When we end an year and move on to the New Year, Usually we tend to reflect on the Past Year with respect to us it is 2018 and we look ahead for the new year, that is 2019.
In 2018 , we had set few goals for us , Growth in God , Family , Church & Community.
Can we analyse ourselves with regard to the Goal which we had set for ourselves, and rate as to where we stand this morning? Its good to reflect on what we have done.
When we look back into 2018 , we need to do the following three things:
Preserve: There are a few things that could be preserved from 2018 to 2019.
Memories: We need to preserve our memories of laughter, disappointments, encouragements, and so on.
Miracles: We need to preserve all miracles , where we have experienced the supernatural, breakthroughs, and unexpected events.
Promises : We need to preserve all the promises of God for us. Promises which were fulfilled and promises which are yet to be fulfilled.
Learnings : We have to preserve all our learnings, lessons learnt , mistakes which were overlooked and forgiven.
Prophetic Words : We need to preserve all prophetic words prophesied for us, church and family.
Commitments : We need to hold on and preserve our Commitments towards God , Family & Church.
As a church we want to preserve all memories, miracles, God’s promises, learnings, prophetic words and commitments for our church in 2019. We believe that, the vision that we received in 2018 of New Hope, will definitely transform the city in 2019.
Secondly, Discard : We need to leave back a few things in 2018 and should NOT carry it forward into 2019.
Discouragement : We need to leave back all our discouragements, trust God and move ahead.
Lies : We need to discard all lies of the enemy and believe in the Promises of God.
Curses : We need to rebuke all Curses that were spoken on us, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
Selfishness : We need to discard all our selfishness and become Selfless for the Gospel in 2019
Sin : We ought to repent for all our sins and move ahead with forgiveness and not fall into it anymore.
Wrong doings : We ought to discard all wrong which we have done against God and people.
There can be many more which God is asking us to discard in this year which is against God and his plan for us.
This year as a church, we have to discard all those things which has not worked for years together and bring about the New Hope into perspective and allow the New Hope to work.
Reuse : Reuse all that we are good at.
Experiences : Reuse all our experiences , either Good or Bad.
Strengths : We need to Continue to hold on to our strengths and let it bring glory to God.
Goals : Continue to work on our Goals which we have set for ourselves
Passion : Lets continue to be passionate for God’s word and his call
Time with God : Let’s continue to hear from God by spending quality time in reading the word and prayer.
Sacrifices : We need to continue to live a sacrificial life.
Philippians 3 :13-14
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
As a Church , If we look back in 2018 , it was one of the best years for us. We got our new name, vision for our church, and moved to this amazing new place. We have launched our new website and it is picking momentum. Apart from our regular church gathering, we did 2 workshops and 1 musical event at Orion Mall in the month of December, successfully. Also, we can cherish the night out at a Beach.
Inspite of the above successes, we can never forget our lows but nevertheless God is Faithful.
While I was requesting God for a promise verse for 2019 along with my sermon content. I saw a picture of a Clay Pot, then I was reminded of the entire process of making a clay pot till the final product.
I believe that this is a prophetic word, a symbolic analogy for our Church and our families in this new year 2019.
Let us look at the Wikipedia definition of how the process of Pottery is done:
“Pottery is made by forming a ceramic (often clay) body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which removes all the water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape.
Let’s look at what the bible says about this analogy :
Jeremiah 18 :1-6
The Potter and the Clay
18 This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2 “Jeremiah, go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.”
3 So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. 4 He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.
5 Then this message from the Lord came to me: 6 “Family of Israel, you know that I can do the same thing with you. You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.”
While Reading this, I felt God saying to all of us that “I am the Potter”
God has created each of us the way He desired. It is our responsibility to take what He has given to us and use it for His glory and pleasure. In doing so, we find our ultimate fulfilment. Rather than living with disappointments and dissatisfaction with whatever God has or hasn’t given to us, we can choose to thank Him for and in everything. Just as the clay finds its highest purpose when it remains pliable in the hands of the potter, so our lives fulfil their highest purpose when we let our Potter have His way with us.
But the entire Process of Pottery, both visually and spiritually signifies how God moulds and transforms us in our life, but exactly why he does some of the things , as this process can be quite painful and unpleasant at times.
When we read the scriptures, we understand that it was a warning for the Israelites that the clay is in His hands and it could be marred or made by God alone, provided we obey him intently. We believe that, this new year, 2019 would be similar for our church.
The entire process of pottery can be categorised into three phases :
Preparation : God prepares us in different ways. The process of making a clay soft is also very difficult. The clay is mixed, stomped over and over again on the ground to make it softer so that it can be easily moulded. It is a preparation process, before actual shaping, to make us softer, mouldable in spirit and heart. This year God is going to prepare us and make our hardened heart soft so that He can shape it. This preparation process will be tough but, it will be good for us and our church. He will set us free from our sins, taking control of our lives and church. It is the initial stage of preparation.
Moulding / Shaping : The next phase is Moulding or shaping . In this process, our lives are controlled by the Potter (Our Creator) . God shapes our lives the way He desires, to bring the best from it. It is moulding of our Character both Inside and outside.
Many times we try to give shape to our lives, and our future. This year, can we give our lives to be shaped by God?.
Making Strong : The last phase is to “make strong”, after the clay pot is prepared , it is put in fire to remove retained water from it to make it strong. In the entire process, God wants us to be strong. The Process of refining in the fire is to strengthen us.
For 2019, God is speaking into our hearts and our church that He will mar us and make us. We can take it as a warning or a blessing to be shaped by the Potter, that is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community.
The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue
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