City Life Church San Diego
Welcome to the City Life Church Podcast, where faith meets action in the heart of Mt. Hope. We are a diverse family of God, united by Jesus, led by Scripture, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to caring for both the spiritual and tangible needs of the lost and hurting. Through inspiring messages and practical lessons, we seek to equip and encourage you to live out God’s calling in everyday life. Join us as we grow in faith, serve our community, and share the hope of the Gospel with the world.
City Life Church San Diego
Ezekiel 37: How to Respond When All hope is Lost
Have you ever felt like you were in a valley of dry, bleached bones with no hope of revival? Standing in that barren place where nothing seems possible anymore?
Through the vivid imagery of Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, we discover a profound truth about God's resurrection power. When Ezekiel is transported to a desolate valley littered with sun-bleached skeletons and asked if these bones could live again, he responds with humility: "Lord God, only you know." What follows is one of Scripture's most powerful demonstrations of God's ability to breathe life into hopeless situations.
This message speaks directly to those moments when we feel spiritually dead, emotionally drained, or circumstantially trapped. Whether you're facing unemployment, relationship breakdown, health challenges, or simply feeling disconnected from purpose, the story of these dry bones offers surprising hope. God doesn't just want to improve your situation—He wants to completely transform it through His word and Spirit.
Most remarkably, God chooses to work through ordinary, unqualified people to speak life into dead places. He could revive the bones directly, but instead commands Ezekiel to prophesy. This pattern continues today: God equips regular people with His word and Spirit to bring hope to seemingly hopeless situations. The same power that reassembled those ancient bones, covered them with tendons, flesh, and skin, and filled them with breath is available to transform your circumstances.
We often find ourselves in painful valleys not because God has abandoned us, but because He's preparing us. These desert experiences frequently become the very places where we encounter God most profoundly and develop the character, empathy, and wisdom needed to help others facing similar struggles. Your suffering today may be equipping you to speak life to someone tomorrow.
Ready to experience God's reviving power in your own valley of dry bones? Join us as we explore how to access God's word for ourselves and speak life into the dead places around us.
Welcome to the City Life Church podcast. We hope it encourages you. If you'd like to learn more about City Life or our mission, connect with us online at citylifesandiegoorg. And while podcasts and Sunday mornings are helpful, they are no substitute for deeper personal relationships in the church.
Speaker 2:Thanks, All right.
Speaker 2:So today we're going to be in our Bibles, in Ezekiel 37. So here's how you find Ezekiel 37. You go to the front of your Bible, to the table of contents, and you find Ezekiel 37. So I'll give you a second. If you don't have a nice Bible, we would love to give you one. And Jordan, can you turn my voice down a little bit, because I plan on being louder than this and then I don't want to hurt anybody. All right, appreciate you, ezekiel 37. We're going to be going through 1 through 14 today. Bye, guys, have fun. We have Bibles available for you. So we have nice study Bibles available on both sides of the room, and if you don't have a good Bible, we would love to give you one and have you put your name in it, because it's important to us.
Speaker 2:Tenemos Biblias Bilingües disponibles al costado de salón. Bonjour Buen s. So today we're in Ezekiel 37. Who's there with me? So far You're like no, I'm still in the table of contents. Ezekiel 37, who's there? Oh, I love to see it. Love to see the physical Bibles. I know that phones are physical, don't come at me, all right. So are you ready for me to read to you? This one might've taken a little bit longer for some of you, so it's all right. Like, where is this? It's okay.
Speaker 2:The hand of the Lord was on me and he brought me out by his spirit and he set me down in the middle of the valley. It was full of bones. He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley and they were very dry. Then he said to me son of man, can these bones live? I replied, lord, god, only you know, before I continue, we have to give props to Ezekiel here. Right, like, that's like the best politician answer that I've ever heard. Right, like you know, hey, what should we do about this thing? Well, you know, you're better than me, you know it's for real. Like this thing, well, you know you're better than me, you know it's for real. Like he's basically saying you know what, bro? Like just kind of that. Like like, yeah, you're laughing, you're smiling. Like Ezekiel recognizes his place already, like he's in the presence of God and he's being smart about it. God, you can do what you want to do. It's your prerogative. That was not my note. Sorry, um, but God has no limitations outside of sin, right, um, besides sinning, god has no limitations.
Speaker 2:Okay, continuing in verse four, he said to me prophesy concerning these bones and say to them dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says to these bones I will cause breath to enter you and you will live. 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 back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I had been commanded.
Speaker 2:While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 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. So I prophesied as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. Then he said to me son of man, take these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say our bones are dried up and our hope is perished. We are cut off.
