Sermon Notes: Scary Prayers 2 of 4 "Mold Me"

Jeremiah 18 New Living Translation Link (Focus on verses 1-12)

Context: The Israelites are and continue to be rebellious toward God. God's chosen people are guilty of idolatry, even though they know that their God is jealous. God decides to use Jeremiah as his messenger, so he helps him understand the scenario by sending him to the potter's house.

Introduction: When we pray this scary prayer, for God to mold me, we're admitting that we need God's hand to make us, his heart for when we get marred, and God's help to be mended and made whole.

Transition: Since we're all made of the same clay, I don't want you to think that there's nothing good about you. Reference 2nd Corinthians 4:7 "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves."

Exposition: Mold Me Lord... This plea is what says God have your way with us; it's an acknowledgement that we need God!

1. We need God's hand (verses 3-4)

-God knows what he's doing! 

2. We need God's heart (verse 12)

-Humanity acts as if we're the model, when we're really just marred.

3. We need God's help (verses 7-8)

-There's a divine safety net for those who stubbornly fought the wheel-work, but then repents.

*Next Steps...

-Answer this question honestly for yourselves:   is it important to you, to become who God wants you to be?

-Identify a time in your life when you thought you were in God's will, then suddenly everything changed. Could it have been God crushing you because you hadn't turned out as he hoped you would? 

-Don't miss next Sunday! We'll be in part 3    "Fill Me" (Colossians 1:9-12).

Sermon Notes: Scary Prayers 1 of 4 "Search Me"

Psalm 139 New Living Translation Link

Context: King David prayed this prayer centuries ago after his enemies were on the attack and accusing David of having wrong motives. Instead of just defending himself to everyone else, he saw this time in his life as a cue to pray this scary prayer before God, and ask God to search his heart.

Introduction: This is a prayer of invitation, for evaluation and hopefully purification. It's a scary prayer because it humbles us and exposes our sin and shame.

Transition: Before we can ask God to mold us, fill us or even send us, we must begin with an honest assessment of who we are and what God wants from our lives.

Exposition: Search Me Lord... A plea that makes at least four requests, from verses 23-24                  

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

24 

1. Show me what you see

Reference Psalm 139:1 "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me." -This is permission for God to search, as much as it's a request to tell us what God has already found.

2. Reveal my fears

-Why does this matter? Because what you fear the most uncovers where we trust God the least.

3. Reveal my sinful ways

-Craig Groeschel makes this easy for us identify sin we often ignore: Ask yourself... What are those you trust trying to tell you? What do I rationalize and excuse about myself? Where am I most defensive?

4. Take the lead in my life

-Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

*Next Steps...

-Read and meditate on Psalm 139 this week. Find yourself in the passage as you read. Make the time to give yourself to feeling how David felt.

-Pray daily for God to search you, and don't be afraid of the evaluation. Remember, this isn't God setting you up to fail. This is about you growing closer to God; living in an honest and spiritually healthy way.

-Check your motives before you act, and things go wrong. Your actions should reflect the Jesus we claim is living in us.

-Be in worship next week, when we continue this series with Mold Me (Jeremiah 18:1-12). 

*Thanks to David Hillis for the series development*

New Series Alert!!!

This Sunday (April 8th) we'll begin studying how to pray in a way, that gives praise to God through our spiritual progress. If you're serious about moving beyond a cute Christianity, into a deeper relationship with the God of your salvation, then set your Sunday alarm now! Join us at 10:45 a.m. for the most honest and helpful faith community in Middle Georgia!

Time... 10:45 a.m.
Location... Grace Corner Church
                    5511 Bloomfield Rd.
There's "No Judgment, Just Jesus" and You'll be glad you came!

Click here and check out our feature story in the Macon Telegraph

Sermon Notes: Centerville UMC at 6:15 p.m.

Genesis 21:8-21...New Living Translation

⁸ When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. ⁹ But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac. ¹⁰ So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”

¹¹ This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. ¹² But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. ¹³ But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.” ¹⁴ So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears. ¹⁷ But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.” ¹⁹ Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰ And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, ²¹ and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.

Transition: Grace is an amazing gift, that’s completely unmerited and is given to the hopeless, helpless and homeless. The truth is that all of us fit these areas, because without God’s grace, our lives would be grey. So, grace is our blessing! Hagar in our text, proves that there’s grace (blessing) for those that are:

~In the middle of a mess (verses 8-10) 

  Marital Mess...Genesis 16

  Money Mess

 

~Counted out (verses 11-13)

  David...1 Samuel 16:1-13

~Stuck in desert places (verses 14-21)

 

New Series Alert!!!

*Mother's Day lunch will be served by the men in May 14th, immediately after church. It's going to be fun and FREE!!!

Health Fair

This Saturday (March 4th) from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. a FREE Health Fair will be offered, featuring FREE HIV testing!

A FREE salad bar for lunch will be from 11:30 until 12:30.

Take advantage of this meaningful community event, that's the result of a partnership between Grace Corner and The Austin Center.

Meet us at 5511 Bloomfield Rd. (Parking and entrance in the rear)