WORHIP PLANNING

All of my adult life, I lived for Sundays!

I know – sounds kind of strange, unless you’re a pastor!

Not all, but much of my energy was directed toward Sunday when the crowd got together to worship the Lord!

When Sunday was over, I enjoyed Mondays off! I usually would hit the woods for several hours where I spent all my time enjoying nature and talking with the Lord! It was good physical exertion, too! Then, I’d go home and hang out with Debbie and enjoy my family!

Tuesday morning: start planning for the next Sunday! 

• How can I make this passage relevant and understandable to our people?
• What songs will lead us to a right place to be able to communicate our love for God?
• Can I write a drama that would help illustrate this message?
• Is there some way to respectfully use humor to get this point across?
• Who can help with worship this week?
• Who would be just right to read this passage?
• Don’t forget to visit worship team practice and encourage those who help to lead our people in their worship!
• What’s the best way to order things up this week to prevent boredom and keep anticipation high?
• Is there anybody who can illustrate this message because of some circumstances in their life recently?

Staff members were repeatedly instructed about several things:

1. You can have my time anytime during the week, but not on Sunday! This is my time to be with ALL the people!

2. We do NOT evaluate anything we do on Sunday! Bring it to the Tuesday staff meeting. We’ll evaluate it then.

3. Be friendly! Look for new people and model a warm welcome for all our people to see!

4. Pray! Pray! Pray! That people will come to faith in Christ!  That people might be healed!  That relationships will be strengthened. That we will experience the presence of God in worship today!

And do you know what?

God honored all this over and over and over again! I have such amazing memories of rich and meaningful worship throughout the forty-plus years God gave me to lead the church! Many came to faith in Christ! Congregations doubled – even tripled in size! We repeatedly experienced the presence of God! Leaders multiplied and grew in phenomenal ways! Marriages were healed! Prayers were answered! Relationships grew! People came with a spirit of expectation! If I’m really honest, I have to confess that I HAVE MISSED  IT! TERRIBLY! It was my life! Oh, there were tensions and occasional problems, but they were FAR OUTWEIGHED by the rewards and benefits!

But God is always good! Since my retirement in 2017, I have been invited to serve several area Free Methodist Churches for brief seasons.

•          Monacrest – during a pastor’s sabbatical.
•          First FMC, ELO – while waiting for a new pastor to become available.
•          Hookstown FMC – also while waiting for a new pastor to be able to move.
•          The Foundery – an 8-month interim appointment, and
•          Currently serving the Oakland FMC, ELO for a year - where I previously served for thirteen years.

Planning and leading worship throughout these years has been a GREAT PLEASURE!  To God be the glory!  I'm already anticipating the worship in Heaven! 

EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

John 14:21

He who has My commandments and keeps them,

it is he who loves Me,

and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

That’s what our text for today promises us.   

This verse is important because it assures us that if we love Jesus and live the way He has instructed us to live, then He will make Himself known to us! 

Experiencing the presence of God is something very special, and it’s not always the same.  When you experience the presence of God, you are fully conscious of what is happening and want it to be sustained.  You don’t want it to end. 

Some of those moments are described for us in scripture:

•      Adam and Eve had the privilege of taking a walk with God every evening during the cool of the day!
•      Jacob experienced the presence of God when he dreamed and saw a stairway into heaven.  It was such a special time for him that he built an altar and gave the place a special name.
•      Moses talked with God on the mountaintop and in the tabernacle and on one occasion was allowed to look on the back of the very presence of God while he was tucked safely into the crevice of a great rock.
•       Elijah experienced the presence of God when he was in a cave in the wilderness.  God was not present in the fire, or the storm or the earthquake; rather, God made Himself known through a still, small voice!
•       Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego experienced the presence of God when they were thrown into the fiery furnace!  He walked with them there as He assured them of their coming deliverance.
•       John the Baptist experienced the presence of God as he baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descend like a dove.  Then, he heard God speak from the heavens:  "This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
•       Peter, James and John experienced the presence of God on a mountaintop when Jesus was glorified in their presence.  They got to see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah; and they also heard God speak from the heavens: “This is My Son; Listen to Him!”
•      A Roman soldier experienced the presence of God during an earthquake that occurred while Jesus hung on His cross.  He exclaimed: “Surely, this was the Son of God!”
•      Eleven apostles experienced the presence of God when the resurrected Jesus suddenly appeared in their locked room.  He breathed on them and said: “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” 
•      120 people experienced the presence of God after ten days of praying together in an upper room in Jerusalem fifty days after His resurrection!  They were filled with the Holy Spirit and broke into the streets miraculously sharing the Good News in many different languages!
•      A Catholic priest named Martin Luther experienced the presence of God as he studied.  God opened the meaning of Romans 1:17 to him and showed him that the righteous are saved by faith and faith alone!
•      On May 24th, 1738 an Anglican priest named John Wesley opened his Bible at about five in the morning and came across these words, "There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature."  That evening he reluctantly attended a meeting in Aldersgate. Someone read from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. About 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Let’s review Jesus’ promise again:

