Extraordinary - Be Broken, Be Blessed - Peter Tan-Chi

Brokenness and blessing belong together in God’s hands. In our world, broken things get discarded; with God, brokenness becomes the gateway to usefulness and joy. I walked us through Isaiah 6 to show the pathway: encounter God, see ourselves, receive His grace, then embrace His mission. Isaiah’s vision of the Lord seated on the throne in a moment of national instability told us something crucial—earthly kings come and go, but God reigns. Seraphim cry “Holy, holy, holy,” because holiness is God’s blazing center—He is morally perfect, utterly trustworthy, and above all. When we taste that holiness, we stop comparing ourselves with others and cry like Isaiah, “Woe is me.” Real brokenness is not theatrics; it’s repentance, humility, and surrender of the will.

Isaiah confessed the uncleanness of his lips—because the mouth exposes the heart. God’s grace then took the initiative: a coal from the altar—pointing to Christ’s sacrifice—touched his lips. Forgiven people become sent people. From “Woe is me,” Isaiah moved to “Here am I. Send me.” That order matters. We do not volunteer our way into holiness; we are cleansed into mission.

We also warned our hearts with the story of King Uzziah: success can breed entitlement and deafness to correction. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Brokenness is often a process, sometimes painful, but necessary. I shared about being forced out of our family business—how God used loss to expose my pride, give me compassion, and redirect my life. Grace is not abstract; it changes desires, like Nancy whose long addictions vanished after a desperate prayer and a true encounter with Jesus.

Jesus’ call still stands: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Him. Unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone; if it dies, it bears much fruit. If you long for intimacy, revival, and fruitfulness, pray the dangerous prayer: “Lord, whatever it takes, break me—gently if possible—and use me as You wish.” The throne is occupied. His holiness is unfading. His grace is sufficient. And His mission is waiting.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Brokenness begins with God’s holiness Encountering God as holy—utterly set apart—reorders everything. We stop bargaining with Him and start bowing to Him. Reverence becomes the soil where repentance can finally take root, not out of fear, but because we see reality clearly. Only a big view of God produces a truthful view of self. [36:22]
• 2. Pride blocks grace; humility invites God Uzziah’s entitlement made him uncorrectable and unfruitful; that is the quiet corrosion of leadership and discipleship. God actively resists the proud, not because He is petty, but because pride destroys us and others. Humility is not self-loathing; it’s decisive agreement with God about who He is and who we are. That agreement opens the floodgates of grace. [30:24]
• 3. Your mouth reveals your heart’s disease Isaiah confessed unclean lips because speech is the public address system of the heart. Gossip, slander, and cutting words are not slip-ups; they’re symptoms. Deep holiness doesn’t start with behavior modification but with heart renovation that inevitably transforms our speech. The tongue is the dashboard light; don’t smash the light—service the engine. [44:24]
• 4. Grace cleanses, then compels mission The coal from the altar touched Isaiah before God’s call touched his ears. Forgiveness is not the finish line; it’s the launching pad. When grace becomes personal, God’s burden becomes audible, and availability flows naturally: “Here am I. Send me.” Mission is gratitude in motion. [59:20]
• 5. Death to self releases fruitfulness The seed that refuses burial remains impressive but barren. Saying “no” to self isn’t ascetic theater; it is alignment with Jesus’ way that multiplies life in others. Real surrender is not losing yourself; it’s exchanging a small, guarded life for a spacious, fruitful one under His hand. [65:52]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:34] - Brokenness vs. discard culture
• [02:24] - Kintsugi: beauty in restoration
• [03:14] - What brokenness really is
• [09:23] - Jesus’ call: deny self daily
• [12:40] - Meet Isaiah, a faithful prophet
• [20:52] - One angel, 185,000 fall
• [23:35] - Vision: the Lord on the throne
• [36:22] - Holy, holy, holy unpacked
• [40:58] - Woe is me: seeing our sin
• [47:12] - Cleansed by grace from the altar
• [49:15] - Though your sins are scarlet
• [59:20] - Here am I; send me
• [62:35] - My breaking and God’s rebuilding
• [67:53] - Lord, whatever it takes—break me

Bible reading (ESV)
Isaiah 6:1-13
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolation,
12 and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

Observation questions (read the passage aloud first)

1. What images of God appear in Isaiah 6 (throne, robe, seraphim, smoke), and how do those details shape the response of the created beings? [36:22]
2. Why does Isaiah say “Woe is me; for I am ruined” and specifically name “unclean lips” after seeing God? What link does he make between seeing God and seeing himself? [40:58]
3. What exactly does the seraph do (v.6–7), and what might the coal taken from the altar signify in the context of atonement and cleansing? [47:12]
4. After being cleansed, what question does Isaiah hear from the Lord and how does Isaiah answer? What order of events is visible in the text (encounter → confession → cleansing → commission)? [59:20]

Interpretation questions (think through what the passage means)

1. How does the repetition “Holy, holy, holy” function theologically to reorient a person’s self-assessment and priorities when standing before God’s glory? [36:22]
2. In what way does Isaiah’s focus on his lips point to a deeper diagnosis of the heart? How should the church interpret the relationship between speech and inner holiness? [44:24]
3. What does the initiative of the seraph (bringing a coal from the altar) suggest about God’s role in forgiveness compared with human attempts to clean up or prove oneself? [47:12]
4. How should the sequence “see God → see self → forgiven → sent” inform the church’s approach to recruiting volunteers for ministry and to personal readiness for mission? [59:20]

Application questions (personal, practical steps)

1. Encountering God’s holiness reorders life. When was the last time you intentionally sought a reverent encounter with God (worship, silence, Scripture), and what concrete step will you take this week to make space for that encounter? [36:22]
2. Seeing yourself honestly produces repentance. Which “unclean lips” patterns (gossip, sarcasm, cutting words) are most common for you, and who can you ask to help you confess and change this week? [44:24]
3. Grace cleanses before it compels mission. Is there a ministry you are tempted to say “yes” to now out of image, guilt, or busyness rather than because you have been personally cleansed and led? How will you test whether God is sending you or you are volunteering yourself? [59:20]
4. Pride blocks grace; humility invites God. In what recent success or comfort have you noticed a growing entitlement or defensiveness, and what one humble response (confession, counsel, apology) will you take in the next seven days? [30:24]
5. Death to self releases fruitfulness. What is one small thing (a habit, a time-slot, a comfort) you can “die to” this month to create space for greater fruit in others, and who will you tell to keep you accountable? [01:05:52]
6. The posture of surrender opens God’s work. If someone were to pray, “Lord, whatever it takes, break me,” what specific signs of surrender would you expect to see in that person’s daily life over the next 30 days (speech, schedule, service), and which of those signs can you begin to practice this week? [01:07:53]

(Use these questions to guide sharing, confession, encouragement, and concrete accountability. Begin or end your time by reading Isaiah 6 again together.)