Refocusing wk 1
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Dry Bones
Dry Bones
This morning we are shifting gears and will start a new series on Refocusing.
Each week we will look at different text throughout the Bible that will help us refocus and grow in Christ.
This morning we are looking at Dry Bones as we look at Ezekiel 37:1-14.
This may be a familiar story to you and it might be the first time hearing it.
We must remember that God is able to do anything.
The story that we will look at is the vision that Ezekiel had of the valley of dry bones.
The dry bones that he sees are the bones of the defeated Israelite army.
Both Israel and Judah were ruined politically.
Assyria had scattered Israel, and Judah had just been captured by Babylon.
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted a return from captivity, but Ezekiel’s vision goes even further.
Ezekiel say the time when the dead nation would come alive again.
In his vision, he saw many bones in the valley (which from the Hebrew is literally translated battlefield,) and those bones were very dry.
Churches today as well as individual believers can acknowledge that life can get dry.
Many times we get caught up in the busyness of life, and the ministry of the church goes unattended too.
The potential for a church to get bone dry should always concern us.
We might be organized, uniform, perfect in appearance, yet there is no transformation, no willingness to change for the good of the community.
Dry bones are as dead as you can get.
Let’s look at the story or vision that Ezekiel had.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Pray
Pray
I. Come Hear the Word of the Lord
I. Come Hear the Word of the Lord
Vs. 1-6
In the first six verses we see that God is speaking to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel state, the hand of the Lord was upon him, and the Spirit brought him out into the middle of the valley that was full of dry bones.
Now Ezekiel states that the Spirit brought him into the valley, which tells us that Ezekiel is having a vision.
In verse two, we are told that there were many bones, and that they were very dry bones.
These bones were not from recent but had been there for a long time.
As Ezekiel is in this valley, he is survey or looking around at all the dry bones.
Then in verse three, Ezekiel is present with a question from God.
Can these bones live?
I have been around the meat business my entire life, we have always processed our own meat for the freezer.
Therefore, I have been around bones, and very dry bones, and I have never seen bones come to live.
Ezekiel answers with “O Lord God, You know.
Ezekiel knew that if these very dry bones could come back to life, it would only be done by a miracle from God.
9 For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
As we think about these dry bones, we can ask, can life be brought back into a church or an individual that is spiritually dry, and emotionally discouraged?
As we look at the rest of this vision we need to consider the things that can bring life back to the very dry.
In verse 4, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy or preach if you will over the dry bones.
Ezekiel was called to be God’s mouthpiece, delivering God’s message.
If anyone can speak to dry inanimate objects and have them respond, it is the Lord our God.
We see evidence of God’s power all throughout the Bible.
In Mark 4:39, Jesus speaks to the storm.
39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
In Exodus we see God part the Red Sea so that the Israelites can cross on dry ground.
16 “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.
In Numbers God tells Moses to speak to a rock so that the Israelites would have water.
8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
Therefore, we see that God has great power to do whatever He desires to do.
Should it not also be true that the bones would hear?
The Word of the Lord is a word of life.
Just as the Hymn that we sing from time to time says, “Sing them over and over again, wonderful words of life.”
The power of God can change even the most hopeless of lives and situations.
Whatever you are facing, whatever your circumstances, God has something to say.
Can these bones live?
We need to Hear the Word of the Lord.
II. Come Together as a Body.
II. Come Together as a Body.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.
Ezekiel now speaks to these bones, that is he is obedient to what God has told him to do.
The instructions that he was given, may seem wild, may be unbelievable but Ezekiel is obedient.
As Ezekiel speaks, the bones begin to come together, they begin to form a body.
That is these very dry bones began to come together into a complete skeleton.
As the body of Christ we must come together and form the body of Christ in unity.
Some people are the backbone of God’s church through supporting ministries, they may not do physical work, but they can pray, give financially and be encourages
Some people are the leg bones of God’s church, they are capable of doing the heavy lifting, while moving the church forward.
Some people are the hands of God’s church with the ability to touch others, there to help.
Everybody has a position, a place in the body of Christ, and just as every bone is needed, every person is needed.
These bones did not just come together to form a skeleton, but they also had the ligaments, and tendons to hold everything together, and then skin covered the bones.
We cannot just come together here in this building and be skeletons, but we must also come together in unity and serve the purpose that God has called us too.
But see that there was still no breath in the bodies that were now formed.
III. Come to Life
III. Come to Life
9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ”
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Now God tells Ezekiel to speak to the breath, the bones have come together and formed bodies, but they were still not alive.
Therefore, the bodies now need breath.
When God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, there was a body, but it still needed breath also.
7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
We see that it is God that supplies the breath of life.
Notice that these bones find their very life in the acts of a God who can actually revive the dead.
When Jesus Christ was rejected and reviled, flogged and finally killed on a cruel cross, God was able to say, You Will Live.
When the early church faced opposition and persecution of such intensity the desire was to make Christianity extinct, but God was able to say, You Will Live.
When we were dead in our trespasses and sins, God was able to say, You Will Live.
When we are crushed by guilt, overwhelmed, under attack, stuck in a barren place, at the end of our rope, God is able to say, You Will Live.
Listen to what God says to Israel in verses 11-14.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’
12 “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13 “Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.
14 “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’ ”
If you are spiritually dry, mentally discouraged, or physically disconnected from God, we can still hear God say, I will put my Spirit within you and you will come to life.
Rick Warren said, “You will never know that God is all you need until God is all you got.
This story challenges us to open ourselves to the life-giving power of God’s Spirit.
Let me ask you,
Is there dryness deep down in your bones?
Is there a thirst, which cannot be quenched?
If so then it is time to turn to God, either for renewal and refocusing, or for salvation.
This story of the valley of dry bones also speaks of the spiritual condition of the nation.
As we are in this election cycle, we must turn to God for guidance in the candidates He would have us vote for.
God caused Ezekiel to pass back and forth among very dry bones and we do this every day in the shops and on the streets.
What do we see?
There is hopelessness everywhere we turn.
The thing is we as believers have a hope that cannot be taken away.
We know the end of the story, we know that Jesus has already won the victory.
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
May we as believers live with this hope, that those that are without hope can see the joy and peace in our lives and be drawn to Jesus for salvation.
Maybe you are here today and do not have hope, you have never made Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life.
We all fall short of the glory of God.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
See I am not perfect, I have to seek God each and every day.
We must understand that there is a penalty or a consequence for our sins.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The wages, consequences, penalty of sin in our lives is spiritual death, that is we will be sent to hell’s damnation for all of eternity.
Now there is hope, as God’s gift to everyone that will receive the gift is salvation, and eternal life with God, and Jesus, that is we will live with Jesus for all of eternity.
Listen to what Paul writes in Romans 5.
5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Even though we do not deserve it, or can ever earn it, God has shown His love to us, through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Did you hear that, Jesus said, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but they will have eternal life, they will live forever in heaven.
Salvation is not hard, Paul tells us exactly how to have salvation in Romans 10.
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Therefore, let me ask you do you believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross, and was raised the third day to defeat sin and spiritual death.
If you believe that in your heart the only thing that is holding you back from salvation and a right relationship with God, is confessing your sins and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life.
If you have never done that today is the day of salvation, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
Will you take that step of faith today, and allow God to make you more alive today then you ever have been.