Speaker 2:Therefore, prophesy and say to them this is what the Lord, god says I'm going to open up your graves, bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them verse 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 am the Lord. I've spoken and I will do it. This is the declaration of the Lord. This is God's word.
Speaker 2:Can we pray, father? We thank you for gathering your people together this morning for what sometimes feels like a text that's too old to be relevant to us today. That's too old to be relevant to us today. And yet, the more we come into contact with your word, the more we listen, the more we obey, the more we pay attention, the more we find ourselves with the most relevant book in the world, the most sold book in the world, the most important book in the world. And so, god, we're indebted to you for your word.
Speaker 2:But even as we celebrate and we read today, god, it's hard to forget that this is a special day in an infamous way. That was five years ago that George Floyd cried out for his mom. He had the air choked out of him for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Lord, we lament. We lament that this is what happens in our world and even in our country. God, we know it was a moment of reckoning and we saw some change for a minute, much like after Emmett Till, and then many went back to the way things were.
Speaker 2:God, we know that you side with the oppressed. We know that you side with the scorns. Let us not seek justice for performance or likes, but let us instead seek it and seek righteousness, because it's at the core of who you are. God, as we see suffering and sorrow around us, help us also to see your goodness and to shine in dark places. Lord, this is why you love us, because you shine in the dark parts of our hearts, and then you sent us with your love to those who are oppressed and hurting. God, we admit it, we feel insecure and inadequate this morning, but we also trust you and we trust your word, we trust your spirit and we love you. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this all in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 2:Now, many of you guys know that I like to surf and there's a place that I surf at. It's these reefs, in kind of La Jolla Pacific Beach, and you have to like go down a cliff to get there and I'm not talking about like where it's like paved. I mean, you're like slipping down a cliff and if it's raining, like you're going to fall on your butt probably once or twice. And I get down to this place and it's not a place that most people like to go, and the reason being is because it's too hard to get down there. So the only people that go down there are surfers. But once I get down there, there's some really cool things. I have found abalone shells like the size of my face down there and every time we get big waves, they get knocked out of underneath the reef and they show up. And so I always have this solace because I'm such a bad surfer on a big day, I get destroyed, I get washed up, the reef and they show up. And so, uh, I always have this like solace because I'm such a bad surfer on a big day. I get destroyed, I get washed up on the beach, and I'm like cool, an abalone, um.
Speaker 2:The other thing that happens, though, is, uh, we find um bones. There's actually bones that wash up, uh, from the reef, and there's been many times that I've seen, like what I thought was like a seal bone, um, or I'll see, like what? Maybe like belong to a dolphin, or like a big fish, uh, and I never really touched them. Uh, I would love to like, if I knew what it was, I would take it, but there's always that part of me that's like what if this is like a human? What if this is like someone's dog? I don't want, like it's creepy, and I think you know, a lot of times we like, when you read this verse, when you read this text, like the bones aren't creepy to you, it's like because you already like, if you're a Christian, you know this verse. If you've been a Christian for a long time, you're like, yeah, I had this in Sunday school. If you're somebody else, you just hear this and you're like wow, that's really cool, but you don't really think about, like, what the bones look like and how they belong to human beings, and I'll tell you, when you see bones and you're not sure who they belong to, there's like that's another level. And that's what I see when I'm on the beach and I'm like, okay, cool, do I call a Marine biologist or do I call the cops? I don't know.
Speaker 2:But here Ezekiel he starts out in his book. It's the 30th year of the exile of the Jewish people. So the King of Babylon came in, destroyed Israel and then took these people out and put them into Babylon and said, okay, you're Babylonians now. And of course, the Jewish people had pride in who they were and who their God was. And we know that when we talk about this text, a lot of it is actually talking about what's going to happen in the future. It's talking about the Messiah Jesus, but at this point he's still about 700 years away, and so people have no hope in this moment.
Speaker 2:People are struggling in this moment. It's a depressing time Now. Maybe that doesn't hit home for some of you, but I think a lot of you right now don't feel like you're in the promised land. Others of you I've talked to you feel despair in your job. You feel despair in your job search. Some of you are frustrated with your family, with your marriage. Some of you feel like you've been sick forever. Some of you wonder when your immigration will be figured out and that you want to know when you won't have to be afraid anymore when you go to the hospital and you worry that you see an ice agent. Some of you are going through this right now, afraid to drop your kids off at school, and you're wondering how long is this going to last. This is how Israel felt. Like Israel feels you right now Okay, hopeless. But God doesn't give up like we do.
