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Nov 01, 2020

Missions Sunday

Missions Sunday

Passage: Ezekiel 37:1-10

Speaker: Mike Taylor

Series: Impact

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: vision, mission, outreach, spirit, change, risk, guide, support, spiritual development, spread the word, dependency, god's call, create lasting change, spread the word of the lord

Missions Sunday | Impact | Matt Petty & Mike Taylor | Burnt Hickory Special guest Mike Taylor shares what it means to live out the mandate of taking the gospel to the world starting right at home. How do we advance the gospel in the context of today? It's relationships. It's relationships. It's relationships. Every person that names the name of Jesus, wherever your foot falls tomorrow as you wake up to start your routine; school, work, you know, neighborhood, that's wherever your foot falls, that's mission. The primary instrument is you God's hand is upon you and He leads us by His Spirit. God's vision for your life is uniquely personal, and He's wired you for relationships. He's called you into mission and it is uniquely personal, to every individual. Not everybody is called to cross an ocean, but everybody in this room is called to advance the gospel. Are you willing to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and say, yes, and whatever it costs, you will lay it on the line and sacrifice and go, demands obedience? The willingness to turn your back on, maybe what you want to do with a heart that says, Yes, Lord, I will follow, I will do what you call me into.

Well, good morning church, one of the ways that we show what Christ has done in us is by how we use our lives and how we use all that God has gifted us with what He has given us the talents He's given us. And a couple of times a year, we have some really specific laser beam focus on what it looks like to live a life of mission. One of this year's extremely, extremely, extremely important examples of that is these next coming weeks. This week, and next week, we're going to look at what it looks like to make an impact. What it looks like to take that next step in serving the king. And this week, we're going to do it a little bit differently. We have a guy this week, that's become one of my best friends over the years by the name of Mike Taylor.  Mike and I met 2006 at a student ministry conference. And Mike quickly became one of those guys in life that you say, Man, that guy loves Jesus, He loves the Lord. He loves his family. And he has an incredible story of how God has used him in his life.  Him and his wife Cookie, now live kind of part of the time in the United States part of the time in Britain, he started a ministry called UK, USA to reach Northern England over the last years, but here recently, he's just stepped into a role with an organization called GEM, Greater European Mission. And now he's the Vice President of mobilization of an organization that has a goal to reach the post Christian Society of Europe. So this morning, Would you do me a favor? Welcome Mike Taylor, come bring the word for us, Mike. So glad to have you, man. Thank you.

 

Bless you. Love you, dude.

 

Well Burnt Hickory, it is a privilege and an honor to get to be with you today.  As Matt said, I'm kind of stuck between two continents. We're supposed to be in Europe. We came home when COVID hit in March. So now we're kind of stuck in America. But we're ready. We're anxious to get back. Unfortunately, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of England yesterday, you know, shut things down completely. So we're a month, with no movement, really. So, it's a challenging moment, as we're experiencing here. I just want to say thank you to Burnt Hickory, first of all.  Matt and I are dear friends. He and Melissa and their family.  As Matt said, we met about 15 years ago. And we love them. We love this church. He brought the student ministry radiate over in 2014. And actually, Matt, bringing the choir so normally in England, you know, you don't bring 150 people to do a mission trip. You know, it's more like, you know, 15 to 20 and when Matt said, hey, I want to I want to bring our high school ministry across. I was like, Matt, we don't really do that. So it kind of broke our paradigm, you know. And so now we have groups, as big as that and bigger sometimes it's become really crazy. But I want to just highlight one thing from that first experience in 2014. He also sent college students came across and then actually your church has sent individuals to come and live and do life in the northeast of England. So as a mobilizer, we love short term, come, come, come serve for a week or 10 days or two weeks or whatever. We love summer interns, come do that, come hang out with us. But what we really need is people on the ground doing life moment by moment.  In the United Kingdom when I moved there in 2011, nearly 10 years ago now. Currently the statistic is less than 3% would profess faith in Christ, right? Less than 3%. Now that's the United Kingdom. When you move into the continent of Europe. Everything is under 2%. So the entire continent of Europe with the exception of Romania is under 2%. That's an unreached people group by missiologists. They would view the European continent now, which once was the brightest candle that burned for the gospel things like the reformation, the First and Second Great Awakening.  emanated from the continent of Europe and changed countries, hopped oceans and changed continents. That place is now I believe one of the darkest places on the planet to do ministry. The spiritual darkness is so palpable.

