Sunday Morning Worship | Divine Reset | Reviving Defeated Christians | 03.21.21

[Music] the kingdom agenda good morning oak cliff bible fellowship and to those of you that are viewing all around the globe this morning we want to welcome you to our online worship experience and we want to welcome those of you that are joining us in the house ocbf can you make some noise this morning there's life in the house [Applause] the life of god is here with us and we pray that it's with you this morning listen hebrews 12 29 says this that god is a consuming fire and he's come to take over this morning so we pray that you're ministered to dr evans has a word this morning i know from the lord and so we want you to engage we want you to stand up and worship and pray with us praise god with us and i want to make sure that you also know that at the end of service we're going to have communion so go ahead and get your juice crackers water whatever you need so that you can join us in that time at the end of service but right now is a special time where we roll out the red carpet for the king of glory to come in the room because how can we be kingdom without a king we need jesus in the room can you stand to your features let's bless the lord our god is great come on ocbf let's offer worship to the lord this morning put those hands [Music] together [Music] hallelujah sing to the lord this [Music] the morning you shine and out of the ashes we rise [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] nothing's present no things [Music] together [Music] do you believe that this morning let's sing together this morning there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah there's no god like jehovah you say nobody can compare to him [Music] come on [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] let's all sing together this morning how great is hong kong you sing sing with me how great that's it and all we'll see how great [Music] you have a name that's above every name [Music] and my heart will sing we are not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ this morning [Music] is [Music] this morning give god praise in this atmosphere this morning hallelujah father we give you glory we open up our mouths and declare who you are you are the king of kings and the lord of lords the word declares that there is but one name given unto man whereby we must be saved and it is the name of i said it is the name of we sing in jesus name this morning come on [Music] so we can dance this morning [Music] yes that's it the victory is in jesus name this morning god is fighting for us [Music] carrying our burdens he has overcome come on [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's sing it together [Music] you are here with us [Music] the holy ghost [Music] in his presence god is fighting for us pushing back to darkness lighting up the kingdom so father we honor you are you ready [Music] is [Music] is [Music] the victory [Music] [Applause] come on is defeated [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] shut it shout it up shout it out wow looks like y'all ready to shout it out well it's good to see you i think this is our biggest crowd yet so it keeps growing a little bit more every week as folk feel a little safer a little uh more secure we're doing our part by uh still still asking for mass and doing social distancing because we want you to feel safe but uh we want to let folks know we still have some room for more and uh and now it's time to leave bedside baptist and mattress methodists and uh i know it's real convenient to stay in your pajamas and look at the screen or the tv or the whatever device you're using but it's time to begin to gather slowly deliberately purposefully [Applause] but it's time to be in the house together we're certainly glad to have you and all who will be part of this uh online experience as well but it always uh is good to be in the house with with the family and uh you are precious people to me and to each other and most of all to the lord so we're we're grateful to be with you today we want to let you know that um two weeks from now is the resurrection weekend of course that's when we recognize and celebrate the greatest event in human history and that is jesus resurrection from the dead and what it means to us we have a special uh person leading us in worship and praise that sunday fred hammond will be with us and he's going to be leading us in worship so we want the place full or as full as we can safely make it on that sunday at 10 30 in the morning but we also want to use this as a time of special outreach so i'm going to invite you to invite your family and friends who are non-christians or nominal christians as we will use that opportunity since as i've said even satan goes to church on easter so folks will go to church or at least connect with church that time of year in a special way and so we use that as an opportunity every year to reach out with the gospel with the good news of jesus christ so i want you to all be missionaries whether it's bringing them with you here or having them be online with you that's two weeks from this weekend the live service on saturday at 10 30 and then of course online on sunday at uh at 10 o'clock so please uh uh be a missionary reach out and say join me for worship let's hear the ministry and music of fred hammond and for the word and uh let's let's see many people won the christ uh this this easter time people are so messed up they need hope somewhere so so we want to make our contribution to that as things are moving and we move forward to see how god wants to do a divine reset whenever god allows a cataclysmic event is because he's reordering something he's reshaping something of course the biggest reshape is the return of jesus christ short of that he wants to bring us into a clearer better proximity to himself