Speaker 2:Even when they gave up on God, long before that, god didn't give up on them. Israel had forgotten their God and they had forgotten how to hope. They had been in captivity long enough already to be changed by their captors. Their beautiful temple to God was lying in ruins. It was destroyed. Now, um, some of you know what it's like to be in prison for a long time and you're just waiting and waiting, and waiting, hoping you can get out, and there's a certain amount of time that you just become institutionalized. It's almost harder to go back, harder to go back to regular living, harder to go back to when you weren't in this bad place. You don't know how to get back there. Israel was like that. They had forgotten long before that, though. That's why God allowed Babylon to come in, because they had forgotten God. They had given up on God. They were worshiping other gods, they were going after different things, and the only thing that would change things for them suffering, and so they suffered, because God loved them. They felt like bones smoldering in the desert, but God was still with them. God never left them, and when God makes a promise, he keeps it.
Speaker 2:So, today, I'm going to give you three thoughts on hope for hopeless situations when all hope is gone, and my first point is this the Lord sends us to the valley of death. The Lord sends us to the valley of death. That's a good, encouraging message, right, like you go to some pastors and they're like hey, the Lord's going to give you a blessing today of $1,000. You come here. I'm like God's going to send you to the valley of death. Now, a lot of times, though, we give credit to the devil for this, we say, oh, the debt the devil sent me to, to, to, to the valley of the shadow of death. Um, but, guys, a lot of times God does it, and it's not because he hates you, it's because he loves you. He doesn't send us out of hatred. He walks us through suffering to draw us to himself because he knows what we need.
Speaker 2:So the hand of the Lord was on me. In verse one it said and he brought me out by the spirit, set me down in the middle of a valley full of bones, he led me around them. There were great many on the surface and they were dry. And he said can these bones live? And I said God, only you know. He said prophesy concerning these bones and say to them dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And this is what the Lord, god, says to these bones I will cause breath to enter you and you will live. I'll put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and as word for breath is Ruach, and it means wind, breath, mind and spirit. Now, what's interesting is it can be a similar word that is used for God's Holy Spirit too. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Speaker 2:See, god took the prophet, the man who spoke for God, and he took this prophet Ezekiel to a deserted, desolate place, a dry valley, a desert in the valley, and he told him to speak life to bones that had been dead forever. Now, if I was Zeke Ezekiel, sorry, I would have been a little bit troubled. I don't know about you, right, like we already talked about how you see a bone in the beach and you're like not touching that. Well, here's the thing Not only is he a prophet, but he's a priest, right, and did you know that there's lots of rules about priests and dead bodies? Like they could only touch the bodies of those who were closest to them? Um, they would be made unclean if they ever touched a body, like in the book of Leviticus it says this a priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives, except his immediate family, his mother, father, son, daughter or brother. Um, where's his wife in there? That's crazy.
Speaker 2:So so this dude has been taken by God to a place where he sees bones that are dry and he's like I'm not getting anywhere near that. I might be stepping on a bone right now. Like how, how must have he felt in this moment? Like God, this is not the way we're supposed to do this. And then you hear humility in Ezekiel. Right Like God never asks questions he doesn't already know the answer to. God does what he wants, right. And sometimes God goes outside the laws of nature and he does something that seems impossible. What do we call these things? Miracles? That's right. So if God asks you if he can do a miracle, the answer is always no. Uh yep.
Speaker 2:He can do what he wants because he's God, right, but even still, ezekiel, he treads lightly. He's starting, uh, he's staring at a literal, literal skeleton crew that God created, right, um, he's talking to the king of king of universe and he know he can't mouth off, right Like, you know, you had that teacher in school. Now, imagine God. It's like a different level. Uh, remember how scared people in the Bible are of uh, of uh, angels. Like somebody meets an angel in the Bible and the angel says the same thing every time Don't be afraid. Now, they don't say that just like, cause they feel like it. They say it cause people who meet angels pee their pants. Now, imagine meeting God. Should you be afraid? Yes, you should be afraid of God. And, and there he is, telling Zeke to speak life, to speak his word.
Speaker 2:Now, zeke knew that someone who died could come back to life, because it had happened before. He would have read scrolls and said, oh, this is possible, this is possible. But it's usually somebody who, like, just died, right, like somebody just passed away, and then he prays and then somebody comes back to life. These are old, nasty bones, like bleached in the sun, bones for who knows how long. There is no life. Every cell is dead in these bones. Long ago, the scavengers, the bugs, the buzzards of the sky had picked them clean and there were no nutrients left to be found. In order to live, something from nothing was going to have to appear, right. That's the miracle, that's the challenge. God was showing Zeke the impossible and telling him something quite different. The prophet could have been realistic, though, like I know, sometimes when we follow God we're like hey, hey, yeah, yeah, I know what God says. But let's be realistic here. Sometimes you can't, not if God tells you to do something. But he trusts the God of word. He's not realistic and you know he's looking at these very dry bones. Now, I don't know if you've ever, like had a tree where you've tried to like break off a tree branch and it's like full of water. It's difficult, yeah, like bend it. You know you can't get it, but an old branch on a dead tree snap. That's what these bones were like and that's where God was going to do something crazy. God was going to do something good. God was showing him the impossible and he was telling him something different. The prophet could have been realistic, but he trusted the word of God, even in the dry desert.