 

And so, you feel it everywhere you go. When you guys came in 2014, y'all sang in the school that my son went to, it's called Kings Academy. So, it's an amazing school with amazing leadership, about 1000 students, and I'm going to tell you right now, maybe eight believers among the student population, so less than 1%. And when y'all sang in that assembly, well, first of all, you can hear a pin drop anyway, because everything's really rigid in Kings Academy. All right?  But something happened on the last song as y'all were about to go and leave. And sweet Emma, who was 14 when she was there, um, you know, she's a wonderful singer, as you know, but man, the Spirit of God fell on that assembly. And faculty, non-believers, as well as believers, began to weep.  It was a powerful moment, one that I will never forget while she was singing that last song, it just flooded in my mind how God used this church, to speak into the lives of literally 1000 high school students. What a powerful moment. So, thank you Burnt Hickory, for your investment in our ministry, and the impact of the gospel globally. And this morning, you know, Matt shared our story a little bit. I was a youth pastor in America for 30 years. And I took up my first mission trip to England was in 2005. And as I shared earlier, I mean, my whole mindset was, you know, England's had the gospel, you know, what's the deal? You know, why is this such a big deal that for us to go and do life there?  And again, my first experience there I was, just kind of blown away.  I was overwhelmed with the post Christian culture, the angst and the edge, and some of the hardness, you know, the European, the British person's heart, the Europeans heart is hard now.  It's become hardened to the things of God, the gospel was bright there, and was, you know, folks in all over the world from that place, but now it's a real hard place spiritually. So when we were confronted with that; I actually wrote in my journal in 2005, God, is this a place I'll spend significant time in life and ministry?  And we wrestled with that call, you know, for five years, as a family, I have four kids, my sweet wife, Cookie, 37 years of marriage now, but at that time, obviously, we've been married for quite a while, nearly three decades, two of my kids were in college, one was about to go to college, it's not the normal time where you go, okay, I'm gonna unplug from a paycheck and I'm gonna, you know, go start raising money to launch a ministry and move across an ocean.  Right?  It wasn't really the time. So, part of the problem was, as we wrestled with this call that I wrote in my journal, in 2005 was, you know, getting over myself.

 

And the fact that I was the provider, for my family, and the fact that I was in charge of my next step. And as God began to press and break us, we made the decision on January 2nd 2011, to resign and began UK as a ministry. So, we're coming up on our 10th year anniversary of leading UK USA ministries and as Matt shared now, I'm also you know, the lead of mobilization across all of Europe, for Greater Europe Mission. and Europe needs you. So, pray and join us in partnering, you know, send yourself that's the heartbeat that, you know, I'd love to mobilize me today. You know that 48-year-old person who's sitting in a Pew going, there has to be more to life than this. And I'm willing to lay it all on the line. This passage we're going to look at today, has become really important to us. The first time I read this passage, I was standing, well not the first time, the first time in England that I read this passage, I was standing on this place where we took all 150 of your students to this place called Roseberry Topping in 2005, and this passage has become so powerful to us.  I want to read it over us this morning, all 10 of these verses. It's familiar if you've been to Bible school, you've heard the valley of dry bones, but I want to read this to you. Ezekiel 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 middle of the valley," where we live in the northeast of England is called the Tees Valley. It's a beautiful valley, the Tees Rver kind of rolls through, drops into the North Sea and so this this is a powerful reminder of the need of that place and the need of England and the need of Europe. It's become this really dry place spiritually. And Ezekiel says, "it was full of bones.  And He led me around among them and behold there were very many on the surface of the valley and behold they were very dry.  And, He said to me, Son of Man, can these bones live?  And I answered, oh Sovereign Lord, you know.  Then He said to me, Prophecy over these bones and say to them dry bones, here the word of the Lord!" I love that. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay tendons on you, and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin, and put breath in you and you shall live  and you shall know that I am the Lord. So, I prophesied, as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked and behold there were tendons on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.   But there was no breath in them. Then he 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, oh breath and breathe on these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath, came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army."

 

God, we love you so much. We thank you, for your word, we pray, in the name of Jesus God, that you would pierce our hearts with your spoken written word, here in Scripture, I pray God, that you would push us to the edge and the end of ourselves, where we would begin to embrace your calling on our life. God, we would embrace the prompting of your Holy Spirit, God, we would become people who are instruments in your hand for the glory of God and for the advancement of the gospel, to make disciples and Lord, we thank you for this church. And the people gathered in it this moment and online watching from all over the world, we asked in the name of Jesus, that you would create a boldness and a sense of urgency for the gospel. And we lift this up to you in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. Well, we're just going to walk through this verse by verse, we're going to start there in verse 1. And the first thing I want you to see in this passage, is that God's hand is on you. Now this was written thousands of years ago, and it was written by Ezekiel. But he said, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and I want you to recognize that you and I are plan A for the advancement of the gospel, and there is no plan B, you and I are the primary instrument of the advancement of the gospel, there is no other plan. And so I want you to understand that God's hand is on you. Now, some of you, that fires you up and flips your switch, and you're like, giddy up, let's go, I'm ready!