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me, and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

In John 14:15, Jesus was spending His last evening with His followers when He said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

This makes it perfectly clear that our love for Christ must be necessarily backed up by obedience to His teachings!  Here’s the simplicity of this teaching:

1.      Love Jesus by

2.      Keeping His commands.

3.      As a result, God will love you, and

4.      Jesus will love you, and

5.      Jesus will manifest Himself to you through His Holy Spirit!

What does ‘manifest’ mean?

CEV -                   “I will show Myself to them.”

The VOICE -        “I will love you and reveal My heart, will and nature to you.”

LB -                      “I will reveal Myself to him.”

Amplified -           “I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.”

I think we’re on safe ground to say that if we love Jesus and keep His commands, we will experience His presence in similar ways to those we listed above!

Having been born and raised in a Christian home, I have experienced the presence of God in many ways over the years. It often occurred during worship times.  I’ve written about many of these times on my blog.  It has happened when I’ve been alone, when I’ve been in small groups, and when I’ve been with large crowds – such as 50,000 men at a Promise Keepers rally!

When Jesus makes Himself known to us, it certainly makes a memorable moment.

I wish it happened more often, don’t you?  I’m not in control of these occurrences – He is! 

When they occur, I’m like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration when he said:

“Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you wish, I will put up three shelters –

one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

[Matthew 17:4]

Peter didn’t want the experience to end! Can you blame him?

Actually, I think this story reveals one of the reasons that Jesus manifests Himself to us.  He is giving us a glimpse – however short – of what it will be like for us when we get to Heaven!

Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn-writer, wrote about this:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

Angels, descending, bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Savior am happy and blest,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Those transcendent moments when we experience the presence of God – even if only for a fleeting moment - are a foretaste of what it will be like to be in Heaven where we will experience His presence eternally!

Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV)

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

I have come to believe and am laying out evidence to convince you to believe that these moments when we experience the presence of God are intended as encouragements for us to continue to walk with Him and to be obedient to His Word, so that someday, we will be with those who inherit the New Heaven and the New Earth that has just been described.  Then, and only then, we will know His presence and His love fully and with unending enjoyment! 

_______________________________

I would suggest that there are many people in our world today who have NEVER experienced the presence of God!  As churched people, we may be familiar with holy moments when God visits and blesses. But there are many who have not been raised in an environment of worship.

For six years, I served as the Lead Associate Pastor at a very unusual church in Akron, OH.  At the time, it was a Free Methodist Church that had formerly been led by Charles Young. When he was elected superintendent of the Ohio conference, his wife – Brenda Young – was appointed as the Lead Pastor.

Now Charlie had grown the church to over two hundred and had guided them to buy property and build a modern worship, fellowship and educational facility. While doing this he had also planted a new church in Dalton, Ohio and helped rescue another conference church that had experienced a traumatic disruption in its ministry!

However, under Brenda’s leadership, Cornerstone Church grew to four hundred in two years time. That’s when Debbie and I and our family arrived in Akron and started to attend the church. Over the next six years the church would grow to over seven-hundred with a Saturday downtown outreach to the homeless that included anywhere from 100 – 300 people with hot food, clothing distribution and live worship on the streets of Akron!

