https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMflpl35yE
August 23, 2015
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Summer Sermon Series:
“Revive Us Again O Lord!”
Adapted from
“Revival” by Adam Hamilton
Theme: A longing for holiness…
1 Peter 1:13-16 MSG
Bible
Ezekiel 37:1-10 AMP
Bible
“A Better Way”
Prayer for God’s Word to be heard through me…
Ezekiel
37:1-10
37 The hand of the
Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 And He caused me
to pass round about among them, and behold, there were very many [human bones]
in the open valley or plain, and behold, they were very dry.
3 And He said to me,
Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, You know!
4 Again He said to
me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, O you dry bones, hear the word of
the Lord.
5 Thus says the Lord
God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath and spirit to enter you, and
you shall live;
6 And I will lay
sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin, and I will
put breath and spirit in you, and you [dry bones] shall live; and you shall
know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who
calls forth loyalty and obedient service].
7 So I prophesied as
I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise and
behold, a shaking and trembling and a rattling, and the bones came together,
bone to its bone.
8 And I looked and
behold, there were sinews upon [the bones] and flesh came upon them and skin
covered them over, but there was no breath or spirit in them.
9 Then said He to
me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and
spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit,
and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
10 So I prophesied
as He commanded me, and the breath and spirit came into [the bones], and they
lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.
Have
you ever been to or seen pictures of the desert? All of the pictures I have
ever seen, it looks like a dead, sandy place. Not anywhere I would really want
to live. Now I know there are places that don’t look that bad but my vision of
it seems a little too rough and rugged to me. But I think that the most amazing
thing about the desert is that when the rains come, it is transformed into
something of beauty. What seemed dead comes alive in vibrant color. How
beautiful it must be to actually be there when that happens…an awakening of
something most may think is barren.
Like
the desert scene and the scripture from Ezekiel that I read, our Spirit’s may
feel as if they are a dry desert place. All things around us may seem dead to
us. But as God breath’s His breath of life His Ruach upon us, we come alive and live again…the word Ruach means breath, wind, Spirit…of God. This is what we need
as we are revived…given mouth to mouth by God. I have heard it said that
it’s like having an elephant on your chest…you can’t breathe. And like those
bones…we need the sinews and ligaments reattached…we need flesh and skin
attached. Then we can receive the breath of God that brings us alive again. It
can be a process not just a quick regeneration…
As
I shared last week, this summer…we are embarking on a faith journey together.
We are going to be intentional with our faith and our God. We are going to ask
God to revive us again with that passion for Him and His word. We are going
back to a time when people met in fields and sheep barns. We are going to look
at what made a difference in their lives…why their era was different than ours
and what is the same. We are going to take a walk with John Wesley and see how
he lived out his faith. My prayer is that
we will be challenged and changed…that our Spirit’s will be filled and
energized so that when we leave our church each Sunday and go out into the
world as light bearers of the King. As we become those light bearers I pray
that we bring revival to our community and beyond…to the ends of the earth. But
as I stated last week…it all begins here…within ourselves…being intentional
with our faith…with our Spirit…with our God. We want a revival within our
souls…
So…Revival…
·
a reawakening of faith or renewal of commitment
to religion
·
an
evangelistic meeting or service intended to effect such a reawakening in those
present.
Last
week we talked about being intentional…wanting to awaken what may have fallen
asleep within us… As we Long for Holiness
we need to be intentional with what we do in order to achieve our deepest
longing.
Longing
for holiness is not a onetime thing…it is a way of life. We have heard the
expression “holier than thou” about those who think they have achieved it in
their life time. This is called a journey for a reason. When we stop longing
for holiness or think we have achieved it, we need a long conversation with
God…we need to look into His word and through that encounter with the Divine,
God will either lift us up or correct us whichever is needed.
So
longing for holiness…what does this mean?
Holiness
is the state or quality of being holy. We want to be holy…as the 1 Peter from
this morning states:
As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped
by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am
holy; you be holy.”
We
want to live a life pleasing to God for he has called us to be holy as He is
Holy. This is something that cannot be completed…even attempted…without God. We
are to live a life set apart from the world, not as the world. As we reach for
this type of faith, it is not only about intellect and knowing God’s word but
it also a heart matter. Studying His word as well as reading devotionals works
both the mind and heart muscles. Reflecting on God’s word feeds both as well.
So
how can we have this type of revival…how can we work both our minds and
Spirits? Well one way is to do everything to the Glory of God. Brother Lawrence
did everything in life for the glory of God. Even when he was washing dishes he
did it for the glory of God. We can turn all the events of our daily life into
holy ground as we think of ways…think of how we can do it to the glory of God.
Sometimes it just takes a new way of view our daily lives as one set on the mission
of doing it for the glory of God.
We
can change the “feeling” of what we do by agreeing with “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.” We can
recite these words as we think about our daily lives and if it is bringing God
glory or not. This is what I want you to
try for the next week. Recite the Lord’s Prayer and when you get to this part
think about if you are living your life in this way? If not…think of ways that
you can.
Breath
Prayers is another good way to refocus our minds. Some use scripture or a hymn
to breath in and out their prayer. One
piece of scripture is Psalm 115:1…breath in “Not us, O Lord, not us” then
breath out “…but to you your Name give glory.” We refocus from us to You O
Lord.
Revival
is not easy…it requires change and intentionality. But if we but just turn our
hearts back to our First Love, He is faith to return back to us. But again it’s
all about choice. God will not “make us” come back to Him but woo’s us back
through His Spirit within us. When we are intentional about our everyday life
we become more aware of the divine within us as well as around us. We can again
have that “joy of our salvation”. Maybe…just maybe…as we reach out to God with
all we are and all we have we will be changed and renewed. But as I have always
said…it begins with you and with me. As we begin that journey back we too shall
cry out…”Revive us again O Lord”. This we pray in the strong and precious Name
of our Lord Jesus Christ…
Amen…
No comments:
Post a Comment