06-02-2005, 05:42 PM
:hartlik:Today's church service was very different....
John Hunter is an American Potter that lives in Namibia for quite a number of years.
He had a small potters wheel and some clay and water in the front.
First he was trying to make a round ball with this clay, banging it real hard as he was sharing how God forms our character through putting pressure on our lives. The promise that we will overcome and not just survive.
He then put the clay on the edge of the wheel and said that so many of us likes to live on the edge.... in independance, taking risks.... but what happens.... of course the wheel became all wobbly as he spin the wheel faster and faster. The next moment the clay flew of the edge and landed on the floor. In the process of picking it up from the floor, he quickly pushed two eyes in the clay and said "yip... you fall flat on your face". Something we all could identify with.
He then started to make a jug. The clay was responding under the pressure as it was taking shape, and so must we respond to the pressure He is putting on our lives - who said being a Christian is an easy life.
He was explaining how he - after many years of practice - can tell if it is a man or a woman who made a piece of pottery, or he can recognise the artist by looking at the a piece. God also puts His mark on us if He is in control of our lives.
Something that really spoke to me was the fact that a good Potters artwork needs to look the same at the inside as the outside. He shared that when he was still learning, he had to make cylinder after cylinder and every afternoon his tutor came with a rope and cut the the piece in half to see if the inside is the same as the outside. God will continue to put pressure on us, so that we can grow and look the same at the inside as the outside.
He gave His life as a ransom for many.... He takes you who you are.... pour Himself into you and He makes you a vessel of honor.
May we go into this week to be a vessel of honor.... that pleases Him. :hartlik:
John Hunter is an American Potter that lives in Namibia for quite a number of years.
He had a small potters wheel and some clay and water in the front.
First he was trying to make a round ball with this clay, banging it real hard as he was sharing how God forms our character through putting pressure on our lives. The promise that we will overcome and not just survive.
He then put the clay on the edge of the wheel and said that so many of us likes to live on the edge.... in independance, taking risks.... but what happens.... of course the wheel became all wobbly as he spin the wheel faster and faster. The next moment the clay flew of the edge and landed on the floor. In the process of picking it up from the floor, he quickly pushed two eyes in the clay and said "yip... you fall flat on your face". Something we all could identify with.
He then started to make a jug. The clay was responding under the pressure as it was taking shape, and so must we respond to the pressure He is putting on our lives - who said being a Christian is an easy life.
He was explaining how he - after many years of practice - can tell if it is a man or a woman who made a piece of pottery, or he can recognise the artist by looking at the a piece. God also puts His mark on us if He is in control of our lives.
Something that really spoke to me was the fact that a good Potters artwork needs to look the same at the inside as the outside. He shared that when he was still learning, he had to make cylinder after cylinder and every afternoon his tutor came with a rope and cut the the piece in half to see if the inside is the same as the outside. God will continue to put pressure on us, so that we can grow and look the same at the inside as the outside.
He gave His life as a ransom for many.... He takes you who you are.... pour Himself into you and He makes you a vessel of honor.
May we go into this week to be a vessel of honor.... that pleases Him. :hartlik: