Three Degrees of Saturation

Prayer: Lord of heaven, we thank you for the blessings of life and health. Thank you for allowing us to have the opportunity to be in your presence again today. We come together with the unity of our faith and ask that everything we bind, be bound in heaven. Allow everything we loose, be loosed in heaven. Together, we will combat the evil that gathers and ask that evildoers be confounded. May their plans always come to naught. Bless us so that we may leave here today with your spiritual blessings. Allow us to glorify your name through Jesus’ name. Amen.

New Living Translation

1In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.

3Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through. NLT

Introduction-Three Degrees of Saturation

Vision is to saturate our state of Illinois with the gospel of Jesus Christ! Look around: What is dead or dying in your city that needs to be revitalized? What is broken in your community that needs healing? What is dry that needs a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Which group of spiritually thirsty people has your church been uniquely positioned and called by God to reach?

Behind my house, there’s a small creek where I took my kids to catch crayfish when they were little. On hot summer Saturdays, we would put on our Crocs and wade into the tiny stream. My daughter would grip my hand as we inched slowly downstream together. Brother was more adventurous. He boldly splashed on ahead into deeper water, in pursuit of what he called “crazy crawdaddies!”

One weekend, I took the kids to the creek after a rainstorm. It had poured all night, as in the days of Noah. When we arrived, the stream was swollen. I could see white froth spinning in the whirlpool pockets downstream. Wading in, we felt the cold currents rippling past our ankles. As we inched forward, the current grew stronger. My son bounded fearlessly ahead as usual and disappeared around the corner.

“Daddy!” he cried. I ran to find my boy up to his neck in water. He was sputtering and flailing as the creek’s current slowly swept him downstream. For a split second, I thought about how I would explain this to my wife and imagined the headline: “Son Swept Away in Crawdaddy Creek: Careless Dad Should’ve Known Better.”

Fortunately, our crawdaddy net has along handle, so I plunged into the water up to my waist and extended the net. My son grabbed the pole, and I pulled the little guy to safety.

Back on shore, he sniffled, “The water’s too deep, Daddy. I like it on my feet, not over my head!”

Our quaint creek had become a swollen stream-in a child’s mind, a raging river.

Big Idea: The farther the water flow from the temple, the deeper it becomes! Likewise, the farther God’s river of life flows from his church, the deeper and wider it becomes.

Body

Look how the angel reveals the increasing depth of the river to ”Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through”. NLT

Notice, God’s river OF living water has three degrees OF saturation.

degree OF saturation is Ankle deep-This beginning level is for those just getting their feet wet. You may have no sweet clue how to identify and serve families with special needs or how to give a cup of cold water in Jesus name or how to demonstrate radical generosity to your neighbors. Some churches are only ankle deep in their current ministry. Reread . Describe the effect of the living water flowing out of the temple and into the surrounding area. Name three or four blessings that result from the rising river. What promises from god do you see here? Ask two or three others to commit to pray daily with you for God to fulfill these promises in your church. First degree OF saturation is Ankle deep.

degree OF saturation is Knee deep- This intermediate level is for those ready to wade into deeper water. The special needs, we’ll teach you how to develop a buddy system at your church, in which children with special needs are paired on Sundays with a trained volunteer caregiver so they can be included in mainstream kids and students’ programming. In our leadership, we’ll show you how to tap into a hidden vein of volunteers waiting to be empowered in your ministry. Others are knee deep in the Spirit, alive and flowing in high-impact ministry to the spiritually thirsty and broken in their city. “What is the Spirit saying to you? To me? What is God calling each of us to do about it?”

First degree OF saturation is Ankle deep.

Second degree of saturation is Knee deep.

degree of saturation is Waist deep- This advanced level is for those ready to take a deeper dive and follow the flow of God’s Spirit. If you don’t have ongoing overseas partnerships that send teams trained in compassion-based evangelization, let’s take a deep dive and dream about what’s possible! Wading deeper still, other churches are waist deep or even over their heads. Plan a weekend retreat by a lake or a river with three or more ministry leaders. Journal honestly about where your ministry may be stagnated, and dream out loud about bold new risks to reach your community for Christ. Take regular breaks to play and pray by the water together and soak in the spirit of .

First degree OF saturation is Ankle deep.

Second degree of saturation is Knee deep.

Third degree of saturation is Waist deep.

Eventually, the river becomes too deep to cross, and Ezekiel has a choice: it’s sink, swim, or be swept away! Let’s imagine that these three liquid levels represent different degrees of Holy Spirit saturation and gospel impact. They long for more response but perhaps are only making inch-deep inroads in their community. We want to invite you to take your next step, to get your feet wet and discover the deeper currents of the Spirit already at work in your community. Spring boarding off Ezekiel’s vision, we’ll suggest three degrees of spirit saturation for increased impact in your community.

In conclusion, start small, then increase your impact. At what depth would you describe your faith and ministry today? Are you saturating your city for Christ in fresh, innovative ways? Or are you only repeating programs that are past their expiration date?

Is your church consistently baptizing new believers? Do you have a steady flow of new followers of Jesus? Are they mobilized for ministry or paralyzed in the pews? Is your church healing broken lives at a street level?

Don’t be discouraged. In God’s economy, powerful movements often start small. Before it grew into a raging river, the stream in Ezekiel’s vision was just a tiny trickle. Zechariah encourages us, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” ( NLT).

So get your feet wet!