I know of no other church like Cornerstone! 75% of its people were [at the time] ‘first-time-believers’!  We largely reached two or three specific groups: those with addiction problems and those struggling with marriage problems and/or divorce issues.  Brenda and I were both counselors. We also operated a low-cost counseling center out of the church!

By the time I left Cornerstone, we were packing three Sunday morning services while also running an active children’s and youth ministry and classes for adults!

New attenders at Cornerstone often came to either me or Brenda asking: “Why do I weep so much when I attend church here?” Over and over we had to explain to them that they were experiencing the presence of God!  

•          They sensed His presence during the vibrant worship!
•          They sensed God’s presence when people gathered for prayer around the altar – sometimes four or five people deep!
•          They sensed God’s presence when people responded to the altar call at the end of the service!

People were overwhelmed with the realization that God was actually present in the worship of this church!

Lost people don’t care about liturgy!

They don’t even care about the beauty of the sanctuary.

They’re not drawn by great teachers or preachers – although they can have considerable influence!

But lost people will be deeply moved and drawn to a church where the presence of God is regularly experienced!

This is our challenge!

It is reasonable to believe that God will take anything that we offer Him and multiply it for His purposes – IF WE’RE SINCERE! 

 Kind and Gracious God,

Thank You for loving us!   And Jesus, thank You for loving us!

 

Holy Spirit, help us – as You live and work within us – to obey Jesus’ commands! 

We need help to do this! 

We acknowledge that we are prone to wander;  prone to leave the God we love. 

We can’t do this on our own!  We need Your holy help to live lives of obedience!

 

Triune God, we thank You that You occasionally reveal Yourself to us! 

We love those transcendent moments when we sense Your holy presence! 

We long for them to occur more frequently and for them to last longer! 

Being in Your presence is so comfortable and freeing and it affects our whole being!

 

And we realize better now that these moments are Your way of keeping us on track so that someday we can come to be with You for all eternity! 

On that day, we will not only be reunited with loved ones and friends who have preceded us,

but more important, we will begin to experience Your holy presence in a perfect, sin-free environment forever!  We can hardly imagine it, but we wholeheartedly look forward to it!

 

In the meantime, we have work to do to extend Your love to those

·         who surround our church and

·         live in our communities!

 

So many are confused and lost!

Many have become disillusioned!

The chaos and rage in our culture has caused many to give up hope!

 

Help us to hold Your light up for others to see!

Make our churches an entry point for many to come to know You – or be renewed with You!

Enable us to be a safe place for people to come with their:

doubts,

pain,

anger,

questions,

and bitterness!

 

Help us to be Your welcoming arms to a life of faith and growth!

Do something remarkable in our presence!

Transform us!

Release us!

Compel us to serve the lost!

 

And give us great rewards as we trust You for a fruitful future!

For Your Kingdom’s sake.

I’M NOT BEING FED!

It is reasonable for us to realize that new believers have a long walk of obedience to learn about their new-found faith! It is not fair to expect new followers of Jesus to walk, speak, respond, and act in the same manner of an experienced follower. Maturing takes time, but not time alone! It also involves study, growth, feedback, patience, and perhaps a teacher or mentor.

Most churches have no plan for maturing new believers. It they do, it is often a class led by the pastor that is primarily focused on attaining membership in the church.  Lay people rarely play any role in this developmental process, although Jesus’ expectations were clearly that WE WOULD ALL BE INVOLVED IN HELPING NEW CONVERTS GET GROUNDED IN THEIR FAITH!

Remember Matthew 28:19-20 [NASB]?

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

There’s a considerable difference between making converts and making disciples!

A convert is a person who has faced a crisis of belief and has consequently decided to recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

A disciple is a person who has engaged in a learning, growing process of

·         incorporating God’s Word into their lives,

·         actively becoming part of the fellowship of the “body of Christ”, and

·         growing into the responsibilities of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment!

The latter is NOT a process that can be hurried or completed in a short period of time. It is best illustrated in the way that Jesus facilitated growth and maturity in the apostles’ lives during His three years of ministry! If you recall His interactions with them, it involved:

• teaching
• daily contact
• dialogue
• modeling
• correction
• practical experience
• retreat
• public ministry
• prayer
• rebukes
• living in community
• danger

And even on His last night with these men, they began to argue between themselves – this must have been so discouraging for Jesus!