so as we look at this as a church as a ministry we want to make sure we're hearing his voice clearly to reset ourselves reset our programs we reset our priorities reset any structural resetting that has to happen so that we are even more effective in the days to come because the way things are looking people are going to become more and more desperate and we want to be here to love them to show them combat compassion and to communicate the truth and so uh your faithfulness as we pick back up and you get back involved in ministry because i miss my choir behind me my choir is not behind me so i need my choir back okay uh i want uh those in the metroplex to know that you can apply for membership online you can go online ocbfchurch.org forward slash membership and find out about our online membership process every first sunday we offer that and you can find out how you can become a part of this church if you want to be a kingdom disciple who is a kingdom servant that makes a kingdom impact that's what we are doing and we try to do that together we try to experience god together here and if you can find out about our our membership class uh by uh going uh online so please do that and you can register for our next class uh which is right around the corner well uh we are we are pressing on in ministry we're pressing on and loving people and caring for people and serving people because we are saved to serve not serve to save to sit and i think every week you should ask yourself a question who have i served this week who have i served this week who have i helped who have i prayed with who've i encouraged because service can come in a lot of different ways some people just need an encouraging word an email a phone call to lift their spirits a visit appropriately done anything we can do to touch to touch another life right now is especially right now is critical not only individually but of course as a church uh we are putting the finalizing touches on expanding our homeless outreach the unsheltered are the most vulnerable of all in our community and in light of the pandemic and everything the unsheltered have expanded exponentially and so we want to be where the need is and so we're doing some things there so you'll be hearing about things we're cutting back over here so we can major over here where we need to major uh starting with our flock and then expanding beyond to our community so so we we want to be known for not the buildings not the land we want to be known for the service now if those help us serve better find but that's what we want to be known as servants so keep that in mind the bible says that we are saved to serve okay your giving helps us to do that collectively uh through your tithes and thanksgiving offering faithfulness to god through the church so that we can be hands and feet together to touch your life your family's life and the life of the community in which we serve and now with things being online we're getting stuff from all over the country people hurting and struggling and asking for prayer loved ones sick or lost or it's just one thing after another so the church of jesus christ is needed more than ever before but we can't be we're only one church for our local ministry but we want to have as big an impact as god will allow us to have so let's pray to that effect right now father i bring before you this worship experience the songs the prayer the praise the preaching may all of that wrap around to your good name and your good glory dear lord you have allowed all that is happening to us right now may we not be so focused on the circumstances that we miss the lord in the midst of the circumstances as we look at your word as we read it each day as we meditate on you each day as we pray in praise in our own personal worship service each day may you touch us with your presence may we not depend on a service once a week to get us through the week but to launch us into the week in staying in contact with you through your word so keep us focused on you and show your favor to every man woman boy and girl to when we get the minister in person online thank you for those who are still ministering to the children and the youth online and we want to make sure lord that we are doing your bidding your way so receive the rest of our worship as we sing even with masculine as we praise as we give as we do all of this be glorified in jesus name all god's people said amen we confess our love for the lord this morning simply say jesus we love you father we honor you we love [Music] all you have passed away and your love has stayed the same your constant grace remains the [Music] cornerstone [Music] and things that we thought [Music] again [Music] you cause your sun to shine in darkest nights for all that you've done we will pour out our love this will be our [Music] jesus [Music] the hopeless says and all that was lost [Music] is when we are weak you make us strong again instead and you took these rags as we stand before the lord this morning [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] jesus you are the one jesus this morning [Music] [Applause] we confess our love for you our heart [Music] [Music] on the feet of jesus this morning [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] no fancy words just you are the one you are the one [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] in love with your father oh how i love jesus [Music] jesus [Music] my eyes are fixed [Music] oh [Music] nothing and no one compared jesus we love you sing to the father this morning [Music] sing it one more time to jesus we love [Music] you you [Music] say that one more time you are the one you are the one you are the one confess it one more time you are the one who are the ones [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] and he says when he moves with his key that is with his