Speaker 2:Now, many of us find ourselves in struggle today. I know you do. I know several of you in the room, many of you in the room, who have been out of work for quite some time and it's worn you out, it's challenged your identity, it's been embarrassing, and the funny thing is there's a lot of people in the room who have the same feeling as you. But we kind of become ashamed and we don't tell people enough and so we don't get to suffer with them. But, guys, even in this struggle, even in this hardship, hardship makes strength.
Speaker 2:Now, um, we know how diamonds are formed these days. That's why we make fake diamonds. I remember, like 22 years ago, I was going to buy a diamond from from my wife and, um, we were together and the guy was showing me the fake diamonds and he was like, look at these, they're fake. You can see how fake they are compared to this. And I remember us like, no, those look good, we want some of those. Can I buy the? You know like, and but but the thing is is we learned how diamonds were created and so we could recreate it in many ways. Right, like, diamonds are naturally formed deep within the earth, right and um. It's where immense pressure, and like high temperatures, transform carbon into the diamond structure. I was looking at my notes. I don't have that inside of me. You know, um, but the process often takes a very long time and a ton of pressure and and the structure um can can hold up even when compressed to 2 trillion Pascals. Who knows what that is? I probably didn't even say it, right, but? But yeah, nice, see, but that's, that's more than five times the pressure of the earth's core. But it's out of the pressure that a diamond is created. It's out of the heat that the diamond is created. And we try to recreate that, don't we? We do it in cheaper ways, but, friends, the diamond is nearly indestructible in many ways.
Speaker 2:For those of you who suffer, I don't want to be callous about speaking this to you, but I promise you that if you stick with God, you will come out stronger, more beautiful, much like a diamond. Romans 5 says this boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through his Holy Spirit who was given to us. So, guys, sometimes like, let's just be real. When you're sitting with someone who's in the hospital with a terminal cancer diagnosis, let's not just quote scripture at them, you know, in a callous way, but let us speak hope, and let us let us speak hope in the right way. And sometimes that's going to mean just sitting with someone. Ok, it doesn't mean you have to have the right Bible verse for people, but pain produces something great in us.
Speaker 2:Friends, I don't know if you remember us preaching through Psalm 84, if you were here. The people are in the valley of the shadow of death, like we're talking about Another dry valley. In Psalm 84, it says happy are people whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage as they pass through the valley of Baca. Does anyone remember what Baca means? Tears, come on now. You've answered two things, chase. They make means Tears. Come on now. You like answer two things, chase. Um, they make it a source of spring water. Even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings. And then it goes on to say that the sun is our shield. So here's what it's saying. In that dry place, where's the water come from? Tears, tears. And then God shines upon it and we get a harvest. Psalm 126 also says those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.
Speaker 2:Guys, sometimes hard things make us who we are. Sometimes hard things make us who we are. Like I don't want to stay too long in a diamond thing because I know it's a little cheesy, but it's real. It's real. It's real. Pressure. About 12 years ago maybe 13 years ago now I had a performance review and I sat down with my boss, who was the lead pastor of City Life Church in Wichita, kansas, and homeboy just told me all the things I was doing wrong. I don't see you learning anymore. I don't see you growing with God. Have you like listened to a podcast before in your life to grow? Have you read any books lately, have you?
Speaker 2:I just feel like you're stagnant and it was like a stake in my heart, like it was so painful for me and I remember going back home like man. I'm a loser. Like I'm, I'm here trying to do the right thing, but I'm not doing anything to get there. I'm expecting more results, but I'm not doing anything to bless the people around me. I'm not trying to become a better pastor to people, I'm just trying to get by and um, uh, with stuff like that. I mean, even before I used to just be depressed for a couple of weeks. Um, I don't know if you receive bad information, how you feel. I think now I'm a little more resilient. Um, but it, it hurts, um, but, but the thing is, guys, um, without that pain, I would not be here as your pastor, I would still be stagnant, I would still be struggling and I would not have grown. Uh, in a way it takes. You know, it was crazy is like I feel, like he even told me like my health was concerning to him, the way I mean, kansas has barbecue and it's good, um, and so I started running because of that, um, because there was no surf in Wichita, kansas, did you know that? And um, so I started running. And what's crazy is I would listen to the podcast when I ran and I would hear from God sometimes and be totally silent, and without that I wouldn't be here as your pastor.