Luke 22:24-27 [NASB]

…there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

The discipling process has many similarities to the parenting process! A young child has so much to learn! Pinnacles are achieved when they can feed themselves, dress themselves and put themselves to bed. They must learn appropriate language and appropriate expressions of joy, pain, anger and sadness. They must grow in understanding that in order to get along with others, you must balance give-and-take. You must respect elders. You are compelled to become effective at communication. All of this is accomplished through day-to-day exposure to and teaching by parents who love them and want them to succeed in life and have many friends!

New followers of Christ must learn:

ü  how to confess and seek God’s forgiveness for sinful thoughts, words or actions.

ü  how to use God’s Word and become familiar enough with it to be able to find help in times of specific need.

ü  how to fit into the “body of Christ” by loving and accepting others.

ü  about their unique spiritual gifts and how to use them for the benefit of the body!

ü  how to let their light shine so that they can influence others to follow Christ.

ü  about respecting authorities and loving your neighbor.

ü  about liturgy and the purpose and flow of worship.

They will need personalized guidance to answer the many questions that come up in between Sundays! A Sunday school class or pastor’s class could NEVER completely scratch where they itch! They need a DISCIPLER – one who disciples - [mentor, coach, travelling companion]!  Availability is the key to effective disciple-making! 

_______________________________

If this process is not initiated and continued, then we can expect the new follower of Christ to be stunted in their growth.

Instead of exploring God’s Word regularly, they depend on others to do the work of study and deliver it to them in a Sunday School class or a Bible study group.

Without the full, rounded experience of discipleship, they may find it difficult to fit in and contribute to the goals of the whole body of believers.

It is reasonable to assume that vast numbers of American Christians have never been properly through a discipleship process. They consider themselves ‘believers’, but it is probably inappropriate to refer to them as 'followers of Christ'.

As harsh as it sounds, they exemplify immaturity. They quickly become discontent and dissatisfied. They hop from church to church looking for a rewarding experience that scintillates and entertains. They leave churches because they “aren’t being fed”. They do this unapologetically – never seeming to realize that in doing so, they are admitting to immaturity  -  “I need someone to feed me!”

It’s a sad reality for many today. The church has failed them! It simply didn’t provide the kind of follow-up training that allows/encourages the new convert to press forward and mature in their faith! It is also a key reason why so many ‘believers’ are fruitless! They have never led a single person to faith in Christ! Why? They were never taught that influencing others is an essential part of following Jesus! They were not trained to go, make disciples, baptize and teach…[Matthew 28:19-20] which were among the final words that Jesus spoke to His followers!

Many American churches have a steep, upward climb to reclaim the lost ground of decades of ignored discipleship training!

The core of the church is experiencing natural attrition as lifelong members die or move to assisted living centers. I have led a couple of churches that lost their children to the faith. Consequently, older leaders have had to continue to lead well past their prime because a generation or two have simply been lost! And eventually the church must close its doors because it can no longer pay its bills! Such is the plight of the American Church in many cases and places.

________________________________________

LORD OF THE CHURCH:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

While You revel in the growth of the body of believers in so many places around our globe,

You must disparage at the plight of Your Church here in America.

Our numbers are rapidly going in the wrong direction,

and we seem helpless in reversing this decades-long trend!

We need to remind ourselves that You are as available to us as You are the Church around the world!

Our reality is not a result of the shortening of Your arm or Your disinterest.

Rather, it is a long pattern of deterioration within the Church!

We have failed to cultivate genuine worship!

We have lost our passion for spiritual renewal!

We have ignored our responsibility to train disciples.

We have allowed ourselves to become distracted by wealth, comfort and forms of worship!

But we have lost the power of Your Holy Spirit!

We have come to think that we can order worship!

We have failed to cultivate meaningful, spiritual relationships!

We’ve become comfortable going for long periods of time without experiencing Your presence!

We have ceased loving our neighbor and sacrificing for their benefit!

WE NEED YOU!

WE NEED YOUR SPIRIT!

WE NEED CONNECTION!

