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In the Potters Hands
Steve Hill
Steve Hill (1954–2014). Born on January 17, 1954, in Ankara, Turkey, to a U.S. military family, Steve Hill grew up in Alabama and spiraled into drug addiction and crime by age nine, facing arrests and near-death from overdoses. Converted on October 28, 1975, at 21 after a Lutheran minister’s prayer, he entered Teen Challenge, mentored by David Wilkerson, and graduated from Wilkerson’s Twin Oaks Academy in Texas, studying under Leonard Ravenhill and Nicky Cruz. Ordained in the Assemblies of God, Hill and his wife, Jeri, whom he met at Twin Oaks, became missionaries in the 1980s, planting churches in Argentina, Spain, and Belarus, where they founded a Teen Challenge center. In 1995, after receiving prayer at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, he sparked the Brownsville Revival at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, on Father’s Day, preaching repentance and drawing over 4 million attendees through 2000, with 150,000 reported conversions. Relocating to Dallas in 2000, he resumed crusades and founded Heartland World Ministries Church in Irving, Texas, in 2003. Hill authored books like Spiritual Avalanche (2013) and Wanted: Extreme Christians (2000). Diagnosed with melanoma in 2007, he died on March 9, 2014, in Orange Beach, Alabama, survived by Jeri and three children, Ryan, Shelby, and Kelsey. He said, “If you’re not winning souls, you’re wasting your time.”
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes how God works uniquely in each of our lives according to His purpose, even when we struggle with the trials and challenges He allows. It highlights the analogy of God as the potter and us as the clay, being molded and shaped by Him in seclusion and through various life experiences. The message encourages surrendering to God's sovereignty and recognizing our individuality and unique roles within the body of Christ, all crafted by the mighty hands of God.
Sermon Transcription
The work of the Lord in our lives is performed according to God's unique purpose. Now the purpose is something that someone has in mind to get or do, the object for which something is made. Some of us, we really struggle with God turning up the heat to make us into what we are to be. Now there are trials that we go through, everything has a purpose. God has a plan. God is decorating you, God is cleaning you, God is working on you. For His good pleasure, He's got a plan for you. Now Isaiah chapter 29 verse 16, the Bible says, Isaiah continues to write, it's recorded in Isaiah 64 verse 8. But now O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay and you are the potter and all we are the work of your hand. Always remember that the potter is working in seclusion. He's always working away from distracting activities. How many times has God worked on you outside of the church? He's spoken to you in your automobile, He's spoken to you in the quiet of your home. He will take us out of our present situation, He'll put us in a solitary place, He'll turn up the heat and He'll work on the inner man. Don't ever forget Joseph spent time in prison. Jesus had His season in Gethsemane. We're all going to have our Gethsemanes, we're all going to have our times of seclusion, out of the way, lonely, obscure places where we are molded and shaped into His. Our lives are performed according to full sovereignty over us. How can we as God's children tell Him what He is going to do? Verse 13 says this, because I am fearful your works are wonderful, the church, because you saw God elevating some people and not elevating, maybe you felt like God couldn't use you. We're all so unique, we're all so different. Why is it that some people want to plant churches and other people are afraid to do that? Why is it that some people want to go out and evangelize and other people are afraid to do that? But those people that are afraid or don't want to do that are incredibly good at hospitality, taking care of people, that we win to the Lord. What is all that? That is the craftsman, the mighty craftsman, putting the whole body together. I want you to imagine God walking up to His cabinet and opening up the cabinet and there's all different kinds of vessels, there's plates, there's pots, there's cups, and He can choose whomever He pleases to do the work for those of you at home. What you feel right now is Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is working on you, He's dealing with you. He's trying to moisten you because your heart is dry, it's cold. And that's what happens to people when they get around the things of God. They feel conviction. And I want to pray with you at home right now, if you're away from God, if you need forgiveness, you need the Lord to wash you, to cleanse you, I want you to pray with me out loud. Say, dear Jesus, I ask you now to forgive me. Wash me, Jesus. I repent. Be my Savior. Be my Lord and my very best friend. I want to be in the middle of your will. I want you to create in me something useful to you in your precious name. Amen.
In the Potters Hands
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Steve Hill (1954–2014). Born on January 17, 1954, in Ankara, Turkey, to a U.S. military family, Steve Hill grew up in Alabama and spiraled into drug addiction and crime by age nine, facing arrests and near-death from overdoses. Converted on October 28, 1975, at 21 after a Lutheran minister’s prayer, he entered Teen Challenge, mentored by David Wilkerson, and graduated from Wilkerson’s Twin Oaks Academy in Texas, studying under Leonard Ravenhill and Nicky Cruz. Ordained in the Assemblies of God, Hill and his wife, Jeri, whom he met at Twin Oaks, became missionaries in the 1980s, planting churches in Argentina, Spain, and Belarus, where they founded a Teen Challenge center. In 1995, after receiving prayer at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, he sparked the Brownsville Revival at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, on Father’s Day, preaching repentance and drawing over 4 million attendees through 2000, with 150,000 reported conversions. Relocating to Dallas in 2000, he resumed crusades and founded Heartland World Ministries Church in Irving, Texas, in 2003. Hill authored books like Spiritual Avalanche (2013) and Wanted: Extreme Christians (2000). Diagnosed with melanoma in 2007, he died on March 9, 2014, in Orange Beach, Alabama, survived by Jeri and three children, Ryan, Shelby, and Kelsey. He said, “If you’re not winning souls, you’re wasting your time.”