1. The Potter The Clay and Cracked Pots
Jeremiah 18:1-6

2. Jeremiah 18:1-6
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.”
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.
4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

3. Holman Christian Standard Bible
5 The word of the Lord came to me:
6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay —this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel
Holman Christian Standard Bible

5. The Potter Shapes the Course of Our Lives “this is the Lord’s declaration ‘Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand’”
Verse 6
Isaiah 29:16 “You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, ‘He didn’t make me’? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, ‘He doesn’t understand what he’s doing’?
Some Deny the potter – “He didn’t make me”
Some Defy the potter – “He doesn’t understand what he’s doing” 1

6. FALSE: I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul
FALSE: I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. - Invictus, William E. Henley
Jeremiah 10:23 “I know, Lord, that a man’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps.”
Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”

7. The Potter Has the Right to Shape Our Lives “Can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay”
Verse 6
Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it: What are you making?…”
Romans 9: “But who are you—anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Or has the potter no right over His clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?” 2

8. The Potter Uses Pressure to Shape Our Lives “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand’”
Verse 6
2nd Corinthians 4: “…even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” 3

9. The Potter Has The Power to Re-shape Our Lives “But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.”
Verse 4
Even in the times when God is correcting us… Isaiah 64:8 “Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter…” 4

10. We Are A Work in Progress “So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.”
Verse 3
Isaiah 64:8 “Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we all are the work of Your hands.” 5

11. The Cracks Are Where The Treasure Shines Through
2nd Cor. 4:7
2nd Corinthians 4:7 “Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” 6

12. A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel
2nd Timothy 2:20-21
2nd Timothy 2: “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 7

13. A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel
2nd Timothy 2:20-21
2nd Timothy 2: “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 7

14. A Clean Vessel is a Useful Vessel
2nd Timothy 2:20-21
2nd Timothy 2: “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 7

16. Translations That May Have Been Used: Abbreviations & Copyright Info
AMP or Amplified: © Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
ESV: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
HCSB: Holman Christian Standard Bible © 2001, Broadman & Holman Publishers, LifeWay Christian Resources 127 Ninth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37234
JPS: The Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) By the Jewish Publication Society All rights reserved
MSG or Message: The Message © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
NAS: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NAS) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. Copyright 1960, 1988, by The Lockman Foundation, California. All rights reserved.
NAS95: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NAS95) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. Copyright 1960, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation, California. All rights reserved.
NET: The NET Bible, New English Translation (NET) Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998 By Biblical Studies Press, LLC. All Rights Reserved The Holy Bible: The NET Bible(r) Copyright © 1998 By Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved
NIV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by The International Bible Society. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quoted by permission.
NJKV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NKJV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
NLT: Quotations designated (NLT) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW LIVING TRANSLATION Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, All rights reserved. New Living, NLT, and the New Living Translation logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
NRSV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NRSV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION. Copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Phillips: J.B.Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition, published by HarperCollins, is presented here with the kind permission of Mrs Vera Phillips and the J.B.Phillips estate
RSV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (RSV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: REVISED STANDARD VERSION. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1973 by National Council of Churches of Christ. All rights reserved.
Weymouth: WEYMOUTH NEW TESTAMENT: NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN SPEECH by Richard F. Weymouth 3rd Edition (1912)--Revised & edited E. Hampden-Cooke
YLT: Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible by J.N. Young, 1862, 1898 (Author of the Young's Analytical Concordance)