Speaker 2:Every May, we have our partnership re-up and I want to thank all partners, you, you all, let it filled out the form and you re-up. Thank you very much. I appreciate you, um uh. But I've met with some of you and I've learned that in some ways, our church has done poorly for you. I don't want to say that lightly. I want to say that we've not served you all well and I don't want to pretend that doesn't happen. I want to feel that pressure and I want to change as your leaders. As a church, we want to be a better church for you.
Speaker 2:Now. It doesn't mean you don't have responsibility in it, but what it means is that we're going to take responsibility too and we're all going to find ways to be better. And I'm not going to lie, I'm depressed sometimes with that. You know I'm like dang. You know I tried my best and it wasn't enough. But I had to learn, I had to listen and I still have to learn and listen and we have to change and grow as a church constantly. But without the pain we're not going anywhere. Without the pain we're not going to help people. Without the pain we're not going to do the right thing. And while my concern is for many of you, if I'm not doing the right thing for you, then what am I doing Now? I'm grateful for your honesty and I'm grateful for your care. I'm grateful that we can build a better church together.
Speaker 2:It stings sometimes, but we wouldn't be who we are without the toughest times. I don't know about you, but this is kind of the way I think about the toughest times in my life. Um, I'm so glad they happened and I never want them again. Anyone else feel that way. I'm so glad they happened, but I never want to feel that again. Sometimes God sends us to a hard place and we don't know why, and we may never know why. Sometimes our season is difficult because God is teaching us something. Sometimes he's trying to separate us from sin. Like, your life is hard because you're an addiction and it's ruining your life and God wants to make it even harder, but actually you're doing just fine yourself. Sometimes you are in a hard place because he wants you to help others who are going to be in that hard place later.
Speaker 2:Some of the times that I spent in the hospital with my son like those of you who know, um, the first year of his life was was, uh, uh, felt pretty hopeless. It was definitely sleepless, but you know we there was a moment where we were told yeah, he either has this disease or this one. If he has this one, then he'll die within a couple of weeks. And then, um, we had him in the hospital for seizures, we had him in the hospital for all these kinds of things, that he didn't have seizures, but he was in the hospital for a long time dealing with it. And let me just tell you, guys, as I talked to you about like how sometimes you need a hard place because he wants you to help others I saw so much good in the midst of my suffering.
Speaker 2:I saw so many good things because people looked to me in my suffering and all I had was God. I had his church, I had his word, but I had God. And so I tell you, sometimes, when you're suffering, as we learn to suffer, well, that is when people will listen. Guys, when I was at a funeral for a baby that should have been full term but passed away, I saw parents that spoke with hope in ways that they shouldn't have hope, and I can tell you it changed lives. When I lost a friend who who walked out on the ice to try to rescue her dog and she died, and then we had a funeral, I can tell you that I saw more people saved through her life, even though she was very young. I'm just saying, sometimes this hardship is what God will use for others not even us, but guys when, when we find ourselves in painful places and the painful valley of tears or the desert with no water, full of dry bones, we can have hope. And when we have hope it's in his word. And that's the second point today. God sends us with hope from his word. God sends us with hope from his word, verse seven.
Speaker 2: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. Just listen, can you hear that in your head? Thank you, I hear a baby rattle, perfect. As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, skin covered them, but there was no breath. And he said prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, say it to them. This is what the Lord, god says Breath come from the four winds. Breathe into these slain so they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me. The breath entered them, they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. He said to me these bones are the house of Israel. Our bones are dried up, our hope is perished, we are cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them I'm going to open your graves and bring you up from them. My people lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I'm the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them, you're like, oh good, song selection today Yup.
Speaker 2:Now, as Zeke spoke aloud the word of God to the bones, there was life. He spoke. Then God's word gave breath and maybe even his spirit. Now, and that's what's crazy, it wasn't God who spoke life, was it? Who was it? God used Zeke to speak life and to speak hope into the dead. Now we can have hope for the impossible, because our God takes dead things and he makes them alive.
Speaker 2:God wants to give hope to the people around you, but he's not always going to speak it to them personally. He's going to use you. He's going to use your mouth, your words, to speak truth. God may use you to bring hope to somebody else and you are not qualified to. You are not qualified. I mean, I'm standing up here and if you guys knew, if you knew my past, I'm not qualified without God. In the same way, guys.