divine authority he says when he does that nobody can shut it this one do something to you against it right there right there right there let me tell you what i'll do with your gizzy what this means is when you're using god's keys people did not have the last say so see that's it we get all shook up about people oh he got the power to let me handle the lock me out he got the power to raise me or to put me down he's got the power she's got the power to fire me to hire me they got the power they got all the power jesus said but i got the master kill and when i open the door i don't care who they are where they come from how much they have what degrees they possess when i have the key if i decide to open that door nobody gonna shut the door i open and if i decide to lock them up they're not gonna be able to get back in because i'm in charge here i've got the key to the kingdom see we feel wrong we feel full because they got a name we fear folks because they got some money we fear folk because they got some power but you are related to the one who's got the king of david ultimate authority final say so dear lord speak today as we listen but not just to our external ears because you said let he that happened here let him hear making it clear we can have external ears and still not here may we hear that we might hearken to the truth in jesus name amen on december 20 december 17 1924 an s-4 submarine was rammed just off of cape cod the submarine began to sink 40 sailors rushed to the only compartment left with oxygen on the submarine that was sinking they began to send a code out to the help with a question low on oxygen sinking they asked is there any hope they were in a situation that they could not fix they were running out of the ability to breathe they were locked in a tube so they couldn't see whether there was any help available all they could do was send out a message with a question is there any hope when you look at our world today unraveling at warp speed that would seem to be the appropriate question is there any hope can this hot mess be fixed individuals are asking this question is there any hope will i be able to get back to life as normal people are arguing about what we could do what we should do do you wear a mask how many masks do you wear the single female wants to know is there any hope that i will ever have a meaningful relationship with a good man is there any hope couples raise the question is there any hope for this relationship divorce looks like it's the only resolution is there any hope and the culture is there any hope for racial unity is there any hope for political order is there any hope for civility to return because i don't know about you but if you look at the lose long enough you're reminded it's not getting better regardless of your political persuasion it is clear it kind of doesn't matter who's in the white house because the calamity continues to unravel so the question is is there any hope and every time it looks like there's a little light it turns out to be the light of an oncoming train because things just revert back to being problematic again and the question is is there any hope i want to call your attention to a passage of scripture well known by all of us who are acquainted with our bibles in the book of ezekiel the most well-known chapter in the book of ezekiel's you know it as the valley of dry bones ezekiel 37 and that's the question that the prophet has to raise is there any hope let's look at the situation the hand of the lord was upon me verse one says he brought me out by the spirit of the lord and set me down in the middle of the valley and it was full of bones we're told at the end of verse 2 and they were very dry we're told in verse 11 our bones are dried up and our hope has perished we are completely cut off he paints a picture of desperation despair defeat disunity and he says our hope is gone we have been cut off we're cut off from god and we're cut off from each other he gives him a picture of an ossuary an ossuary is a coffin he sees this huge coffin encompassing a whole valley and the bones were very dry he says in other words it's been this way a long time they're not just dry they are very dry we've been in this stupa for a long time and the the bones he says in the passage were all disconnected the biggest best picture i can give you is a puzzle box when you see the puzzle box the pieces are all rambled and disconnected they don't fit together yet it's not fitting together he calls them later on in the chapter an army so we're looking at a defeated army an army that can't fight we're looking at an army that's been beaten toe up from the flow up he he's looking at what he calls in verse 11 the whole house of israel in other words this was a crumbled nation israel was the people of god in the old testament the church is the people of god in the new testament he says of the old testament people of god we are a defeated culture a defeated nation transposing that to today i've called this message reviving defeated christians because we're supposed to be god's army but we are full of bones dried up for a very long time now to set the context for this situation you have to understand why they are where they are why are they in this desperate defeated situation they're in babylonian captivity ezekiel is prophesying at a time when babylon has been used by god to discipline his people the reason for the discipline is stated in verse 25 of chapter 36 then i will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean i will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols you see what israel had done is it had bought into the culture and had adopted the values of the secular nations around it and incorporated their values into god's people i was working on a document the other day and one of the things i was responding to on the document