Audio from Senior Pastor Vaughn Drawdy on Sunday morning March 12th, 2017.
I. EZEKIEL'S MINISTRY TO THE DRY BONES
Ezekiel 37:1-14 NIV
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ”
Ezekiel 37:24-28 NIV
“ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’ ”
The people were dead - Dry Bones
The world is perishing, lost and dying
The world is chaotic, evil and in despair
Prophesy: speak the Words of God to them
Speak to the dead dry bones - Resurrected Life
Speak to the dead dry bones - life empowered by the Spirit of God
One Shepherd - who sits upon King David’s Throne
This is Jesus. He is our Lord, Savior, our King
In this story, they were given a land: Israel
Through Christ, the Kingdom of God is established on the earth.
“Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever."
Now they are minsters in the land. Living in the ways of God, revealing His nature.
This is who were are as well... ministers in the land of dry bones
II. OUR MINISTRY TO THE DRY BONES
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NIV
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Speak to the dry bones!
God desired then and still desires now, to be known throughout the earth. He desires everyone to know His power, His amazing love and to be His restored, redeemed creation.
Micah 6:8 NIV
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercyand to walk humbly with your God.
As “Outward Focused Christians” we have a mission to walk in through the valley of despair as ministers of reconciliation, to walk in the valley’s of the dry bones. God is with us, He empowers us with His Spirit, as His beloved, as ambassadors of Christ.