AND YOU HAVE WHAT WE NEED!

MAY WE ONCE AGAIN BECOME SEEKERS!

Ask, and it will be given to you;

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives,

and he who seeks finds,

and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8  [NASB]

CAN THESE BONES LIVE AGAIN?

Ezekiel is my favorite Old Testament prophet!

He was an eccentric character – sort of the Steve Martin of prophets!  His book begins with a strange vision of something that sounds more like its from the 21^st century than nearly six centuries before Christ! He saw an object hovering in the sky that included all kinds of wheels and eyes and could move at fast speeds. Sounds like a UFO don’t you think? 

After that Ezekiel ate a scroll that had been given to him. For a period of time, God made him a mute – which was an interesting dilemma, a prophet that couldn’t speak! During this time he drew images on clay pots!  Then he lay down on his side, with an iron pan separating him from his clay art. After 390 days had passed, Ezekiel rolled over and repeated this dramatic portrayal!  Then he went on a new diet of barley cakes baked over cow manure. Then he shaved off his beard – WITH A SWORD!  He set one third of the beard-hair on fire. He scattered another third around the city and stabbed it with his sword. He threw the remaining third into the wind.  And then, later in his life he prophesied over a valley of dead bones!

Aha! That’s the passage for today!

Ezekiel lived during an unfortunate period of time. He lived after Israel [the northern kingdom] had been defeated and carried away into Assyria.  He lived long enough to see Judah’s [the southern kingdom] last kings fall to the King of Babylon. It was a hopeless time! Ezekiel was born in 622 B.C. and was deported to Babylon in 597 B.C.  He did his prophetic work from around 592 B.C. to at least 570 B.C.  He was a contemporary of Daniel - actually, Daniel is mentioned three times in the Book of Ezekiel [14:14,20; 28:3].

These two prophets worked during a horribly painful time for the people of God! 

QUICK REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL:

• God formed a new nation out of Abram.
• Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became the fathers of a new nation known as Israel. Some may remember that God renamed Jacob with the name, Israel!
• Eventually – to save the family from a massive drought – all the family ended up in Egypt for 400 years, Eventually, they became Egypt’s slaves.
• Moses was called by God to deliver the Israelites [children of Israel (or Jacob)] from Egypt
• Eventually – after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness – they began to capture the Promised Land [Canaan].
• After Moses and Joshua died, they were led for 400 years by various judges.
• Then, they asked God to give them a king so they could be like the other nations!
• Saul was the first king, and he was not really faithful to God.
• David then became king and he was a good king!
• Solomon was the third king of Israel. He started out good but his many wives led him away from serving God!
• Then Israel divided into two nations – each having their own line of kings: Israel [the northern kingdom] and Judah [the southern kingdom].
• All of the kings of Israel were bad! Some of Judah’s kings were good, and some were also bad!
• After chronic sinfulness and MANY WARNINGS, God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and her people were carried away to foreign lands that were far off! This happened in 722 B.C.
• Ultimately, Judah’s people also were distracted by foreign gods and horribly sinful behavior. God allowed the King of Babylon to defeat Judah in 586 B.C. and almost all of the people were marched off to Babylon as slaves!
• The story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego took place first; then Ezekiel’s ministry was focused on the remnant of Jews who were living throughout the Babylonian Empire!

We cannot imagine how decimated the exiles from Judah were! They were forcibly removed from their homeland – just as God had prophesied and warned for many years through many prophets!

They were forced to accept a new culture that was totally foreign to them!  They had to learn a new language! They had to find ways to survive! God had told them ahead of time that they would eventually be restored to their homeland, but only after seventy years of punishment!

To try to understand what the Jews in Babylon were experiencing, we would have to imagine being uprooted violently from our homes and everything that we’ve accumulated throughout our lives. We’ve been forced to walk nearly 900 miles! We’re now living in a totally foreign culture where everyone speaks a language that we don’t understand or speak! We have to start from scratch! We’re essentially homeless. We have nothing but the clothes on our backs – and maybe not even that!