 

I want to be the instrument of God, I want to be the hand of God, I want to be the mouthpiece of God, I want to be the feet and the hands of Jesus in my community. But some of you are like, whoa, I don't really want to do that right now I'm not there yet. I'm not prepared for this. I don't know how to do that. So, some of you either fires you up, or it terrifies you.

 

The bottom line is, God has wired all of us to invest. If you name the name of Jesus, you need to recognize you're the primary instrument that God's going to use to take the gospel to your cul de sac, to this community, and to countries not yet known for you. You are the messenger that God's chosen to advance the gospel. One of the things we say over and over and over again, especially in a post Christian world, now, I was chatting with Matt, a little bit about this corner of the world. And obviously, we're not in a post Christian world right here. Now you can go anywhere on a secular campus in any university that is secular, and it's going to feel a whole lot more post Christian than this arena that you're in right here. I want you to know, you go across oceans or parts of the, you know, the edges of our country and post Christian culture is already landing. I used to tell people in America, you know, America is gonna look like Europe in 20 years. I don't say that anymore. I mean, you just have to watch the last seven months, right? And go, man, we're spiraling into post Christian culture, there's an edge and an angst, right? You're the primary instrument that God uses to advance the gospel. Here's what we say, over in Europe, the gospel moves at the speed of relationships. In other words, no one outside of the realm of those small little group of believers is interested in this book. They don't believe this book. They're not interested in a service that you have, or anything that you might draw them to, but they are watching your life. And they will go on a spiritual journey in the context of relationships.

 

I actually think that's Jesus model of ministry. And hasn't it been amplified in the last seven months, when churches literally all across the world were shut down, and no one could gather and here we are. Seven, eight months later, and you have to check in online to be able to gather with a group of believers. It's crazy. But here we are. How do we advance the gospel in that context? It's relationships. It's relationships. It's relationships. God's hand is upon you. But listen, you got an incredible worship team. You've got incredible pastors and ministers, you've got incredible volunteers, but it's not their job to advance the gospel. It's our job. Every person that names the name of Jesus, wherever your foot falls tomorrow as you wake up to start your routine; school, work, you know, neighborhood, that's wherever your foot falls, that's mission.  The primary instrument is you God's hand is upon you. The second thing I want you to see, is He leads us by His Spirit. So, the next part of that verse is, He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord.

 

Now, listen, God's vision for you and for me, is uniquely personal. God's vision for your life is uniquely personal. His hand is on you. He's wired you for relationships. He's called you into mission wherever your foot falls to advance the gospel. But that is uniquely personal, to every individual. Most missionaries, most mobilizers wouldn't say what I'm about to say, not everybody in this room is called to cross an ocean. But everybody in this room is called to advance the gospel. Wherever you're foot falls, it's uniquely personal to you in this moment. So, God's vision is, individualized, it's based on the need of the moment. His need, God's need, where to take you and your need where you are right now. I actually feel like way back in early days, I read Jim Elliot, read the story of Jim Elliot, when I was a freshman in college, I didn't grow up in church, but I actually feel like God pushed me or nudged me, as a 19 year old new believer, with a call for global missions. I really feel that.  It took me 30 odd years to get there, before I answered the call, it was a unique moment for me to hop an ocean. It's not for everybody to hop an ocean, but it is for everybody to advance the gospel where we are. So, God's visions based on the need of the moment, it's born in prayer. It's born with you, and I falling on our faces crying out to God, actively pursuing Jesus, and listening and responding to the Holy Spirit it necessitates recognizing the Spirit of God speaking and leading. So, it's individual. It's born in prayer; it necessitates responding to the Holy Spirit and now watch these next two.  It requires in you and I a willing heart of sacrifice and obedience.

 

Are you willing to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and say, yes, and whatever it costs, you will lay it on the line and sacrifice and go, demands obedience? The willingness to turn your back on, maybe what you want to do with a heart that says, Yes, Lord, I will follow, I will do what you call me into.