was critical race theory and pros and cons and one of the cons i brought up i said we it is legitimate to identify racism whether it is in politics or education or culture or law or whatever structural presence it has but then i went on to say but it is illegitimate to make it the dominant sin it is legitimate to deal with the sin in critical race theory it becomes the dominant sin through which everything else is filtered i said it's illegitimate to do that because it is just one of many evil sins because the dominant sin in the bible is one thing idolatry everything can fit under that category of idolatry and whenever you elevate your race to be the only thing you've idolized your color and so now you are against god in the name of race or culture or class or you can in america we have sophisticated idols american idols idols of pleasure idols of popularity idols of notoriety idols of materialism even idols of religion idols of education whenever a noun person place thing or thought is raised to the level that it can compete with or trump with god that's an idol idols will always produce spiritual distance in other words once you adopt an idol it will automatically disconnect you from god so all through the bible you'll see this sin talked about more than any other sin because all other sins can be subsumed in it he says i will cleanse you from your idols an idol is any noun that conflicts with or competes with god it is worshiping the wrong god or watch this worshiping the right god in the wrong way in other words coming up with your own ideas to worship the true god their idolatry created distance and their distance created despair so they're in defeat and despair because their idolatry put them now and so now the secular world babylon is ruling them they are defeated in babylon sort of like the church is defeated in america the secularism of the culture has taken the army of the church and turned us into dry bones the valley is a low place valley's uh low places between bigger hills or mountains so they they not only defeated they at the bottom in the movie concussion with will smith is an interesting phrase as they were talking about how the nfl had become so dominant in the culture and the phrase in the movie was referring to the nfl we own a day that used to belong to the church people who will mischurch you won't miss a football game the culture had in infiltrated the people of god creating idolatry which created distance which led to despair so the reason why the church is so weak is we have become idolatrous mimics of the culture not unique in the culture but we have been a reflection of the culture so no wonder we are dry bones and so this distance had placed god's people israel into a major predicament which causes ezekiel to hear god raise a question here's the question god raises verse 3 he said to me god says to ezekiel son of man can these bones live now remember the situation of the bones bones of drive distance despair defeat hopeless in other words this was an impossible situation can these bones live again and i answered in the verse 3 oh lord god you know i don't know if you caught that god asked ezekiel to answer the question you see how bad this situation is zeke zeke you know zeke he's already see how bad this situation is can this be fixed it's a bad situation can this be fixed ezekiel's answer is lord god you know don't ask me don't ask me put it another way all he can do is shake his head and go he says i can't answer that question this is a hot mess here this stuff is tore up from the flow up it's a hot mess i don't have a human answer god to your question if i were to ask you how do we fix the church and how does the church then impact the culture yeah i'd have to say oh god you know in other words don't ask me don't ask me because i can't help with that question it's too messed up the puzzle has too many pieces it's too disconnected i don't only you know god because it's going to take some omniscience to fix this because i don't know what politician i can go to i don't know what cultural institution i can go to i don't know what personality i can go to i don't know if we would all be honest when we look at the situation all around us we have to say i don't know because this is this is bad uh you know we had the big winter storm in texas and the urban alternative our national ministry the pipes broke in the ceiling from the sprinkler system one of our staff decided to go by the office a couple days later and the tua offices were flooded flooded lost a lot of the product that we ship out to people and all that stuff the offices would show up so i went in to see it just just the other day they told me about it and they showed me pictures but i went to see i went to the valley myself and when i saw the havoc that had been wrought in this building all i could say was god only you know cause we down to the studs and i'm not sure these studs can live again this is a bad situation he just sees a situation so bad that he doesn't see that they it can be fixed there was no light at the end of the tunnel or was there so keep in mind now we have an unfixable problem you may have an unfixable problem in your life i'm sure if i ask everybody with dry bones in here to raise your hands there'd be some hands to go up because you're in a situation you can't fix it's too big it's too complex it's out of your control you can't you know you don't have the even the get up and go to go get it i mean it you just stuck discouraged on some level personally familiarly ecclesiastically or culturally god then tells them something again he said to me now the first thing he said was can these bones live that's the first question he says i can't answer that question only you you can answer that question it's too bad again he says to me verse 4 prophesy over these bones and say to them oh dry bones