Eventually, the Jews began to accept their new situation. They found ways to survive and even thrive. They adapted! They struggled with their faith! Had God abandoned them? They knew that it was their own fault! They had been warned but had not heeded the interventions of God! Now they had to live with the remorse of abandoning God and all the ways that He had taught them to live. 

They longed for their homeland! They longed for Jerusalem! They wished and dreamed of being allowed to return to the land that they were familiar with! They wanted to go home!

If you can even begin to grasp this level of depression, hopelessness and despair – then you can BEGIN to understand how the Jews in Babylon felt!

Now I have to tell you that there are things in Ezekiel that we don’t fully understand. For instance, at one point Ezekiel seems to be transported back to Jerusalem to see the Temple.  [Ezekiel 8:1-4]

In the sixth year, in the sixth month and the fifth day, while I was sitting at home meeting with the leaders of Judah, it happened that the hand of my Master, God, gripped me. When I looked, I was astonished. What I saw looked like a man—from the waist down like fire and from the waist up like highly burnished bronze. He reached out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair. The Spirit swept me high in the air and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple’s inside court where the image of the sex goddess that makes God so angry had been set up. Right before me was the Glory of the God of Israel, exactly like the vision I had seen out on the plain.

Biblical scholars debate this trying to determine if this actually took place or if it was just a vision. 

This is a summary of our passage. All this review should provide a platform for understanding Ezekiel 37. Let’s read it… 

Ezekiel 37

1-2 God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.  [Again, was this real or a vision?] 

3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Master God, only you know that.” 

4 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’” 

5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!” 

7-8 I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them. 

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’” 

10 So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. 

11 Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ 

12-14 “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’”

If you’ve stayed with me through all of this history and description, then perhaps you can imagine the people’s response when Ezekiel began to share this ‘dry bones’ message with them.

In spite of all that had happened to them – GOD STILL SAW THEM AND HE STILL LOVED THEM! AND GOD WANTS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE BACK INTO HIS PEOPLE!

Were they worthy of this love, attention and hope? No! They had been rebellious! They had rejected God! They had turned to other gods. Many had died! They had been separated from their homeland and thrust into a foreign environment! They had NO HOPE OF EVER RETURNING TO JERUSALEM!

UNTIL EZEKIEL BEGAN TO TELL THEM GOD’S MESSAGE!

Now, if you don’t know the rest of the story, God came through for the Jews! Very suddenly, the Persian Empire – led by Cyrus the Great - struck and thoroughly defeated the Babylonians.  In 538 BC, immediately following his conquest of Babylon, Cyrus the Great issued a decree permitting the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1-4).  This decree is recorded in the Bible, emphasizing that Cyrus was inspired by God to facilitate the restoration of the Jewish homeland and religious practices.  In 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 and Ezra 1:1–4, the Bible records that God “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus” to make a proclamation throughout his kingdom, providing funds and sacred vessels for the rebuilding of the Temple!

Several waves of Jews returned to Jerusalem to begin to rebuild the walls, the city and The Temple! This story is told in the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah!  Another story of deliverance is told in the book of Esther!

________________________________________

GOD’S PROMISES ARE ALWAYS FULFILLED!

God had – for centuries – warned Israel that if they didn’t obey Him they would be punished. He was specific! He told them that he would bring an army from the northeast to destroy the city and carry them away to a foreign land. He told them that they would be held there for seventy years; and then they would return and face the trauma of rebuilding the city and The Temple!  But, still they rebelled and put their trust in false gods!

And so, it happened – JUST AS GOD HAD SAID!

But God didn’t stop loving Judah! He had told them that their punishment would be for seventy years. God deliberately used a foreign king to send them back to Jerusalem with protection and resources to rebuild!  He is the God of second, third,……..chances!

_________________________________

HOW IS THIS RELEVANT TO US TODAY?

1. God was obviously at work in establishing a Christian influence in the earliest European settlements established in America.
2. Christian influences were clearly providing guidance through the fathers of our nation and their establishment of a government under God
3. Christianity’s demise in the American Church over the past seventy years has been consistent. Divisive forces are growing stronger and bolder. Many could be legitimately asking: Can these bones live again?
4. There are clear and growing signs of sporadic spiritual revitalization – especially among America’s youth!
5. Are you willing to allow Him to use YOU to advance His purposes in revitalizing your life, your family, your circle of friends and co-workers and our nation?