 

The third thing here is, He calls us out and into hard things.  And so the Holy Spirit speaks, he brought me out the scripture says, the end of verse 1, "He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones to dry place."  It's a place of death. It's a place of darkness. It's a place of destruction. Doesn't sound like something I want to sign up for.  You?  Like God called me into the mountain experience. I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could just stand here and worship day after day after day after day and experience this incredible thing called Burnt Hickory.  But that's not where life change necessarily happens for lost people. That's not where the need of the moment is the most. We're not called to the mountain. All of us. We're not called to live and stay there. We're called to do life in the valley and it's hard and it's sometimes painful. And it's, you know, dry. I can't tell you the, spiritual darkness that I sense in Europe, how palpable it is.  You can't measure it. But God calls us out or off of the mountain and into hard things into the valley. One of the things I shared in the last service.  

 

I am among the crowd of Corona, not the drink, but you know Coronavirus.  I got Corona in September, so I'm six weeks past you're all good, I promise. Okay?  But while I was, you know, doing the corona thing, and it was, it was bad. It was hard. I haven't had a fever in 37 years. So, I had a fever for a couple of days. And, you know, I felt weak, fatigued. It wasn't, you know, wasn't horrific, but you know, I was sick. And so, what do you do when you're sick?  You binge watch a series, so I had never really watched all of Band of Brothers, I'd seen some scenes and all that, you know, and so I; and it's brutal, by the way, and it's horrific. And there's some really bad language. So, you know, whatever you need to do. Um, but the reality is, I watched it literally from start to finish over two or three days. Right? Lots of, you know, graphic things, powerful things. What I noticed in that crowd, as those guys followed Winters, I mean, terrible moments, brutal moments.  And Winter's would always say, follow me.

 

 

Follow me. That's what Jesus says to you and me, follow me. And they were going into horrific things, hard things, brutal things. But you know what I noticed. Nobody ever hesitated. Nobody ever was like, well, what about this? Or I don't want to go. They just said, yes. I mean, they'd already decided what their predetermined posture was, Yes Lord. And God's calling you and I into hard things. Is your yes on the table today? What if God called you to walk away from the company you're leading and take you across an ocean? Is your yes on the table? What if God called you to humble yourself and go to the neighbor where you've had, you know, challenges and just lay your yes on the table? God I'm, I'm willing to humble myself. What if it was a coworker? What about a family? What about your parents? What about folks that you need to see come to Jesus?  Is your yes on the table?  God calls us out of and into hard things. He's calling you out and calling you into hard things.

 

One of the things you know I want you to see on the screen is; calling isn't for the sacred few super Christians. It's for all of us. The DNA of every Christ follower is the mission of God. We are called to the mission of God that calling was given to you. When you met Jesus? Is your yes on the table? Um, I think one of the things that we need to wrestle with in America is that casual cultural Christianity is over. So over, you can't play both fields. You can't compartmentalize Jesus.  You're either all in or you're not. You're either willing to say I'm a follower of Jesus and take Him into the arenas that you live in, or you're not.  Casual cultural Christianityís got to end folks.  There's a lot on the line for the gospel. And we need to wrestle with the fact that in part of our lives, maybe we have these little compartments, where we go, okay, God, I'll go there, but I'm not going to go there. It's over, let Him be Lord, throw your yes on the table, and be willing to follow Jesus into the story that He wants to write with your life. And that's the next point, He calls you and He calls me into faith. I love this part of the passage where God speaks to Ezekiel. And He basically is asking Ezekiel a question.  Ezekiel can these bones live again.  Isn't that interesting, that God asks Ezekiel a question?  Has God been asking you questions like, man, what can I do with your life? Where can I take you? What can we accomplish as you join me at work? God asks, Ezekiel a question. Now I believe God is all knowing. I believe God is all powerful. I believe God knows the answer. And clearly Ezekiel does as well. He said, Lord, only you know, only you know if these bones can come to life again. So why in the world that God asked him a question?  Because I believe God's giving Ezekiel and God's giving you an invitation into faith. He's asking you to join Him in the thing that He's about to do. Man, that is exciting, that's should fire you up that God wants to write a story with your life, and He's inviting you to join Him in the conversation that is in the story that He's about to write.  It's like reading a great book and you're standing there, you're sitting there, and you can't put it down, and you're waiting to turn the page to the next chapter or the next paragraph. That's, how the Christian life is meant to be lived. God's inviting you today into a story that he wants to write with your life.  He's calling us into faith. 

