God Is The Potter, We Are The Clay

“Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.”

(Jeremiah 18:6)

(Give each child a ball of Play-Doh and tell them to hold it in their hands and listen for further

instructions.)

This morning I brought some Play-Doh. I'm sure that all of you have
made things from clay or Play-Doh. There’s even a job for making
bowls, jars, art, and more from clay. Someone who does this is called
a potter.
Today you’re going to be one-minute potters. I’ll call out a shape and
you have one minute to make it. Ready? First, you have one minute to
make a flower, go. (Allow kids one minute to mold the object.) Time’s
up, hold up those flowers. Okay, next you have one minute to make a
horse, go. (Allow kids one minute to mold the object.) That was a bit
harder. Hold up those horses. Okay, lastly, you have one minute to
make a vase, go. (Allow kids one minute to mold the object.) Time is
up. Hold up those vases. You were great one-minute potters today.
Now roll your Play-Doh into a ball and put it in the container in front
of you.
What happens to a piece of Play-Doh or clay if you forget and leave it
out for a long time? Exactly, It dries up and gets hard. When it’s dried
out, it’s not easy to mold it into what we want it to be, is it?
That reminds me of what was happening to God's people during the
day of the prophet Isaiah. In our Bible lesson today, Isaiah is very
upset and is begging God to come down and change the hearts of his
people. "We have sinned and turned away from You and You have
become angry with us. How can we be saved? No one calls on Your
name or pleads for Your mercy. You've turned away from us."

Sounds pretty hopeless, but Isaiah didn't think so. He knew if the
people would turn back to God, He could mold them and shape them
into what He wanted them to be--like clay. Isaiah said to God, "Oh
Lord, you’re our Father. We’re the clay, and You’re the potter. We’re
formed by your hand. Please don't be so angry with us. Look at us and
see that we’re Your people." Isaiah knew even though the hearts of
God's people had become hard, God could still mold them into what
He wanted them to be.
Just like the people in Isaiah's day, we sometimes stray away from
God and our hearts become hard. All is not hopeless. If we will turn
back to God and ask Him to forgive us, He can mold us and shape us
into what He wants us to be. God is still the potter and we’re still the
clay!
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for creating us! Thank You for taking us into Your Perfect
hands and molding us and shaping us into all that You want us to be.
Even though You hold all of the power in the universe, thank You for
giving us power and opportunity to make many important choices in
our lives. Please forgive us when we make wrong choices and go
astray. Help us to remember, that You will always be there holding us
in Your loving hands, no matter what.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.