Speaker 2:Israel is in ruins and they felt God had deserted them. They would have understood the dry bones, though. They would have felt what it means to be dry bones, because that's how they felt spiritually, that's how they felt physically they were abused and mistreated and oppressed. They would have felt what it means to be dry bones because that's how they felt spiritually, that's how they felt physically they were abused and mistreated and oppressed. They would have understood it, that feeling when nothing comforts you, like when I got the stomach flu and my wife tries to comfort me no, don't touch me. That's the only time. Get your hands off me, hope is gone. I'm going to die, right here on the floor of my bathroom.
Speaker 2:And then you're drawn to something good, and then you're drawn to God's word. God's word, god's word, spoke the earth into existence. God's word created the water and the land. God's word created the mountains and the valleys. The Bible says the word of Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. His word is valuable and it's described as a double-edged sword, you know, like a sword that can easily slice. Oh, you knew I needed water. Girl. That woman, she's amazing. That's my wife, by the way, not that creepy, maybe a little. Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Speaker 2:Friday morning, the wind had messed up all the waves everywhere, so there's only a couple of places that you're allowed to surf when the wind is blowing from a certain direction, and that's this place called Scripps. And so if I want to go surf Scripps, and I don't want like to be surrounded by people, I got to get up at four 30 in the morning and, um, I know like at least one person in the room that wakes up at like four. Um, but it's rough, I'm not, I'm not like it's not easy for me to wake up at four 30. Um, and, and I got up and my wife didn't sleep that well, so she got up pretty close to after me and she made some noise getting stuff ready for her breakfast routine while I'm reading my Bible. And I was a little mad, not going to lie, I was reading the Bible here, like, and you know, could I surf earlier even if I didn't read my Bible in the morning? Yes, could I get up later if I didn't read my Bible in the morning? Yes, um, could I get up later if I didn't read my Bible in the morning? Yes, but, guys, the word of God actually sustains me. It sustains me and my wife made this mistake of asking me a very simple question in the morning and I did the.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to you, I can't. I'm trying to write something here, I'm trying to work in the by and I was like I kind of like yelled at her at like 440 in the morning, um, and it's funny, cause I couldn't concentrate on the verse that was saying how Jesus wanted me to deny myself for others. Stop interrupting me while I'm trying to learn how to deny myself for others. Selfish, um, like. I snapped at her, um, and once once she was quiet and like, are you serious? Um, I could read the text better and I had to repent because the word of God, when it, when it interacts with your heart, it changes you. Um, and I've just learned that I need the word of God before I talk to anybody.
Speaker 2:And see, the Bible spoke to people thousands of years ago and it cuts to the heart today. You could read a text a week ago and it can have no effect on you sometimes, or it'll affect you in a certain way, and then, um, something drastically changes in your life and suddenly you read that text and it means everything to you. I don't know if you've ever had that happen, like it's pure gold Suddenly. That's like that double-edged sword. A Bible verse about death may not matter last week, but this week is the week you lose somebody you love and suddenly it's a salve to your wounds. It's helping you, it promotes healing. Now, Indian scholar Eliah behold, he says this.
Speaker 2:Like many new to old Testament prophecies, this one, though, has multiple meanings and fulfillments. It communicates more than just the hope of Israel's return to a land. It also is a picture of those who are spiritually dead in sin, who are brought to life by the spirit through faith in Jesus. It also contains the hope of the resurrection for those who believe in him. Those who die in Jesus will one day live again in a body he will recreate. Now, guys, I know that for you you're like I'm no prophet. And what's cool is in the Bible there's guys that say that too, like there's a dude who's like man I'm not a prophet, I just know how to take care of figs. There's like a dude who says that in the Bible you may say you're not a prophet, like Moses, but what makes a prophet, I ask you.
Speaker 2:It's someone who relays the words of God to people. You get the word from God. You say it to someone else. What's this book? What's this book? It's the word of God. You have the Holy Spirit of God and he sometimes uses his word to minister to other people through your voice. But you've got to know this, and clearly. At 440 in the morning I did not. Now. Sometimes he's going to speak directly to you and you just have to make sure it's him. How will you know if it's from him? This you need to check your work with the Bible and, potentially, wise people in your life.
Speaker 2:God has used me, though, friends, to heal other people. Is it because I'm awesome Guys? No, of course not. Some of you have seen me in very embarrassing situations. Um, my kids would also attest that I am very imperfect. But I study the word of God and his spirit can use anyone to speak for encouragement and blessing to others. See, when things get dark, we can look to his word and find light for our path and for the path to others.
Speaker 2:God says this in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He says my word that comes from my mouth will not return empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I sent it to do. See, when we study God's word and we put it in our heart, it becomes a part of us. It's who we are. His word lives in our brain and the Holy Spirit will bring it to mind in a moment of need. But you have to put it in your brain. It's like when someone's like man.