 

Now, I believe God called me to England in 2005.  And sadly, it took me five years to get over me.  And the calling that God wanted to do with our family.  And so, God kind of pressed into me two or three ideas here about calling and faith, and one of them is, we're way too comfortable. In our culture, it's just easy. It's just easy to do what we do. And so, one of the things God pressed into me, um, was, hey, I need you to resign your church position.  I got two kids in college God, are you kidding me?  Well, what is that?  That's a risk. Right? I love this. I love this picture, God's calling you to risk today. God's calling you to do what no one else would think is wise. Like, okay, you want to resign? Great. God's calling you to risk.   Now watch this risk, leads to dependency on God, that you can't get without risking. And so, the comfortable thing is, if we can stay there, and never get outside of ourselves, and God wants you and I to live in the realm of risk. He's calling you to faith.  Risk leads to this dependency. When was the last time you laid your head on your pillow and said, God, I can't do tomorrow without you? God, whatever you're calling me into. I can't do this without you. That's a posture of risk. Not risky. Not out there like crazy, not mystical, but just a life of faith. The Bible says whatever is not of faith is sin. Yikes. I don't want to think too much about that. Because I want to live in the realm of faith. Are you risking for the glory of God? He calls us.  What would it look like for you to dream again?  You kind of look back and go, okay. And I used to think this way, about the kingdom of God and the advancement of the gospel. What would it look like for you to dream God sized dreams again?

 

What would it look like for this church to dream outrageous, risk driven dreams for the glory of God, something that is going to take great faith and great sacrifice, and great obedience, risk leads to dependency? And quite honestly, dependency leads to intimacy with God that you can't get without risking an intimacy. What would it look like for your family to really live and walk by faith? What would it look like? You know, what would need to happen? What would need to change? What would need to happen for you to become a family that is just seen as faith driven?

 

It's a challenge. God invites Ezekiel into the story that He's writing, He's calling him into faith. The fifth thing I want you to see, really quick is that humility, prayer, and obedience leads to the unexplainable humility, prayer and obedience. So Ezekiel's response is a humble only, only you know God.  I actually picture in my mind, him raising his hands to God, as God's calling him into this really hard thing. And he says, God, only you know the answer to this, only you can do this.

 

So it's that humble heart, the heart of prayer, and it's this responsive obedience. And so, Ezekiel does what God tells him to do. And God begins to do that. I'm not a mathematician, but that feels like an equation to me. As we respond in humility, as we respond in prayer and as we respond in obedience, and we follow we step out God begins to do. It's almost like the threshold of obedience is what brings about action. I love this quote, I don't know who said it, but I'm going to steal it. "The doors of opportunity swing on the smallest hinges of obedience." It's a powerful reminder that as God calls us into faith, and as we humbly respond, as we prayerfully respond, and as we step in obedience, God begins to do.  It's incredible.

 

Obviously, over the last 10 years, we've seen God do some incredible things, supernatural things, life change on the ground in the United Kingdom.  Churches growing again, in our communities, and then God's supernatural provision. It's operating and living in the realm of fate. It's when the unexplainable happens when faith meets obedience, on the threshold of the door of opportunity, the unexplainable takes place. But I want to invite you into that kind of adventure today, where you kind of go, come, I'm done with casual cultural Christianity, I'm done with the average, I'm ruined for the average, I'm ready to take the next step.  The next journey of faith and you respond with a heart of humility, and prayer, and obedience. The beautiful thing is when that happens, when God begins to do through you, the Holy Spirit brings about life and life change. God begins to do the extraordinary.  The Holy Spirit begins to move. So, the scripture says in verse 9, then He 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, oh breath, and breathe on the slain, that they may live. So, I prophesied as he commanded me and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army."  That word breath is a cool word. Okay? It actually it's a great word in the Hebrew, it's the word ruach, okay? And when you say that, you know, it's just kind of rolls off your tongue, you know, the ruach is the breath of God, the Spirit of God. It's the same word we see in Genesis chapter one, when God created the worlds, He spoke the breath of God, and the worlds were created. It's the same word that when God created Adam, the scripture says that he leaned into Adam and he breathed the ruach, the breath of life, and Adam, it's the Spirit of God. It's the same word translated in Greek, where we get the word Holy Spirit pneuma, that the word of God is spoken word of God, the power of the Word of God, the breath of God, the Spirit of God, and when the Spirit of God is moving, it brings life and life change. It's not by might, it's not by power, it's by My spirit. It's not, anything I can do. It's not anything this great church can pull off. It's by My spirit. It's the Spirit of God at work. The Holy Spirit brings about life, and life change. We live in a dark place in Europe. We're desperate. We need the Spirit of God. We need the Holy Spirit to bring about life and life change.  Our nation, the United States of America, we sit at a crossroads. I think post Christian culture is coming at an alarming rate. And we may not feel desperate, but we are desperate. We need Jesus, we need the Spirit of God. That comes as we lean into God wholeheartedly. We ask God to do the unexplainable, we ask God to bring about life change. I think the last thing I want you to see this morning, is that personal, powerful moments that we have as individuals, lead to movements of God.  Personal, powerful moments with God lead to movements.