hear the word of the lord oh dry bones hear the word of the lord so these bones can still hear okay he says i want you ezekiel to tell the bones to hear the word of the lord let me let me go a little slower you tell the bones who in a bad situation that they can't fix hear the words of the lord because now maybe they're ready to listen see they've been listening to the word of man they've been listening to the word of the culture they've been listening to the word of the of the experts of the elite they've been they've been listening to every other word so so now ezekiel i want you to prophesy the word of the lord because sometimes you're not ready to listen to god yet until something's got bad enough long enough deep enough that you're now willing to pay undivided attention because there's no way out so now i want these dry bones that have ears to hear the word of the lord but notice what he told them to do he says prophesy to the bones prophecy is a form of preaching but it is more than just informational disclosure in other words it's more than just general sermonizing it's more than just teaching you a bible study the prophets spoke god's will into a specific situation not a general message it was targeted speak to these dry bones prophecy was speaking or forth telling and foretelling what god wanted to happen in a situation that was tied to his revelation so prophesy is just not a general reading of the bible or general hearing somebody preach it is targeted it is speaking into us initial situation that's why the new testament says despise not prophecy he's not talking about go to church and hear the preacher he's saying despise not god's word being spoken into a situation so one of the things in your own dryness you should ask god for is a prophetic word not just a sermon now sometime a prophetic word can come through a sermon there have been times people say well you were speaking just to me today like i was the only person in the room so they heard a prophetic word a rhema word and not just a general sermon so despise not prophecy in fact ask for it but it will be the word of the lord but it'll be the word of the lord for your specific scenario not not a general word so i want you to prophesy speak my word into this situation so thus saith the lord verse 5 the lord god to these bones behold i will cause breath to enter to you that you may come to life now they're not alive yet but do you know how it feels to just hear you will live again they still dry bones all they've heard was a word but the word was full of hope now they needed to hope because of the problem they created by their idolatry but he says i want you to tell my army that's been defeated you will rise again you will live again now i know you don't know how i know you can't fix it that's why you're now listening to the word of the lord so i want you to speak into their deadness dryness these words you will live again the corpses have a future so i want to say that you here today in a dry situation you have a future as dead and dry as your situation appears to be you have a future but it won't come from politics or programs it'll come from the lord when he spoke the word of hope there's still dry bones but something happened he said i'm gonna put cedars on you and make your flesh grow back and cover your skin and verse 7 says when i prophesied there was a noise click click click click click click click click click there was a rattling and bones came together bone the bone okay well now stay with me he's just prophesied all he's done is preach the prophetic word but that started to shake things up a little bit [Applause] that started to disturb things things started rattling then bones them bones them dry bones hear the word of the lord that the bones started rattling something happened when a prophetic word was spoken into the situation we don't just need general preaching today we're in too big a mess for that we need the prophetic word spoken into the situation so the bones can rattle noise the bones wanted to come together one of the great missions of the evil one is to keep the saints disconnected keep the bones from connecting keep the saints disunified over the foolishness of race culture class and gender abuse and to keep us distinct from each other but he said when the prophetic word came forth stuff started to come together i heard a noise there was a rattling there was a shaking but only when stuff had gotten so bad that they had been dry for a long time we've been dry long enough there's the problem verse eight even though stuff was rattling there was no breath in them they were anatomically organized now because stuff is getting connected but they weren't breathing there was no there was no breath so they had the word they're now organized the bones are connecting they're getting some muscle and tissue on them skin but there's still no life it is easy to miss this next verse but it's critical to the story verse 9. then he said to me god said to me prophesy to the breath prophesy son of man and say to the breath thus says the lord god come from the four winds of breath and breathe on the slain that they may come to life he tells the ezekiel talking to the people is not enough prophesy to the people and you'll get some rattling you'll get some folk leaving talking about didn't he preach i like that sermon oh that made me feel so much better because they feel a little hope you'll get something but that ain't life yet that's some rattling but that's not life he says i want you to prophesy to the breath so ezekiel was to prophesy in two different directions one to the bones and then he was to prophesy to the breath well now the question on the floor is what exactly is the breath what is this thing he says in verse 10 i prophesied as he commanded me the breath came into them and they came to life