Speaker 2:I'm just hoping to win the lottery. When have you bought a ticket? Never. Well, no wonder you're gonna just trying to know what God wants for me. You got to listen to him first. You got to know what he wants Then. Then. Then you can prophesy. You can speak life to your friends and family. You can speak life to yourself. You can speak truth to demons and they will flee. Ezekiel spoke, he said so. I prophesied as he commanded me. Good move, bro. Um. The breath entered them and they came to life, stood on their feet, a vast army. Suddenly, bones are repaired, cancer disappears, flesh appears on dead bones, all because god's children learned his words and speak them in love. We can hope for the impossible, because our god takes dead things and he makes them alive.
Speaker 2:Friends, some of you may feel like dead meat, right. Some of you may feel like dead meat right now. Some of you may feel like dead bones bleached in the desert sun. What use is there of you? What goodness exists in you? You feel worthless, but God looks at worthless, like us bones, and he surrounds us with flesh and organs, he puts skin on us and he breathes new life into us and he does something we couldn't do.
Speaker 2:If you think you're not good enough for God, good job. You are in the right place. You are listening to a pastor who is not good enough for God. You are surrounded by believers who are not good enough for God. When you come to a church and you say everybody there, they're all stuck up. They man, everybody here knows their stuff and um, and they got nothing. They're not looking down on you. They're not looking down, they're only thinking about how they have struggles more than you. You're surrounded by people who know they're not good enough. None of us were good enough and that's why God made a way for us.
Speaker 2:And that's what the beauty of the gospel is is that there was no way to get us right with God, no amount of good works that we could do to get us right with God, no perfection that we could try for to get us right for God, no way to impress everybody else to get us right with God. It was only God. And God loved you, and God loved me enough to do something about it. And you might say to yourself yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I just want to do me Cool, keep trying, keep trying to do you. But I just tell you there is a God who loves you, who cares for you, who doesn't care what you did either, and here he is drawing you to himself. Now let me rephrase that he does care what you did, but he made a way for you.
Speaker 2:When we repent, when we say to God I'm sorry, and we say to God I want to follow you with my life, he makes a way. And the way that he did that was he sent his son Jesus to come to this earth, fully God, fully man, who sacrificed himself on the cross because he loved us that much Once again, not because we're awesome and then, after dying, he rose again on the third day, showing that he was bigger than sin and death. Again on the third day, showing that he was bigger than sin and death, those dead bones were made alive again as a sign of what God was doing in the world and in your life. And then, when we give our lives to God, when we say I want to follow you, when we repent of our sins, he pronounces us good in his sight and, guys, you aren't going to be there yet. You're not going to get a right every time, but God just chooses to accept the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf. That's how he views you, like he views his son Jesus.
Speaker 2:What a great trade right. Like Jesus took the wrath we deserve, we take the goodness he earned. And now we get to live our lives for him. Now we get to speak love to enemies. Now we get to go to be ambassadors of the kingdom of God. We who belong to Jesus speak truth to pain. We speak to our own illness and sin. We speak struggle to struggle in Jesus name and we pronounce God's word over it. We can have hope for the impossible, because our God takes dead things and he makes them alive. And when things get dark, we can look to his word, speak his word and find light for our path. And when we've been in the darkest and driest corners of our own desert and after he saved us by his word. He gives us power to accomplish his work. And that's our third point.
Speaker 2:Uh, when God sends us, he equips us. He equips us at verse 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'm the Lord, I've spoken and I will do it. This is the declaration of the Lord. See, god said he would put his spirit in the people of Israel. This is similar to the promise he made to those of us who belong to Jesus. Right, when we repent of our sin, give our lives to him. He seals us forever with the Holy Ghost, and this gives us power for so many things we could have never done without him.
Speaker 2:In chapter 36, god already told the people of Israel that he's going to send his spirit to fall on his people at the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. In Ezekiel 36, I will sprinkle clean water on you, make you clean. I will cleanse you from all impurities and all your idols. I will give you you to do the things that you can't do. I will do things with you that you could never do alone. This is beautiful. This is the beauty of the gospel. We can't do it. There's no could never do alone. This is beautiful, this is the beauty of the gospel. We can't do it. There's no way to do this on our own.
Speaker 2:And so, then, we are the people who bring hope everywhere we go. God has given us a new heart, god has given us his spirit, and we have the joy of telling the whole world. And, guys, when we tell the whole world, it just spills out of us. But when you feel like you can't do it, he gives you a spirit. So you have the words to say, you have the power to say it, and God gave you the mouth to speak. And Ezekiel six, um, isaiah C, excuse me. In Isaiah six, isaiah sees the Lord and he's on the throne and he's like man. I can't be around this. This is too holy, too perfect and, honestly, I know who I am, I know the things I've done, I know the things I've said, I know the people I've been around and the things they say. And then it says the foundations shook at the sound of the voices of the angels and the temple was filled with smoke and I said woe is me. I'm ruined. I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips, because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.
