From Death to Revival

EVERYONE WANT’S TO FEEL ALIVE.

And everyone has their own idea of what that looks like

Theme parks

Likes on Instagram

A great meal (that’s me)a

Finding that right someone

THE ONE WHO CREATED YOU KNOWS HOW TO GIVE YOU REAL LIFE

AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS REVIVAL.

Revival is when people decide that God has the life they need. That God is their source. That He has what they need. And when a room this size decides to look to Him alone for life Revival breaks out. Because when that much life change happens people take notice. A city takes notice. A region takes notice. Your friends family neighbors and co workers take notice. And what we are asking God to do tonight isn’t supposed to stay in this room but leave with every person and see the kingdom move forward.

LIKE I SAID A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE IDEAS AND WANT TO TELL YOU WHAT REAL LIFE LOOKS LIKE.

Politicians

Influencers

Even Christians on Social media

Your family

Friends

AND THE DANGER IS THIS

When you start to feel lifeless who do you listen to? When life hits, when you are faced with loss. When the addiction starts to creep back. When someone you trusted leaves a knife in your back. When you get betrayed by someone who claimed to follow Jesus. Who do you listen to. Because it’s in those times that we start to look for answers because we don’t want to feel lifeless. We don’t want to feel dead.

The biggest pandemic of our age is people looking for life in all the wrong places.

Whether you know Jesus today or not I want to ask, DO YOU FEEL ALIVE?

THE PROPHET EZEKIEL ONE DAY HAS A VISION. God gives him this vision thats recorded in Ezekiel 37 that touches on just this. There’s something dead that needs life again.

Ezekiel 37:1 (CSB) — 1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.

It’s interesting how God takes him to a valley. It could have been a mountain, it could have been a mountain overlooking a valley. It could have been some level ground or any other number of topographical options but he takes him to a valley because even in the valley God is still with you. Even at your lowest point God is still there. We serve a God who is with us no matter what because when you enter a relationship with Jesus his spirit resides in your heart. And there is no place you can go and no distance you can run where He wont be right there.

So no matter where you are tonight, maybe you feel close to God, maybe you feel far from God, maybe you’re not even sure about God can I tell you he’s here tonight and anything can happen.

God takes him to this valley and the vision continues...

Ezekiel 37:2–3 (CSB) — 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry.

You see bones serve no purpose and have no life outside of a body. Bones, once outside of a body have no life. Have no purpose. And they dry up. And these bones were very dry and in the same way we cannot truly be alive outside of a relationship with Jesus. It is Jesus that causes us to have life and purpose and meaning.

So many people are trying and searching for life and purpose outside of Jesus only to be left dry. And the world wants you to think that feeling dry is actually life! And that if you feel dry and dead, it’s definitely not because you’ve been looking for life in all the wrong places it’s someone elses fault. It’s that people on that side of the political isles fault. It’s because you are not being true to yourself and living your truth. And we have a generation that has become complacent with feeling dry when life is so close.

Friend how long will you look for life in dead places. You know when people came looking for Jesus on resurrection Sunday and he wasn’t there the angel said to them “Why do you look for the living among the dead”. and that picture rings true to our culture today.

3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you know.”

Only you know God. These bones are pretty dry. They haven’t felt alive in a long time. They’ve been running for a while. I’ve been out of church for a while. I’ve tried for so long and it hasn’t worked. It’s been years since I prayed God im not sure how this can work it’s a little too far gone.

It’s funny how we over complicate things when it comes to Jesus isn’t it? The Gospel is so amazing but so radically simple. But for some reasons we want complicated reasons. We want a 52 week class that i pay $80 a week for that will give me 104 steps to dry bones coming alive. Like God i’ve been running away from you for a long time but I can’t come to church this week because I gotta fix my life first. God I’ve been choosing my own way for a while but I can’t dive headfirst and start praying and getting into your word right away I gotta make up for this somehow then I can. I’ve done too much. And all the while God never asked HOW the bones would live he just asked if they could. And what’s crazy is the HOW is radically simple.

Ezekiel 37:4 (CSB) — 4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

That’s it? Just HEAR God’s words? The word hear there can also be translated as OBEY or UNDERSTAND. But my favorite way it can be translated is AGREE.

Dry Bones AGREE with the word of the LORD.

If these bones would just HEAR God’s words and agree life could happen. That’s it. Not get your life together. Not have all the answers. Not hear all the other options. Not Make up for lost time. Just hear what God says and decide to believe.

Could it be that REVIVAL in your heart tonight and Revival in this CITY in this STATE is not a result of people having all the theological answers, or getting seminary, or being in 15 Bible studies, but rather just Hearing what God has to say and taking God at his word and believing what He says.

