 659 00:48:01,720 --> 00:48:04,320 My mandate is this this morning. Go on, Sir. 660 00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:06,720 Go on, ma'am. Knowing that you are not 661 00:48:06,720 --> 00:48:10,880 disposable, but you are invaluable. 662 00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:17,480 You've been crafted by the ultimate Potter, and it's an 663 00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:23,760 impossibility for a natural fall to cause you to be pulverized to 664 00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:28,880 powder. There's a Peace 123. 665 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:32,720 There's some pieces still with some use. 666 00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:36,360 There's a future for the fractured. 667 00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:40,600 These altars are open today. There there may be anyone. 668 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:44,160 Because I I, I, I am convinced that whenever this thing is all 669 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,560 said and done, there's not one of us that stands before God ho 670 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:52,840 we are broken in many regards throughout life through our own 671 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:54,920 doing again or the doing of somebody else. 672 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:58,040 We stand before him broken. There's just pieces. 673 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:02,160 But when it's all said and done, it's been a piece that's 674 00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:05,640 transported fire. It's been a piece that's aided 675 00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:08,400 in water. It's been a piece with a message 676 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:11,320 on it for somebody else. It's been a piece to support, a 677 00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:14,600 piece to reinforce, a piece to rebuild, a piece to bring 678 00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:18,520 structure of a wall. If you've been, if you've been 679 00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:25,400 size down to pieces, I guarantee you there's some pieces that 680 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:30,400 still have some use and purpose and vitality for the Kingdom and 681 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:34,280 God's interested in that. God's repurposing. 682 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:39,640 There is a future for the fractured. 683 00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,240 As we begin to pray, If you're not here praying at the altar, 684 00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:45,280 you can pray in your Pew today. You can bow your head, close 685 00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:48,240 your eyes, you can lift up your voice right where you're sitting 686 00:49:48,240 --> 00:49:51,440 or you're standing. Let God minister to you today. 687 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:55,200 Let God minister to you today. We're not sweeping up just 688 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:56,680 ashes. And no, no, no, no. 689 00:49:56,880 --> 00:50:01,040 There's some viable pieces here. There's some useful pieces here. 690 00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:04,680 There's some no worthy pieces here that God still wants to 691 00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:07,160 employ, that God still wants to use. 692 00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:10,160 Can we cry out to him today as the Champions comes?