Speaker 2:How would you feel at that time when, like you know that there's like a Twitter account of all the stupid things you you've done and everybody knows, everybody knows it's just popped up on the screen Like like, how are you feeling? Like, lord, I've been listening to that album all week. How could you still use me? I've been struggling with drugs all week. I got, I cussed out my friends last week. I just got out of jail. God, I cannot be used by you. I can't even spend time with you or your church because I'm no good.
Speaker 2:But then here's what God says to Isaiah. He says then one of the seraphim, like an angel, flew to me and in his hand was a glowing coal that he took from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth and it said now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed, your sin is atoned for. Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking then, who am I going to send? Who will go for us? And here Isaiah says here I am, send me.
Speaker 2:Isaiah couldn't have gone without the Lord's help. God cleansed him and then God sent him. And God also told him later that no one's even going to listen to you. And yet he was sent and he was prepared. Sometimes God will send you to something that won't even make sense. You won't even see the victory that you had hoped for. That you knew God was going to do, but he just told you to be obedient. You were given a job. He can accomplish it, but you may not see it. And, honestly, his job there was just to speak, not to win everyone over. He just needed to repeat what God had told him.
Speaker 2:But Christians can always hope for the impossible, because our God takes dead things and he makes them alive. And when things get dark we can look to his word and find light for our path. Jesus says to his followers you are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. Dr Tony Evans says the word and his spirit brings spiritual revival to God's church today. When one or both are absent, then God's people have no living experience of his reality in their midst.
Speaker 2:Friends, you may not find success with every person you share the gospel with, but we are called to speak truth in deserted areas where no one else will go. We are called to go to faithless deserts. We are sometimes called to proclaim God's word to people who won't listen. Some of us might be called to die for our faith. Some of you may be thrown in jail for your faith. But wherever you go, armed with the word of God, you bring hope to dark places, and it's not your job to convince anyone. We just need to remember we're sent to the ends of God. You bring hope to dark places and it's not your job to convince anyone. We just need to remember we're sent to the ends of the earth and possibly even more difficult. We are sent to the friendless, to the stubborn, to the person in the staff lounge who gets your name wrong, to the neighbor who throws trash on your side, To the family member who mocks Christian. Those are sometimes a lot harder than the people across the world. Those are dry bones.
Speaker 2:But even God can do the impossible, and he does it by his power, his word and through your voice. So City Life, church and guests together, we can hope for the impossible. Together. We can believe the impossible because our God takes dead things and he makes them alive. And when things get dark we can look to his word and find light for our path.
Speaker 2:Let's pray, father, we, uh, god, I want to take this and I want to, um, I want to believe it this week. I want to look at the hopeless situations in my life, and I know that there's many in the room that would really like to look at those hopeless situations and say can we have some hope? God, I pray that you would give hope to our people this morning. I pray that you would give hope to our church. I pray that you would give hope to Mount Hope People who believe that there is no hope here.
Speaker 2:God, I think of our friends who are getting out of prison next week. I think of our friends who are on the street right now. They're just waiting for that next hit. I think about my friends who have spray paint on their face just trying to numb themselves. God, and I know, I know that you're bigger than that. If you can make bones turn into armies, surely you can take our brokenness and turn it into something beautiful for you. And so it's in this moment that we come before you and we're going to dredge up the dark and dirty things in our hearts and in our life and we're going to silently confess them to you, and so it's in this moment that we come before you and we're going to. We're going to dredge up the dark and dirty things in our hearts and in our life and we're going to silently confess them to you.
Speaker 2:God, we thank you that when you see us, when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that you are Lord and we confess our sins to you, we know that you are good to forgive us.
Speaker 2:God, we thank you that as far as the East is from the West, so our sin is from your sight.
Speaker 2:That when you look upon us, father, you see the righteousness of your son, jesus. You pronounce us good, somehow. We just want to thank you, we want to bless your name and we want to be obedient to prophesy to other people, even though we're no prophet. We're fig farmers and gang bangers. We're people who used to just be called addicts, people who used to be called all kinds of names, maybe still, and yet, god, we know that you're sending us, lord, send us to our friends and God, for those in the room that find themselves wanting to belong to you, we ask that you would give them the strength to finally say it's time to stand up, give their lives to you. We ask that you would give them the strength to finally say it's time to stand up, give their lives to you and be prayed for God. We love you, we pronounce you good, even though you don't need us. We pray this all in Jesus name, and all God's people said amen.