HINTS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH?

 Acts 2:41-47 [The Living Bible]

And those who believed Peter were baptized—about three thousand in all! They joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the apostles’ teaching sessions and at the Communion services and prayer meetings.

A deep sense of awe was on them all, and the apostles did many miracles.

And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other, selling their possessions and dividing with those in need. They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, praising God. The whole city was favorable to them, and each day God added to them all who were being saved.

One of the authors of a book I’ve been reading over the last two weeks - Shane Claiborne - reminds us that there are over 36,000 Christian denominations! This clearly indicates how severely broken the "body of Christ" is, and yet none of these denominations appear to be searching for common ground!

He writes:

"Jesus' longest prayer in John’s gospel was that we would be one as God is one (17:22). With more than 36,000 Christian denominations, we have a long way to go.”

Back in June, Debbie and I attended the Harvest Conference’s Tri-Conference sessions in Dalton, Ohio, It was led by our area bishop, Kay Kolde, who reminded us that the number of FM churches in America have fallen from 1050 to 825 over the past fifteen years [a decline that is mirrored in most – if not all – Christian denominations in America].

To add to this drama, I know that in 2012, when we left for China, the number of Free Methodists in America was around 105,000.  It startled me recently to discover that our number has now declined to a little over 69,000 Free Methodists in America AND CANADA!

Yet the Free Methodist denomination is rapidly expanding around the globe through vigorous evangelistic efforts!  Currently we have 1.6 million Free Methodists globally with a mere 4% of those being in the United States!

Now, before you get discouraged, let me assure you that these trends are not exclusive to Free Methodism; they are reflected in every Christian denomination in America.

Observations:

·         The Pew and Gallup polls indicate that about 20% of Americans attend worship weekly at least three times a month. However, a Washington Post breakdown of America’s faith habits reports that as few as 5% of the population regularly attends religious services.

·         Many denominations are finding it difficult to find enough pastors to lead their churches.

·         It is estimated that 15,000 churches closed in 2025.

Why do churches close?  

Well, the answer is easy: it’s because they’re failing at their God-given mission!

When we examine churches that have closed – or are about to – we tend to find that they’re:

• not growing by convert growth.
• plateaued or declining in attendance.
• not invested in their community.
• or, they’re in a state of internal conflict.

It is not a pretty picture for the American Church and consequently for our culture. The WOKE agenda has clearly infiltrated the Church and is undermining its desire and passion for being spiritually fruitful! 

And, by the way, WHO is driving the WOKE agenda?

Our spiritual enemy! 

In reading through Job he doesn’t hesitate to name this enemy. Satan was hounding believers in Job’s day and he hasn’t stopped!  Jesus didn’t try to hide from this conflict. He openly addressed it! 

Consider Matthew 4, where Satan Himself came to Jesus while He was fasting and praying for forty days in the wilderness.  He came at Jesus’ weakest moment and tempted Him in areas where He was most vulnerable:

• The temptation to eat
• The temptation to test His Father’s love for Him, and
• The temptation to gain all the kingdoms of this world and all their glory

But each time, Jesus quoted scripture to rebuke His enemy!

The result?

1.    Satan left Him alone!

2.    Angels came and ministered to Him! 

I wrote recently in a blog article that I posted:

“I never want to be a part of a church that is not a threat to Satan and his kingdom! We’re not propping up an institution! We’re the living body of Christ! We are His representatives intended to influence those who are lost and distracted! Broken churches lose their sense of mission!  ‘Conflict passion’ replaces ‘evangelism passion’!”

Studying the New Testament Church in its earliest days is a good way to find out how on-track or off-track we are as a church in the twenty-first century. 

What were the characteristics of the church when it began?

We’re talking about the church that exploded into the streets after receiving the Holy Spirit in that upper room where 120 people had prayed for ten days!  That was the day that Peter preached in the streets and the other disciples discovered that they could suddenly speak in languages that they had never studied! The massive crowd gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, so people were present from many nations – and most of them heard the gospel that day! 

