Sermon Notes
Isaiah 63:15-19; 64:1-8 | November 23, 2025 | Central Baptist Church
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About This Message
When C.S. Lewis lost his wife Joy to cancer in 1960, the brilliant Christian apologist who wrote Mere Christianity kept a journal of raw, unfiltered grief. In A Grief Observed, he wrote about feeling like God had slammed a door in his face. The man who had defended the faith for decades was asking: “Where is God?” Yet later in his journey, Lewis discovered that God was looking for answers while God was offering presence.
Isaiah 63-64 is a similar raw, honest prayer. Israel felt spiritually abandoned. Their hearts were hard, worship felt dead, and they couldn’t fix it themselves. Instead of pretending everything was fine, they brought their desperation to God with brutal honesty. This passage shows us the pattern: cry out honestly to God, confess our powerlessness to change ourselves, and surrender to the Potter who is still forming us.
The central truth: When we’re spiritually dry, God invites us to cry out honestly, confess our need, and surrender to His reshaping work.
Message Outline
I. When You Feel Distant, Cry Out Honestly (Isaiah 63:15-16)
- God invites raw honesty about where you are. “Look down from heaven and see… Where are your zeal and your might?” (v. 15). This is shockingly honest prayer. You can bring honest cries to God because you’re His child.
- Relationship is the basis for our cry. “You, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (v. 16). Father means intimacy and belonging. Redeemer means commitment and ownership. You don’t earn the right to cry out. You already have it.
II. When You’re Spiritually Hard, Confess Your Need (Isaiah 63:17-19; 64:1-7)
- We can’t stop the drift on our own. “We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (64:6). Spiritual drift is subtle and progressive. You can’t reverse it through willpower or religious activity alone.
- Only God breaking in can change us. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!” (64:1). This is the desperate plea for divine intervention. You can’t bootstrap your way to spiritual vitality. God has to break in.
III. When You Can’t Fix Yourself, Surrender to the Potter (Isaiah 64:8)
- Surrender is trust in the Father. “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter” (v. 8). Surrender is active trust: “God, I can’t fix me. But You can. Do Your work.”
- The Potter is still at work, even when you feel like broken clay. Trials feel like breaking in the moment. Looking back, you see the Potter was reshaping you. He’s forming something through the loss that you’ll need later.
Reflection Questions
- Where are you pretending with God right now? What honest cry do you need to bring to your Father this week?
- Isaiah describes spiritual drift as gradual and imperceptible. Where do you see signs of drift in your own spiritual life? What does it look like to “keep showing up” even when you don’t feel it?
- “We are the clay, and you are our potter” (64:8). What does surrender look like for you in your current season? What are you trying to control that you need to release to the Potter’s hands?
- Israel cried “Rend the heavens and come down!” and God answered in Jesus. How does the incarnation and cross demonstrate that God heard this desperate prayer?
- Looking back on hard seasons in your life, where can you now see the Potter was at work? How does this shape your trust in what He’s doing right now?
What to Do Next
This week, pray one honest prayer to God about where you actually are spiritually. No pretending, no religious language, just honesty. Tell Him where you’re struggling, where you feel dry, where you’re trying to control things you can’t fix. Write it down if that helps. Then end with this simple surrender: “Father, I’m clay. You’re the Potter. Do Your work.” That’s it. Just show up honestly and trust His hands.
About Adam
Adam Burton is the pastor of Central Baptist Church in Maysville, Kentucky, and serves as a police chaplain. He’s passionate about helping people build a faith that lasts through practical, gospel-centered teaching.
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