Saturday's Scripture Story
Parable of the Potter
Jeremiah 18:1-10
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
Pondering Point
If you like bible stories of comfort and security, this one may leave you quite unsettled. After directing His prophet Jeremiah to visit the house of the potter, God uses an analogy of clay being re-formed after it gets messed up.
In the story, this is how God is looking at His people: messed up and in need of being re-made.
Many people cry out to God to clean up their messes. But we may not be so eager for Him to alter our plans, lifestyles, or situations that we don’t consider all that "messy."
Are you open to God messing with your life?
Prayer
Father God, I know that my life is in Your hands, including my messes. As I pray for Your help, remind me that You’re also graciously working in the lives of others with their messes. May we all live by grace in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hook Questions
Use these questions with your group when you are using Bible stories as central piece to your time together:
- What is the most valuable thing(s) you have broken?
Bible Storying’s Core Questions
- What did you like (or learn new) about the story?
- What did you not like (or not understand) about it?
- What are the various people doing in the story? With whom do you identify within the story?
- What is God doing in the story?
- What might God be asking of you triggered by this
story? How is he challenging you?
A great way to get God’s stories to stick with you is telling them to other people.