and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army wow what is the breath verse 14 i will put my spirit within you the hebrew word for breath is ruach ruach refers to the life pulsating work of the holy spirit you know when god created it said the spirit of god hovered over the earth and things began to live again the earth was without form and void it had stuff but didn't have order and it didn't have life and it says as soon as the holy spirit started hovering over it stuff became alive again and now you're getting fish and animals and you get life he says watch this prophesy to the breath preach to the people the dead bones but then prophesy the reason why we are not alive is the spirit is missing even if you have the word. if all you have is the bible you have enough for rattling not enough for living let me say that again if all you have is the word you have enough for rattling i love the way john 6 63 says it says and the spirit gives life but when the word connects with the spirit things begin to live again that look like they could never ever function again and not only did they live they became a exceedingly great army what does an army do fight you know what christians have been doing retreating the reason why we're in this mess is because we were a retreating army huge army everybody loving jesus retreating to the church and abandoning the culture to the devil it is always second corinthians 3 17 and 18. he says but you all with unveiled face he says coming into his presence and when you do you look into the mirror of his word and then the spirit takes over transforming you you must have both now let me make all of us feel a little bad now if you just show up for the sermon all you'll get is a rattle maybe if it's a prophetic word for you you will never get transformation from a sermon a sermon is foundational a sermon he tells them prophesy the word first look you can have a refrigerator stove can opener toaster that's anatomically correct but without it being plugged into electricity it has no life you may have a manual that will explain all the exegetical elements of how this thing ought to work you may read the instructions and say amen hallelujah praise god for how the toaster works you could spend all day in front of the book with the toaster but without electricity it will not live to pop up toast to keep food cold or to cook it it needs a life-giving source he says prophesy to the spirit well women why wait women i'm confused why does the spirit need prophecy and i don't understand the spirit and and and it says i like this he says from the four winds okay when the bible talks about four winds and some of each each like corner of the earth uh ezekiel said how these bones gonna live again god asks ezekiel either said i don't know but the reason why you don't have to have the answer is because god's got locations he can come from in any direction from you know over here over here over here over here he can come from any direction he says and the four winds closed him on it that means if it's coming from any direction i don't know how god's gonna fix this i don't know how god's gonna fix you i don't know how god's gonna fix me i don't know how god's gonna fix us all i know is he has access to the whole kid in caboodle [Applause] and because he's got access to the whole kid in kabuto you don't have to be able to figure out how when where you just have to make sure you've given up your idolatry and you're listening to the prophetic word the reason he tells him to prophesy to the spirit which is the breath is because in the bible jesus says the spirit is the spirit of truth in other words the spirit will only respond to the truth we don't get this the holy spirit which is the life-giving source will only respond to the truth if it is not the truth meaning based on god's word he will not respond when you mix human opinion with the truth he will not respond told him in john chapter 5 he said you search the scriptures you read your bible but you don't have life because you don't have relationship with me unless you are spiritually in contact prophesy but what am i prophesying to the spirit i'm prophesying to the spirit about the bones so wait amen i'm telling the folks what god said about the bones but now i'm turning up and telling the holy spirit what he said about the bones so i'm telling folk what god said i'm telling the spirit what god said and the reason i'm telling them both is because he's the spirit of truth and when the spirit hears and sees i'm functioning on the truth then the spirit is free to operate in my situation i just plugged in to the electricity reading your bible learning your bible studying your bible is key but it won't give you life it'll make you rattle it'll it'll it'll shake it'll get you going a little bit but it won't breathe life he says the breath the wind's got to blow you know the best thing you can do is tell god what he said [Applause] forgive the way this sounds but hold god hostage to his word prophesy to the spirit holy spirit this is what god said you said this and these are my bones situation so i'm bringing this up to you so your spirit can link with the word so let's look at this picture as we come to conclusion say to them verse 12 they'll say of the lord behold i will open your graves and cause you to come up out your graves my people and i will bring you into the land of israel number words i'm gonna bring you back to what you lost why are you going to do this why why will you do this we we've been we we've we've forsaken you we've abandoned you we've not repented we don't go on our own way do you mean as long as we've been doing our own thing you still let us live again why are you going to do that look at what he says twice verse 13 then you will know that i am the lord in the verse 14 then you will know that i am the lord have spoken and done