WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.000 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:25.440 Y'all look good. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:26.800 Thank you guys so much for being here. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:30.960 I'm excited for what I believe God wants to uh speak to with us today. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:35.200 Uh would you guys go and just give it up for our lead pastor, Pastor Clayton? 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.359 Yeah, I'm just so thankful for our pastor, my pastor, Pastor Clayton. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.640 He is just one of the most genuine dudes I know. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.840 Um anytime we can do anything to give him a break. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.200 Uh, because he comes up here every week with so much content. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:57.119 I don't know how he does so much content, preaches it so clearly, and gives us application to live our lives. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:58.560 I just want to shout him out, man. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:00.079 I am so thankful for him. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.520 Maybe you've never had the opportunity to um sit down with him. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:14.480 Uh I could guarantee you though, if you and I, this is something you may not may not know about your pastor, if you and I sat down with him, and I don't know if you're like a scientist, I'm not a scientist, but like, and we wanted to go to space. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:29.200 I have no idea how to go to space, I don't know anything about rocket ships, but I believe if you and I sat down with Pastor Clayton, give him like 10 minutes, you and I would be on fire and guarantee that we would we believe to our core that we could go to space together. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:36.719 He's just one of the most powerful leaders I've ever met, and um, it's very refreshing to have a lead pastor like that who's just so easy to talk to. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:37.840 Um and I love him, man. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.680 I've only been here, me and my wife now, maybe about close coming on two years. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:47.120 Um as you guys moved in this building, we became part of the Metachurch family, and uh, I've just really enjoyed it. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.079 I've really enjoyed our movement here in San Antonio. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:55.439 Um I believe today I have kind of a little controversial, at least start to my message. 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:56.879 I hope you guys will riot me a little bit. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.519 But before we get started, I just want to lay some ground rules. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:01.200 I've been screaming all day. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:02.079 I don't know why. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:03.920 I'm very loud, I get quick. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.120 If you want me to slow down, tell me to shut up, throw something at me. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:07.760 It's all good. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.360 I did youth ministry for a little bit. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:12.000 Uh, me and Tori, one of our first youth ministries. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:13.840 Um, we didn't have a room like this. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.639 We had maybe about three rows, and Jean Guy, I'll never forget this kid in my life. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:24.879 He would sit down in the front row every week, week after week, and he'd fall dead asleep. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.960 And he would be loud about it, he'd snore, he'd wake up kind of abruptly. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.560 It was uh it was a little comic to like see, but like it got a little annoying. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.240 So we started playing some tricks on him. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:40.960 So today, if I'm preaching and uh someone's drifting off a little bit, give him a little, you know, a little one-two real quick, or maybe an upper punch. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:42.000 Just wake him up, you know? 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:43.759 Or we can do what we did to John Ghee. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:44.400 This might be you. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:48.240 We'd uh I'd be preaching and we would get really quiet and we'd be like, amen. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:49.680 And we'd all leave the building. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.240 And we would see if we can get John Ghee to like wake up and like service is gone, everyone's gone. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:55.199 So that might be you today. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:56.879 If you fall asleep, leave them. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.680 We'll lock them in, we'll put the alarm on, they'll good, they freak out, the police will come, don't even worry about it. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.879 But um, yeah, if you guys are with me, would you guys pray with me real quick? 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.680 Father, I thank you just so much for this group of people here, Lord. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:12.240 I pray that you would grab hold of each and every single one of us today. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:17.759 I pray that you would speak to us individually and as a nation and as a church, God. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:21.840 And I pray that we would hear these truths and put them into practice. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:24.400 Lord, speak to us today. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:25.520 In Jesus' name. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:27.599 And if you're ready, say amen. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.240 So, I want to look at the world we live in. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:31.280 A little controversial. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.159 Our world is pretty controversial no matter where you look at it. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:43.520 Uh, no matter what side of the coin you find yourself politically, and we ain't gonna go there, it seems to be divided, regardless of what you believe. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.280 People are angry and fighting. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:48.719 Our country has never been so just no unity in it. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.879 You see all this destruction, and it's real hate that we're seeing. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.759 And then we're hearing all these superpower nations wanting to team up against us. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:02.639 If you're an investor, maybe you're getting a little wild up because you're hearing about the currency. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:07.520 I don't know what side of the internet you're on, but like maybe you're the all-gold people or the all-silver. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:08.080 I don't know. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:09.360 Hopefully, our dollar's good. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.080 Pastor Andre, if you want to talk to him, he's got it all to wraps. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:13.840 He said, Tony, you got nothing to worry about. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.280 America's dollar is good. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.800 So I hope and I'm believing him just because that makes me feel better. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:25.600 But a lot of us, maybe you've checked your retirement account and you're counting down the years to retirement, and you're like, there's not enough in here. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:31.279 This is all red, and this is less than I put in this thing, and you're feeling really anxious. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:40.319 All this going on, and it looks like America's kind of always been the melting pot for the world looking in and giving a judge on like what's the condition of the world. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.519 We're hearing scares of nuclear war. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.680 Crazy things to think about how in the world are we gonna raise families? 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:49.759 Or are the world my kids gonna grow up? 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:50.480 How's it gonna look? 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.000 Who's gonna be in charge? 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.199 What freedoms are at stake in our good world? 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.680 And then some of you might not track with me or may track with me. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.000 And then we got AI lurking in the background. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.560 Some of y'all messing around with Chat GBT, it seems cool. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:09.360 He's doing your homework, you know, he's writing you an essay or whatever, he's giving us some information. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:10.639 Me and Tori, it was fun. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.079 We were playing around the other day, and like she needed to like condense a sentence for her job. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:17.600 She's a graphic designer, was like trying to get some verbiage, and it did her job. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:18.720 And I'm like, dude, this is sick. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.120 So if you're from Tori's job and you're watching, that did not happen. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.560 Tori doesn't need you to get rid of her and just take over with AI. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:31.439 But guys, ChatGPT, the whole AI system, tweeted the other day that like humanity is like this, and some of you are tracking with me, like, dude, shut up. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:32.639 There's a phone in my pocket. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.079 This thing could at any moment just self-destruct and kill us all. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:37.279 You guys aren't tracking. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.079 I'm gonna move on. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:42.959 But seriously, everything seems to be divided. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:50.079 Politics seem to want to just, instead of like actually managing our country, they seem to want to control us. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:06:03.360 And it seems like both sides of the coin are fighting for injustice, fighting for security of different things or for who we are, and we're trying to, and we're living in this culture where they're seeking answers. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:05.519 Some of us are seeking answers. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:14.000 Some deep questions we may ask ourselves about who's really in control of this world, because at times it doesn't seem like everything's gonna pan out. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.199 At times it doesn't seem like God is even in control. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:20.639 And I ask myself this sometimes. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:28.399 There's things in my life that I've been praying for, that I've been trying to see through and praying over the provision that God would have over my life and the timing. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:39.199 And I'm sure many of us are going through the same exact things, maybe hearing some hard news and asking the questions and looking at our world and not feeling like we have any answers. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.000 Can I tell you though, this is not a new problem? 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:43.199 It's not a new problem at all. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:48.079 We may think because of new technology, new modern things going on in our world, that we have new problems. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.839 The past, we can't look to the past, they have no idea what's going on. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:59.519 But at the core of all these problems, it comes down to a reality since the beginning. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:10.160 You see, we're living in a world where everyone wants this utopian world, where we want this perfect world, but it looks like as we go on and on, especially in America, we want this perfect world without God. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:19.839 We want all the moral justices, we want all the moral things that are right with Christianity, but we want to remove ourselves as far from Christianity as we can in this world. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:25.120 You're seeing that in politics, you're seeing that in leaders, you're seeing that in influential people you follow online. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:28.639 This is not a new problem. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:34.000 You see, the Bible started with a group of people, Adam and Eve, who they chose to do life their own way. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.839 They chose to eat of the fruit, they chose to believe that they were God. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:46.480 And you see, the storyline of the Bible starts with a humanity, a people group leaving their home. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.959 They left everything that they knew that was good to them. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:08:06.000 They were exiled away from the presence of God, the place where they were supposed to inhabit, create, be just create and be image-bearers of Christ and do life within this life-breathing, animated spirit of God and dwell in that spirit. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:10.720 And everything was good until we chose our own way. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:19.920 And we let destruction and chaos into this world, and they were exiled, away from their home, away from everything that they knew. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:24.079 Let me remind you that the Bible is actually a unified story. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:29.279 Some of us we look at the Old Testament or we hear about stories in the Old Testament, like that has nothing to do with us. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:30.879 This is thousands of years ago. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:33.840 But let me remind you that the story is one story. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:40.399 If you put on the lenses and you're looking for Jesus, you will find Jesus throughout all the stories and all the context of Scripture. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.720 Because Jesus fulfilled all these stories in Scripture. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:47.360 It's as old as time. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:59.200 Us pursuing our own way, not trusting God's way, and living in the destruction and the chaos that's the aftermath because of that. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:03.679 What I want us to do today is to look at a story in the Old Testament. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:06.879 I want to look at a time in God's chosen people. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:08.960 This is the nation of Israel. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:13.440 I want to look at one of the darkest times in their history. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:26.080 Because I believe today that we can look at their story, we can take away principles, we can take away things that we can apply to our life today or see how it affects our way, our life the same way it did back then. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.840 Just a quick recap for you guys: God chose Israel as his chosen nation. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:33.279 And he called Abraham. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.679 He said, Abraham, you are going to be the seed. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:40.799 Through you, my nation will be born of you, and you guys will be a holy nation, a priesthood. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.000 They were called to live separate from the world. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:53.360 And to live under God's law, to live under his reign, to be different, to be fruitful, and have the protection and blessing of God. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:58.879 But quickly they see that they strayed away from that because of the broken world that we live in. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:03.840 And the Israelites found themselves in slavery under Egypt. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:10.240 And they were under Egypt's thumb of oppression for years, hundreds of years. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.120 And Moses was called out by God to lead God's people out of exile. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:25.039 They were far from home, far from their destiny, far from where God wanted them to be, and God, with Moses, he saved his people. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:33.519 And then we get this concept where it's like this pattern happening over and over and over in scripture, where God steps in, he saves them. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.039 And then we go back to our old ways. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.960 We go back to our old ways of doing our life, and what happens? 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:47.440 They start worshiping false idols, false pagans, they start just commingling with people in different cultures around them. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:53.039 And quickly, their life does not look like the life that God is calling them out. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.840 They're not a holy priesthood being separated. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:10.879 And then hundreds of years later, we find where we pick up in the story Israel, a nation chosen out by God, overtaken by the Babylonian Empire. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:22.240 Everything they knew, everything they loved, everything that was familiar to them was taken away in an instant. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.200 They found themselves as exiles. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:37.200 And we read about this in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and I'll paraphrase it, but it is very vivid of what happened to this group people, a group of people. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:45.600 You see, they're living life, and this Babylonian Empire comes through, and it takes three steps, but they end up sieging the city, breaking through the walls. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.639 And what they do is they take over this group of people. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:12:00.480 They take the king, they take the military leaders, they take the ones who have the most skills, the carpenters, the tradesmen, they take all these people who are literally doing the work of God and cultivating ground and making culture. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:10.240 They take all of these people, the big strong army, they take all of the strong men and the best that Israel has to offer, and they take them into exile. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:18.720 And they leave this group of people, the poorest of the poor, to fend for themselves, army all around their walls of Jerusalem. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:24.480 And for years, famine is happening, destruction is happening, people are losing hope. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:29.519 People have no idea what life is going to look like, and it doesn't get better. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.919 No, one day the walls are seized by the Babylonian Empire. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:47.200 The Babylonians come running in, it's very vivid, but it says that young men, men of all ages, old and young, get chased into the very temple of the Lord. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.240 You see, the safest place they thought they could be. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:58.000 The God who was in control, the God who called them to be separate apart, the God who told them through them they would bring redemption to the world. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:02.559 Young and old men were slaughtered inside of the temple of the Lord. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:06.240 The very place they thought they were probably safest. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.120 And the walls for the city were torn down. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:28.320 They destroyed the city of Jerusalem, killed thousands and thousands of people, and the rest who were alive were taken into exile, into a place far away from home. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:45.759 A place where they had no idea of the surrounding geographical lands, how to get home, no idea, but then found themselves in this pagan land, worshiping a pagan God, asking themselves the same questions we ask ourselves today. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.320 Is God in control? 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.279 Will he redeem us? 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.320 Is there hope for a future? 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.399 This world where my kids are growing up, is there going to be a world for them? 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:04.000 Is the United States going to become together and be the light, be the light for the world to see? 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:14.000 We used to be that to the world, but we've seen chaos and diversity tearing things apart versus coming in and being unified as this country that God has called us to be. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:16.799 Is there hope for our nation? 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:19.039 Is there hope for the world? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.200 Or personally, is there hope for your redemptive story? 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.480 The Babylonians destroyed everything that they knew. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.840 They took everything of value to the king. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:38.480 And just like that, in an instant, their lives were completely different. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:46.159 Some of us today, that kind of hits home on our struggle of the world and what's there to be. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:57.919 And can we trust that God will use our nation, He'll use us, use our church, use our movement here to bring restoration to the world. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.600 There's a prophet, his name is Ezekiel. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:10.639 He's a cool character in the Bible because Ezekiel was about 30 years old and he lived through the destruction of Jerusalem. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:18.720 He was about 30 years old, and that's important because that would have been the time where he was a priest, his father was a priest, he would have been blessed into the priesthood. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:33.840 So everything he knew about life, everything he dreamed of, becoming a priest, blessing the nation, speaking God's word, and doing different things in the culture that he would have done as a priest in the culture as a as a priesthood of Israel. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:37.919 And he was taken away from that. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:42.480 He was stripped of the hope of the reality of the world he lived in. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:52.960 And the cool thing about Ezekiel that looking past, it's not cool back then, but looking at it now is God actually told Ezekiel that the people of Israel would not listen to him. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.440 It kind of seems pointless looking back at Ezekiel preaching. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:04.720 But that's how you can see how much Ezekiel trusted in God, preaching judgment, hope, and restoration. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:10.559 You see, the people who were off in exile, all they had was the stories growing up. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:18.320 All they had was Isaiah's words, Jeremiah's words for hope of restoration. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:21.840 We pick up in chapter 37. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.279 Ezekiel is having a vision from God. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.600 This isn't the first vision he's had from God. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:32.559 And this vision is a little bit different than the other ones that he's had in the past. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:42.639 Starting in chapter 1, it says, The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.519 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:52.480 They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.519 You see, these bones they represent death. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:00.399 They represent the loss of hope, loss of a future. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:04.640 God's people found themselves hopeless. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:09.359 And scripture tells us that these were very dry bones. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.519 If you picture into your mind, it's like these bleached white bones. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:15.039 Because they've been sitting in the sun. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:20.319 There's no evidence for life, there's no flesh, there's no muscles, there's no skin on them, no blood. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.519 This death that happened, it was a long time ago. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:31.039 And Ezekiel is looking out into a valley that seems hopeless. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.400 No life, no evidence of life. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.359 Maybe today you're here and that's what your marriage looks like. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.079 It's been a long time since you've had any kind of hope. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.720 It didn't just happen overnight, it didn't just happen today when you woke up. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:51.599 No, you've been living the reality of nothing good or seeing no fruit from the marriage you're in. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.920 And maybe you're thinking about packing up Sha. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:04.079 Some of us are feeling the financial weight of our situation every month, racking up credit card debt continuously, thinking this would be the month where we can just get a little ahead. