1. The Wise Potter And The Lump of Clay Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” Romans 9:20-21

2. The Facts, Please! People who work with clay are called potters. The making of pottery is one of the earliest crafts of civilization. One of man’s first inventions was the potter’s wheel. The clay used in pottery has two characteristics: It can be shaped (and retain its shape), and it hardens under a high temperature. In Bible times, clay was mixed with water and sifted to remove stones and other impurities. Then it was trampled until it was smooth and pliable. At the potter’s bench, more water was added until it was just right for molding.

3. More Facts, Please! The earliest potter’s wheel consisted of a horizontal turntable made from wood, clay, or limestone It was turned by hand on an axle that pierced the working bench. One person turned the wheel, while another one shaped the clay. This was the kind of wheel Jeremiah saw when he went to the potter’s house. About 200 B.C., a better wheel was invented, consisting of a larger second wheel on the bottom end of the axle. A potter could turn it with his feet and make the upper wheel turn as he molded the clay

4. More Facts, Please! Sometimes air bubbles developed in the pottery, or it didn’t come out just right. Then the potter would smash the clay flat and begin again. After molding, pottery was air- dried and then hardened in a kiln that was fired to a very high temperature.

5. What Does God Want You to Do? Workers with clay are called -------. They can only work with a special kind of -----. Pottery clay must be able to retain its -----. It must harden under a high -----------. Pottery is molded on a potter’s -----. The man God sent to the potter’s house was -------. The potter had a marred pot that he ------- and ----.