Judging Pottery

The First Reading Psalm 138
(1) I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
(2) I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
(3) On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
(4) All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
(5) They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
(6) For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
(7) Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
(8) The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

The Second Reading II Corinthians 4:7-5:1
(7) But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (8) We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (10) always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. (11) For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (12) So death is at work in us, but life in you. (13) But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke” —we also believe, and so we speak, (14) because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. (15) Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (16) So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. (17) For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, (18) because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (5:1) For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.