it declares the lord god will let us get so low when we have been in rebellion against him that only he can fix it there'll be no humans getting the credit there'll be no program getting the credit you're gonna know it's me cause you buried you in your grave i am the god of resurrection i'm gonna bring you out of your grave and not only am i gonna bring you i waited jeremiah 29 says it you know i have a plan for you says the lord plan for your well-being and now for your calamity to give you a future to give you a hope and then he says then you will seek me and then you will look for me then you will find me when you search for me with all of your heart then he comes to verse 14 and says and i will restore your fortune i'm going i'm going i'm going to reconstitute this thing if you ever been to a pizzeria i'm talking about one run by the italians i'm talking about a real pizzeria okay i've done my one where they you see them cooking fix it from scratch they got this wad of dough and then they begin to abuse it look at this lot of deal with it take it slam it down bam take a pin be rolling all over it just just just roll just just flatten it out then at the real pizzeria they'll spin it on their finger they'll be spinning today well i want the good stuff i want the sausage and the pepperoni yeah and the bacon and the cheese i mean i want the real thing i want the real thing but you see you can't get the real thing until the dough has been made ready to receive it and the dough ain't ready until it's been reduced to dependency he says and then you will know i'm god i did this because maybe when you get this low for this long and you find out it's only me maybe you won't leave me next time maybe you won't abandon me next time maybe next time you won't kick me to the curb because you want to be accepted by the culture maybe next time when the culture wants to subvert you you say i ain't going there no more because i haven't been to the valley once and i don't want to go to the valley again so when i was uh when i was growing up what i did on many saturdays would go to the lafayette bowling alley lafayette bowling alley was located a couple of miles from my house and that was duck pin bowling now you hardly see that anymore for those of you old schoolers will remember duck pin bowling the this was small the small ball not the one you put your three fingers in this is one you held in one hand and you did regular bowling but it wasn't the sophisticated bowling we know today it was called duck pin because of the small ball that you would use well back then bowling wasn't sophisticated like it is now the technology was not as it is now so when you rolled and knocked down the pins the technology was so bad it often would not be able to pick up all the pins that have been knocked down so at the lafayette bowling alley when i was growing up there was a man behind each of the alleys who would walk from lane to lane picking up pins that had been knocked over that the equipment didn't get now you never saw this guy's face i never knew who this was you saw his feet and all he did was go from lane to lane to lane to lane picking up pins that had been knocked over that the machinery didn't get never knew who he was all i knew is he was able to take something that had been rolled over and set it up right again if you feel like your life has been rolled over by your circumstances and there is no hope if you feel like things have gone apart and they can't get better i can't tell you what he looks like but i do know somebody who can go from life to life family to family church to church culture to culture and he knows how to take things that have been knocked over and set them up right again so don't you quit don't you give up don't you throw in the towel and why can you keep going even though life is knocked you over you can keep going so that you will know that he alone is the lord god of your circumstances [Applause] and with that in mind we want to take a moment to give him some praise to give him some praise right where he is right where you are i want to invite you right where you are to let the lord know that he's your hope you can tell him lord only you know i don't know how this situation can change whatever it is i don't know how you can make me an exceedingly great soldier in your army i don't know all i know is i'ma go to your prophetic word and i'ma place that word in your presence through my worship that the spirit of god will connect with the word so that i can live again i want to live again and jesus said i've come to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly so lord we say thanks let me give you a moment just to spend a moment with the lord [Music] lord here we are broken beaten disjointed and at varying levels hopeless but you told the prophet to say these bones will live again so we're believing your word and we're going to throw your word back up in your face lord we've preached your word and we've spoken to many situations but i now speak to the breath to the spirit spirit did you see what god said he said these bones will live again your church will live again this relationship will live again this hope will live again your word said that so breathe on us as we worship as we adore you as we celebrate you [Music] receive us lord as we eat this bread and you shed your blood so that we could have life and have it more abundantly we follow christ this week you are our lord we drink together [Music] bless your name lord and may these dry bones live again your church your exceedingly great honor we don't know how but we do know who in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Views: 32,403

Rating: 4.9096045 out of 5

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Id: 5r83dtsytZo

Length: 84min 47sec (5087 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 21 2021