That day alone, 3,000 people became followers of Christ!  Then, Luke gives us a graphic description of how this church grew and operated in those early days!

1.    The first thing we need to notice is that the New Testament Church had NO BUILDINGS! So, in many cases, we have a HUGE advantage over the NT Church! Being generous with our building and property would send a pretty positive message that would likely draw people to us!

2.  Our second observation is that the New Testament Church studied and grew together in small groups! Since they didn’t have buildings, a lot of these gatherings probably took place in homes! 

Also, they didn’t have Bibles!  The New Testament was just coming together during that first century. If they were in the right place at the right time, they might have at least heard one of Paul’s letters being read.

What they did do, however, was to sit under the teachings of the apostles and their associates. 

3.    Our third observation is that they met together regularly for fellowship! All their activity was not spiritual in nature. They learned to love one another – as Christ had instructed them. This meant knowing one another and enjoying one another’s company!  Apparently they ate together a lot!  During some of these meals they even celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a part of their gathering!

This concept has almost been lost to the American Church! We only meet for church or an occasional Bible study. These believers became like extended family to one another! They enjoyed being together! They loved one another!

4.    Our fourth observation from this passage is that the New Testament had gatherings that were just for prayer!

Prayer aways has been and always will be the engine that drives the growth and outreach of the church!

5.    And finally, our passage mentions one last area  -  KOINONIA. In the New Testament, the Greek word κοινωνία (koinónia) is translated into English in several ways, depending on context. The most common include: fellowship, sharing, participation, communion, partnership, and community. It is a word for which we have no single replacement. Rather, it includes aspects of all of these we’ve just mentioned. 

But Luke – the writer of Acts – goes on to describe the implications of this word in verses 44-46:

And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

These new followers of Christ were:

• together – apparently this means common ownership of some things
• sharing their possessions with one another based on need
• having contact with one another day by day
• eating together with some regularity
• praising God together in all of the above!

There’s a pretty big hint here as to why the Church in America doesn’t resemble the New Testament Church as described in its earliest days!

Today’s American followers of Christ:

• rarely, if ever, share possessions with one another
• rarely, if ever, see one another during the week
• almost never go into one another’s home
• almost never enjoy meals together
• only praise God together during our once-a-week meeting on Sunday morning

There is one more VERY IMPORTANT factor that characterized the New Testament Church, and that was the constant incorporating of new followers of Christ!

Based on church reports: An average American church of 85 people [which IS the average sized American church] tends to report one convert per year!

This statistic tells us that there is a very low demand for training and discipling new believers in most American churches, because they simply are not seeing many new believers! 

The American Church has VERY LITTLE in common with the New Testament Church described in the early chapters of Acts!

The Book of Acts records the rapid expansion of the early Church from Jerusalem to the ends of the known world, showing both numerical growth and spiritual vitality.

I can speak most authoritatively about my own denomination – Free Methodism. There are distinct reasons why the American Church is shrinking while Christianity around the globe is exploding!

Our missions’ department has divided the globe into five areas: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. According to our World Mission page, we have an active presence in 99 countries [WHICH IS AWESOME!!!!]!

The Asian area has set a goal to see a million new believers this year! We observed earlier: "Currently we have 1.6 million Free Methodists globally with a mere 4% of those being in the United States!"

Here’s our assignment:

1.    How can we open our buildings to others in a way that promotes our caring for this community?

2.    How can we generate prayer groups and Bible study groups that will help us to grow as well as get better acquainted with one another?

3.    How can we create times when we get together for fun and pleasure so that we can grow in our loving and caring for one another? How can we plan occasional meals together that allow us to mingle and get to know one another’s families better?  [Eating together lowers inhibitions!]

4.    How can we generate prayer gatherings that are not boring but ARE genuinely effective?

5.    How can we retrain our brains to be more outspoken about our faith?

Are we content to just be a gathering of Christian people, or do we want to be a threat to Satan’s kingdom?

I have great difficulty believing that God is pleased with the American Church – with some exceptions, of course! I believe with all my heart that God wants something of significance to happen here, and there are signs that it has begun! It will continue and flourish – IF WE PRAY AND INITIATE A NEW TESTAMENT ZEAL IN OUR CHURCHES!