Don’t get me wrong study theology. Go to seminary if your being called. Join your Bible studies. But if you read through the book of ACTS we see the biggest REVIVAL ever happening thousands getting saved at a time and when the religious leaders looked at leaders of this movement called the CHURCH they said “These are untrained and ignorant men BUT they had been with Jesus.” These people didn’t need seminary. All they needed was an encounter with Jesus and a life believing what He said.

What if REVIVAL is simply on the other side of people just taking God at his word and believing that he can do what he’s promised he can do! What if real change in your life tonight is simply just deciding to take God at his word. Believing what He says.

Ezekiel 37:5–6 (CSB) — 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

Notice that the bones had no role to play other than just believing what God said. And if you tonight would just make a decision to believe what God says you would see life start to form on your dry bones. And hear my words correctly. Decide to believe. Some of us are looking for this magical feeling, this perfect moment where belief just happens. God tells ezekiel to tell them HEAR the word of the LORD. not feel it. Not if your in the right mood. Not if that fits with your enneagram number. Not if you’ve had a great week. No. Just decide to believe what God says. Make the decision.

What would happen in your life if tonight you took God at his word? Here’s some things God says about you:

Romans 8:38 says that even when you feel unloved that you are always loved by Jesus

Isaiah 53:5 says that even if you feel scared by life that by Jesus’ wounds you are healed

Psalms 18:32 says that even when you feel weak that through Christ you are strong

1 John 2:12 says that even though you are a sinner God says you are forgiven

Ephesians 1:5 says that even though you may feel abandoned through Jesus you have been adopted

Colossians 2:10 says that even though you may be broken through Jesus you are made whole

Jeremiah 29:11 says that even when you feel hopeless that God has a plan and a future for your life

1 Corinthians 15:57 says that even though you may have failed that through Jesus you are victorious

John 14:27 Says that even though you may feel worried anxious or afraid that through Jesus you can be filled with Peace

Psalms 139:14 says that even when you feel like you have no purpose that God says you are fearfully and wonderfully made

And John 3:16 lets us know that even when I feel worthless that Jesus on the cross says I was worth it

And belief leads to action. When you really believe something it changes the way you act. I believe that Tennessee beat Alabama so now I hate Alabama even more.

When you know you are loved by Jesus you don’t go looking in all the wrong places.

When you know that through Jesus you are strong, I don’t make weak decisions

When I understand that I’ve been forgiven I push away from temptation

When you decide to believe you start to live out that belief. What if it really is that simple. What if REVIVAL tonight is just on the the other side of a decision to believe and take God at his word.

What is it that you need to believe tonight? Maybe you don’t know Jesus. And you’ve got this list of answers you need answered before you can feel like believing. You’ve got a big past that you feel like you need to get over first. You’ve got addiction that has hurt you and you’ve decided that before you can believe you gotta fix that.

What would happen if tonight you just decided to believe. There is a God and he loved you so much that he sent his son to die for you so that he could know you.

Maybe you can’t remember the last time you were in church. A local church. And you’ve got hurt by a church or you got busy. Or you stopped believing church was actually something you needed to be at. You stopped seeing the importance of gathering together.

What if tonight you decide to value what Jesus built. The Church.

Maybe you’ve got a call to ministry but for years you’ve been running from it because how could you make a living and what would your family think.

What if tonight you decided to believe that God always makes a way and his plan is always better.

Maybe you can’t remember the last time you invited someone to church. You can’t recall the last time you talked to someone about Jesus

What if tonight you decided to believe that time really is running out and one day that person will enter eternity in the presence of Jesus or separated from him forever?

REVIVAL is just on the other side of belief and im crazy enough to believe that God wants to use this room to bring a revival to middle tennessee that hasn’t been seen before.

Ezekiel 37:7–10 (CSB) — 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

Notice that when this group of bones came together the formed an army. Not a solo person. Not random people. No they formed an army. Because if REVIVAL happens in here but doesn’t go out there, then there was no reason for us to gather.

Come on we are called to GO. We are called to leave here on mission, because time is running out and this REVIVAL has to spread into the streets, into our homes, into our families, our friend groups, our workplaces. Come on I see whole families coming to Christ, Churches being filled with whole groups of friends who dive into the local church and be a force for change.

Come on we are called to GO! And we are here tonight to serve notice to the Devil that he has no place in Middle Tennessee and his time is running out. Cause we are going to flood this region with the good news of Jesus.

Come on if Revival stays here. Nothing happens. But if REVIVAL goes with you Hell trembles when your feet hit the ground every morning. because I have the spirit of God living inside of me and we can form an army that brings Jesus to the masses.

So what do we do?

Accept Jesus

Carry Jesus everywhere you go

Get involved at a local church

SALVATION CALL