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:10.720 But interest rates are getting higher and higher, and you're actually finding yourself with more and more burden constantly. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:17.279 The dream of financial peace, freedom seems impossible. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:22.079 Maybe that you walked in here and you've just gotten some terrible news about your health. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:27.200 And you have no idea how in the world you're gonna get through the situation that you've been put in. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.359 Can you even trust God will get you through this? 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.640 Can you even trust God that He'll redeem this, that He'll heal you? 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:40.240 Maybe you're like me, and this one's a little easier to deal with, but I mean, I got a I got a barbell chilling on the side of my shed right now. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:41.599 There's rust on it. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:43.200 You know why there's rust on it? 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:44.319 It's been a while. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.599 It might not look like it. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:46.079 Thank you. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.039 I appreciate it. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.119 But it's been sitting there a while. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:53.839 Maybe some of us have dreams of being healthy, feeling good. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:57.440 A lot of us, maybe we've been Christians for a long time. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:59.119 And our families are looking in. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.440 We feel the pressure of the world looking in at us. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.039 And our worst ways just continue to keep coming up and up. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:10.720 Some seasons we're getting a little bit better, but we continuously find ourselves backsliding. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:18.880 And our dreams of being restored, our dreams of getting over addictions and all these things seem to be hopeless. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.559 But you see in the next very verse. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.200 Look what God asks Ezekiel. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:32.240 He says in verse 3, then he asked me, Son of Man, can these bones become living people again? 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:36.640 What if God is asking you that very question today? 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.960 That dream you had for that business, that dream you had for the reality. 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:51.519 Maybe you've been working and you've been trying to work yourself out of your job in order to live the life that you believe God's called you to, or start up this nonprofit, or just to have some kind of hope in your life? 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:55.359 And you're looking at that reality. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:57.680 How would you answer that question? 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:06.079 God's asking you today, can these dreams, can our health, can our stories be redeemed? 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:13.599 Can life come from the impossible situations we find ourselves in? 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.240 Honestly, how would you, and I answered that question today. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:27.519 Continuing in verse 4, it says, Then he said to me, Speak a prophetic message to these bones. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.839 And say, Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.680 This is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.920 Look, I'm going to put breath into you and make you live again. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.440 I'll put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.279 I'll put breath into you and you will come to life. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.279 And then you'll know that I am the Lord. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.519 God tells Ezekiel to speak a prophetic word into the future. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:59.920 And this isn't something in our culture which we've kind of made kind of weird, like this whole manifest culture, like if I just believe it, it'll happen. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.039 If I dream it, it'll happen. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.119 No, this is not what God's talking about. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:08.240 Prophesying into the future is speaking God's word into your reality. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:14.559 You see, God's presence, his spirit is the life-dwelling presence that lives in each and every single one of us. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:21.200 And his word, his promise is the thing that we're supposed to speak into the realities that we find ourselves in. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.240 And Ezekiel starts speaking this reality. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:28.319 In verse 7, he says, So I spoke this message just as the Lord told me. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:34.799 And suddenly, as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:41.599 The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:50.960 Then as I watched muscles and flesh formed over the bones, the skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.960 What God wants to restore and use in your life. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:09.200 But God calls us to step out in faith with Him, to go the next step. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.200 Allow these dead dreams, these dead things in our life to be resurrected. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:16.559 Allow the skin and muscles to start to form. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:20.000 And continuing, he said, then he spoke to me. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:24.319 Speaker for prophetic message to the winds, Son of Man. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.880 Speaker prophetic message and say, This is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:32.480 Come, O breath, from the four winds. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:40.079 Breathe into these dead bodies so that you may live again. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.599 So I spoke this message that the Lord commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.839 They all came to life and stood up on their feet, a great army. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.480 And notice the active participation that Ezekiel is called to with God. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:00.799 You see, Ezekiel has been preaching to the Israelites for such a long time. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.559 God already told them that they would not respond to his message. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.559 Or maybe looking towards the past. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.200 When things were great, things were good. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:28.880 It's easy to do that now. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.799 If you just fast forward 10 years, our nation looks a whole lot different. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:37.759 Fast forward the phone, fast, rewind the phone in our pocket, the news 24-7. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.240 It used to be at one time in the day, used to be a little more easygoing. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.440 If we could just get back to those times, some of us get caught up in that mindset. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:53.200 But no, God wants a new reality to step forward in your life. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:24:01.680 God wants to breathe a new spirit into your life and resurrect the things that you thought were dead and create something new. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:05.279 He wants to bring forward change in your life. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.359 We serve a God who literally comes and does the impossible. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:17.759 Ezekiel looking at in what seemed like destruction, seemed like death, seemed like hopelessness, in an instant. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.000 God breathed life into this situation. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:27.440 And he gives Ezekiel kind of a little verbiage of what's going on for him to understand. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:32.319 In verse 11, he says to me, Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:35.599 They're saying, We've become old, dry bones. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.440 All hope is gone. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:39.920 Our nation is finished. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:44.000 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, This is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:49.279 Oh my people, I will open your graves in exile and cause you to rise again. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:52.160 And then I'll bring you back to your land. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.599 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:02.400 I will put spirit in you, and you will live again and return home. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:06.240 See, just as God promised happened. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:07.920 It didn't happen overnight. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.279 No, they were in exile for 70 years. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:21.200 There were generations, children born into a nation, born into a group of people who had no home. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:29.440 They were exile, who were learning to live life in a place where they had no cultural background, they had no past. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.440 It was all destroyed. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:40.160 And you see, there's a scripture that many of us we, you know, we print out, we put on our cars, put on graduation things, and it's a great verse. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:42.000 Jeremiah 29, 11. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:45.200 But I pray today that you would see the context to it. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:49.680 Jeremiah was a prophet who was in the city when it was sieged. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:51.920 He didn't go off into exile. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:58.559 He was actually taken off by this rebellious group, scripture says, and uh he's actually writing to those in exile. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:00.720 He's telling them how to live. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:02.400 You see, they seem hopeless. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.400 He tells them to start families. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:05.519 What seems hopeless? 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:06.880 Why in the world do we start families? 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:14.960 He tells them to build houses, to plant gardens, to reap the goodness of where they are, no matter what the things look like around them. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:23.359 He tells them to keep living, to keep hoping in the God who did see them through and will continue to see them through. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:28.240 See, the message God sent Ezekiel would be true. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.920 The valley of dry bones coming back to life. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:37.200 And here we see this talked about in Jeremiah speaking to this before it happened. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:44.240 He says in Jeremiah 29, verse 10, this is what the Lord says you'll be in Babylon for 70 years. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.400 This wasn't something that was quick. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.720 This was 70 years of hopelessness. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:57.680 He says, But then I'll come and do for you all the good things that I have promised. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:01.200 And I will bring you home again. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:04.160 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:09.200 They're plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.599 And those days when you pray, I will listen. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:14.160 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.400 I will be found by you, says the Lord. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:20.480 I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:27.440 And I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:33.920 You see, today we have hope in the future because of the one who called us home. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.359 God always gets what he decrees. 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:41.440 God always gets what he promises will happen. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:52.960 And he was promising to these people in exile future restoration, abundance to come for their nation, the regathering of their nation, which seemed impossible. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:55.039 And what happens? 