RESTAURÉ ET RÉORIENTÉ PAR DIEU/ RESTORED AND REPURPOSED BY GOD

CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION

SUNDAY AUGUST 14^TH 2022

Sermon by Pastor Marc E Simeon

SALVAGED AND REPURPOSED BY GOD

RESTAURÉ ET RÉORIENTÉ PAR DIEU

Nous sommes l’argile et Dieu le potier

We are the clay and God the potter

LECTURE: JEREMIE 18:1-6

Jer 18:1 ¶ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:

 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”

 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

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Jer 18:1 ¶ La parole qui fut adressée à Jérémie de la part de l’Éternel, en ces mots:

 2 Lève-toi, et descends dans la maison du potier; Là, je te ferai entendre mes paroles.

 3 Je descendis dans la maison du potier, Et voici, il travaillait sur un tour.

 4 Le vase qu’il faisait ne réussit pas, Comme il arrive à l’argile dans la main du potier; Il en refit un autre vase, Tel qu’il trouva bon de le faire.

 5 Et la parole de l’Éternel me fut adressée, en ces mots:

 6 Ne puis-je pas agir envers vous comme ce potier, maison d’Israël? Dit l’Éternel. Voici, comme l’argile est dans la main du potier, Ainsi vous êtes dans ma main, maison d’Israël!

INTRODUCTION

• Mankind differs from the animal kingdom by our intelligence to tame our environment to meet our needs.
• Although we don’t have wings, we still manage to fly much faster than the birds.
• While we cannot breathe under water, we still manage to create machines that allow us to live under the water for as long as we wish.
• Although we don’t have the strength of some of the animals, yet we create machines that can carry all sorts of heavy loads.
• The human race is always on the move to better his life.
• Our obsession with technological advancements is the very reason that we are so close to extinction on this planet.
• We rob the planet of its original predisposition and we are paying the price for it.
• It is just a matter of when the end will happen, but we all know that we’ve caused and continue to cause irreparable damages to our globe.
• In the last decades governments everywhere have been trying to reverse or at least halt the decaying process of the environment.
• Consequently, a great effort is been make to recondition and repurpose our waste.

According to https://sosfuture.org/

Some Facts:

• Over 24 trillion Styrofoam coffee cups are throw away each year.
• On average each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day.
• If all our newspaper was recycled we could save 250,000,000 trees each year.
• In the US we use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour.
• We generate 21,5 million tons of food waste each year.

https://sosfuture.org/pages/how-to-recycle?gclid=CjwKCAjw0dKXBhBPEiwA2bmObTeQ8nUpHH1oKaIO8TWysgBgEBZbWqmHhpJib7gA4P0mbXIVXhRDtxoCMvkQAvD_BwE

• Some sea shores and some lake have turned to landfill of plastic bags, plastic bottles, tires, and all sorts of filths.
• Recycling is the name of the game right now.
• We get 5 cents for certain containers, we recycle cell phones, cars, glass bottles, paper and the list goes one.
• My personal misstep in trying to recycle a dirty bottle when I just came to the US. LOL.
• I think that recycling is one of the smartest initiatives to halt the pollution level in our world.
• Recycling does not stop with objects, human beings is in constant need for recycling.
• We supposedly incarcerate criminals in an effort to reshape them to become better citizens.
• We go to school to improve our worth.
• Christians are encouraged to allow the Holy Spirit to recycle us.

Ro 12:2 Ne vous conformez pas au siècle présent, mais soyez transformés par le renouvellement de l’intelligence, afin que vous discerniez quelle est la volonté de Dieu, ce qui est bon, agréable et parfait.

 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

• As far as God is concerned, the greatest pollution in this world is the waste of the human souls.
• There is a big dumpster waiting to throw the souls of the majority of the inhabitants of this world.
• The reason for this big waste is because these souls fail to be redeemed before their death.
• When you go to a landfill, every waste has a story tagged to it.
• You find food that went bad before anyone had a chance to eat it.
• You find electronics that no one cared to fix when they went bad.
• You find expensive objects that were no longer useful to their owners.
• It is sad to say that most of the waste that we generate comes from redeemable items.
• We now discover that we could at least salvage and repurpose most of our trash.
• The title of the message today is “Salvaged and repurposed by God.” / “Restauré et réorienté par Dieu.”     
• Definition of salvage ; property saved from destruction in a calamity 
• Repurpose = adapt for use in a different purpose.

