North English Christian Church

	North English Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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“Unexpected Treasure”

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
2 Corinthians 4:7

There are many things that cause me to marvel in this life: the beauty of a sunset, the delicateness of a newborn baby, the complexities of the human body and the measureless expanse of space, just to name a few. But perhaps the most amazing (and often perplexing) to me is, “Why would God choose to use people (just like you and me) to accomplish His purposes here on earth?” From a human perspective it seems terribly inefficient. As vessels of clay, we are prone to weakness, procrastination, and losing our focus. We are easily cracked or broken, a challenge to repair and tend to “leak out” the good nearly as fast as God pours it into us. Fully aware of all these risks, Christ still chooses to accomplish His work first in us and then through us.

The Apostle Paul tells us that each believer is a jar of clay that contains treasure. When we look through scripture, we can see that we contain peace (Philippians 4:7), the forgiveness of sins, redemption, the riches of God's grace (Ephesians 1:7), joy (John 15:11) and the resurrection power of Christ (Philippians 3:10).

Do you feel like a cracked or broken pot today? Are you suffering because of deteriorating health or finances? Are your emotions broken and bruised because of a family crisis? Are you experiencing crushing loneliness because of the loss of a loved one? As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He says even in catastrophic times He is not only with you, but longing to pour out through you. He sees your pain, and His heart breaks with your every hurt.

You are dearly loved! Hold on to His promise that your brokenness is not wasted but releases His Spirit to do works of perseverance, power, character and hope. There’s no question about Whom is involved when we, as cracked, clay jars, are used in spite of…even because of…our brokenness – only God can do that! No matter what you’re facing or how you’re feeling, as a child of God, His treasure has been placed within you and is waiting to be poured out – often when we least expect it!

When He does this, there’s never any question as to who is responsible, for one look at the “cracked pots” of our lives makes it obvious that we didn’t pull it off…only God can bring treasure out of the broken vessels of our lives. And I just love it when this happens, because when people say, “How in the world did you do that?” it is great fun to reply, “I’d just love to tell you about what God has done!”

With the Lenten season upon us, there will be more opportunities than ever for God to work through our broken vessels, so let’s make sure and take advantage of every opportunity! See you on Sunday…

– Pastor Kirk