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:06.000 70 years later, what seems crazy, the king of Babylonian, the Babylonian Empire that overtook these people, was conquered by the nation of Persia. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:09.200 And what does that to do with the Israelites, right? 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:17.839 Scripture says, though, that the Persian king was moved by God to decree the rebuilding of the Israelite God's temple. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:26.000 Something that seems so far-fetched, like just would randomly happen, is God moving where it seems impossible. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:31.519 We look in our world on and we lose sleep of who's gonna be in charge, who's gonna be the leader of this nation. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.039 All we lose sleep over these things. 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:36.960 We fight about these things, but God works in the heart of the king. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:50.000 Back then, God worked in the heart of the king of Persia, and he told these people, these exiles who were far away from home, no hope, no future, to go back home and rebuild the temple. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:53.119 And we read about these things in the books of Nehemiah. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:03.279 We read about the rebuilding of the walls, the rebuilding of the temple, and the rebuilding of the nation of Israel. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:09.200 You see, we have hope for the future because of the promise that God has for us. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:12.559 It's because of the one that He sent for us. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:20.240 If you know the storyline of the Bible, the nation of Israel would be the seed on which the Messiah would come, Jesus would come out of. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:27.920 And if we look at their story, if we look at them living in their life back then, they probably thought this is the end of the story. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:29.759 It's a wrap. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.079 There's no way I could see this happening. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:38.000 And we know looking back that Jesus indeed came through the lineage of Israel. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:52.720 And fast forward thousands of years, Jesus hands nailed to a cross, a thorn, crown on his head, utters the words, it is finished. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:00.079 You see, because God, no matter what is going on in our world, what's going on in our stories, he came to complete the good work. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.680 Israel's story always looked like it was in need of an ending. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:09.680 Our stories always look like they were in need of an ending, like there's nothing that we could do outside of Jesus. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:18.000 So God came down, put on flesh, was beaten to inches of his life for our iniquity, our destruction, our chaos, our sin. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:21.359 And he died for it. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:25.119 And you know, he rose from the grave on the third day later. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:29.279 He rose and he showed us that it is finished. 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:36.319 We have hope in the future because of the one who called us home. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.359 An exile can be really difficult sometimes. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:46.160 Living in a world with chaos and destruction, we still find ourselves in that reality. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:50.319 There's a scripture I hope today that brings hope and brings a little bit of perspective to you. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:52.319 It's found in the book of Philippians. 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:55.519 It's written by a man named Paul to the church of Philippi. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:00.319 And he's preaching to them, he's teaching them that what they're doing is everlasting. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.279 It's bigger than what they could ever think is happening. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:08.079 And he's written to the church there, but it's written, this promise is written to us as well. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:24.640 In Philippians 1, chapter 6, it says, and I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it's finally finished. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:45.759 On the day when Christ Jesus returns, the hopelessness, the destruction, the chaos we find ourselves, this unity we see all over, these rise of these superpowers, the deflation of our dollar, whatever it is, all these little things don't mean anything in the light of we already have hope. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:51.759 Because of the one who declared on the cross that it is finished. 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:09.599 And when God uttered, when Jesus uttered the words on the cross, it is finished, and he gave up his spirit, it says that the world grew dark, and that the earth began to shake. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:17.759 Ezekiel, when he was prophesying over the dead bones that they would come back to life, it says that there was a rattling sound. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:23.119 This good work that God wants to continue in each and every single one of us. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.279 This promise that he has to one day come home to us. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:32.880 This image of eternity that we can't wrap ourselves around. 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:35.039 We get stuck in the chaos and destruction. 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.400 But there is hope for each and every single one of us. 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.759 Because he's already declared it finished. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:44.480 Did you guys bow your heads? 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.240 Father, I thank you for the work that you continue to do in each and every one of us. 00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:54.079 I pray that we would look at our world with an eternity perspective. 00:32:54.319 --> 00:33:00.000 I pray that you would breathe life, that we would continue to speak utterance your word into our situations. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:03.119 Your word says that you go before us. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:07.119 You say, take heart for everybody, take overcome the world. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:11.599 You declare it on the process is finished. 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.200