RESHAPED FOR SECONDARY PURPOSE

• When we get to the book of Jeremiah, we see that God asked Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house for an observation.
• Jeremiah observed and saw the potter working on clay aiming to make a delicate vase.
• After much effort, the potter failed to achieve the desired result with the clay.
• All a sudden, the potter realized that the clay was no longer flexible enough for the original purpose he had in mind.
• The potter took the same clay and began working with it to make something different.
• There are times when we fail so miserably to qualify for the task that God had initially planned for us.
• Like the potter with the defected clay, God is busy reshaping many of us for a secondary usage.
• Jer 18:1-6
• 1 ¶ La parole qui fut adressée à Jérémie de la part de l’Éternel, en ces mots:
•  2 Lève-toi, et descends dans la maison du potier; Là, je te ferai entendre mes paroles.
•  3 Je descendis dans la maison du potier, Et voici, il travaillait sur un tour.
• 4 Le vase qu’il faisait ne réussit pas, Comme il arrive à l’argile dans la main du potier; Il en refit un autre vase, Tel qu’il trouva bon de le faire.
•  5 Et la parole de l’Éternel me fut adressée, en ces mots:
•  6 Ne puis-je pas agir envers vous comme ce potier, maison d’Israël? Dit l’Éternel. Voici, comme l’argile est dans la main du potier, Ainsi vous êtes dans ma main, maison d’Israël!
• God has both an initial and several secondary plans for everyone’s life.
• The initial plan is the highest and the most rewarding plan that God bestowed on a person before his or her birth.
• God had an initial plan for mankind when we fell in sin God was forced to come up with a alternate plan for us.
• God had an initial plan for the Children of Israel but because of their persistence in sin, God is constantly moving from one plan to another to keep them in existence.
• God has an initial plan for every human being walking on the face of this earth, but how many are operating on their initial plan, very few if any.

TRAVELLING LIFE WITH GOD’S GPS

• The initial plan of God in one’s life is like the first E.T.A. from a GPS when taking a long trip.
• The GPS calculates distances, speed limit, ideal weather, traffic lights and non-stop driving to give you the first (ETA) Estimated Time of Arrival.
• What the GPS cannot control is the actual driving conditions like: detours, unforeseen traffic delays, adverse weather conditions, tiredness, breakdown, fueling, accidents, laziness, construction delay, etc.
• As you continue the trip, the ETA keeps on changing.
• If you get lost, the GPS writes you another route plan.
• If you don’t want to pay tolls, the GPS will write you another route plan.
• If you don’t want to use highways, the GPS will write you another route.
• Each route plan will affect the ETA.
• God places us on earth with an ETA for everything He hoped for us to accomplish.
• When we fail to reach our destination on God’s estimated time, it is always driver error. It’s always our fault.
• Satan is very active to distract people from the original route plan of God.
• Very few in this world are on the original course that God had intended for them.
• Some arrive late and some never arrive at their destination.
• We all will get to a point B, but is it the address that was set on the GPS.
• If we even manage to make to the exact address, is it in the day and time that was planned.
• The problem with tardiness is that life is constant transfer station.
• God’s time is synchronized to all the happenings of this world. When one misses an opportunity, there is no guarantee the opportunity will ever come back.

THE POTTER AND THE DEFECTED CLAY

Jer 18:4 Le vase qu’il faisait ne réussit pas, Comme il arrive à l’argile dans la main du potier; Il en refit un autre vase, Tel qu’il trouva bon de le faire.

 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

• A litany of other reasons may have caused God the potter to move to plan B with us the clay.
• We are not here to discuss yours or my failure.
• This room is full of defected clays if not all of us.
• When we are young, we think that we have all the time in our hands.
• A clay is very sensitive to time.
• As time passed, the water in the clay evaporates, the clay becomes stern,
• The clay losses its flexibility and elasticity.
• As times passes, the clay becomes disqualified for certain crafts.
• A good potter knows exactly what other vase each clay can make based on maturing process of the clay.
• The potter must act swiftly because as time elapses, the clay losses its potentiality.
• This room is full of people who are on plan B, or plan C, or plan Z with God.
• God the good potter is very creative.
• God the good potter has no intention to waste you and me the clay.
• There is always another object the good potter can use the clay for.
• Ask God to make something out of you.
• Ask God not throw you away.
• You must be very humble at this point.
• Forget about the original plan.
• Accept the fact that you are at fault in God’s having to do all kinds of gymnastics to draft a plan B for your life.
• Come to God like the prodigal son returned to his daddy’s house with no sense of merit.
• Come to God with a humble attitude while acknowledging your unworthiness for a second consideration.
• The secret is the fact that God cannot and will not despise a contrite heart.
• Ps 51:17 (51:19) Les sacrifices qui sont agréables à Dieu, c’est un esprit brisé: O Dieu! tu ne dédaignes pas un cœur brisé et contrit. (LSV)
•  17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise. (NKJV)
• God is a master craftsman; He can make the most eloquent piece of art from broken and rough clays.
• God can turn ashes into beauty.
• Forget about what you could have been; enjoy what God is making of you now.

CONCLUSION

• Whether you are on God’s original plan or in the last plan in the book, be thankful that you are in God’s hands.
• Watch out for sin.
• Watch out for spiritual pride.
• Watch out for arrogance.
• Be thankful, and be humble.
• Don’t be jealous of those seem to the vases you wish you were.
• Be content that you are not wasted.
• Be joyful that the Good Potter took interest in you.
• Make the best out of your second chances.
• Make sure to catch all the heavenly rewards you can with the vessel that God makes of you whether original of secondary.

Jer 18:5-6 Et la parole de l’Éternel me fut adressée, en ces mots: 6 Ne puis-je pas agir envers vous comme ce potier, maison d’Israël? Dit l’Éternel. Voici, comme l’argile est dans la main du potier, Ainsi vous êtes dans ma main, maison d’Israël! (LSV)

 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! (NKJV)

• Amen!