 

The last part of that phrase, or that verse in verse 10, says that there was an army that rose up. And it comes, it's born out of your personal encounter with God. That then God begins to do something powerful through us. We need a movement of God. I'm praying for the third Great Awakening, on actually asking God to take the European continent where the First and Second Great Awakening came from hopped oceans to do it again. God, we need a movement of God. I actually think the arena that I spend most of my time thinking and visioning and dreaming and praying for is ripe for awakening. It's ripe for revival because it's desperate. Let's not wait till we're desperate in North America. Let's start now.  Let's not wait till it's a post Christian world. Let's start now leaning into God saying God give us a movement of your Holy Spirit. God do something personal in me, that ripples through my life that leads to a movement of God. I love this phrase; and they lived.

 

That's what Ezekiel 37:10 says, and they lived. It's time for the people of God to come alive and rise up and advance the kingdom of God, your kingdom come.   Man would that be on your lips every morning, God, Your kingdom come today.  The places that I go the arenas that you have me in God, Your kingdom come. It's a movement centered on Jesus Christ. It's a movement of love. It's a movement of compassion. It's a movement of sacrifice. It's a movement of generosity. It's a movement of kindness, whatever happened to kindness in our culture. It's one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It's a movement of kindness. It's a movement of honor. It's a movement of hope. God, would you rise up a generation? Would you raise up a people that will follow you wholeheartedly? Pursue you personally and lead to a movement of God, that ripples, and ripples and ripples, until the nation's know Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So how does this affect you? How does this affect me? How does this affect you? God intends to use me. God intends to use you. That's His only plan. There, are no other options. There's nothing. Anything can be done; nothing can be done without you. For the glory of God in the advancement, the gospel. God intends to use me.  The Holy Spirit fills me. Practice the presence of God moment by moment, day by day, I owe the gospel to others. I owe the gospel to others. Paul said, I'm a debtor. The nations need to know my neighbors need to know. My school needs to know I owe the gospel to others. Jesus is worth it. That song we sang, right before we came up, Jesus is worth it. Whatever risk you take, whatever thing you know, do to get out there and tell people about Jesus, Jesus is worth it. We owe the gospel to others. And then the last thing, God is moving. Let's join Him. He's at work. This church has so many opportunities. I mean, you heard multiple things on the screens, there's so many opportunities for you to engage locally, right here. Right now. In the midst of Corona all of it doesn't matter. God is moving, join Him, join Him at work. Be a part of, what God's doing. This isn't about Ezekiel thousands of years ago. This is about you right now. This is about me, right now. A world is watching and waiting for you and me to step into the arena. The story, the chapter, the paragraph that God wants to write with your life. Let's pray. I believe with all my heart, every person in this room that names the name of Jesus, is called to mission, mission Sunday. So often we think that's something that the church is doing, get involved in this.

 

With this organization, it's definitely personal today.  It's about understanding that you're a missionary, you're called to mission.  So, what's next for you? What does that mean?  That we, invite you spirit of the living God. Draw people, today, call people out.  Some of you sitting in this room, you might be 48-year-old me. Great job, loved my church, loved the career, loved everything I was doing. But God said go 48-year-old you. Maybe it doesn't seem right. What's God saying? Risk leads to dependency. Trust Him. Some of you God's calling you across the street. He's nudging.

 

Some of you actually watching online or in the room, God may be calling you into salvation.  Can't understand the mission of God and the adventure that God wants to take you on, if you don't know it. So, what's next for you is man, I'm going to text that number and a pastor is going to connect with you. And you're going to, go on a journey of discovering who Jesus is. And you may give your life to Him tonight, tomorrow, this moment, I surrender my life. Some of you, what's next for you is, man, you need to take the next step, spiritually on this journey of discipleship you got to get in a small group, you got to get connected. You got to be engaged with a group of people, you got to do life with people. The Gospel moves at the speed of relationships, do life with people. Some of you though, and I'm praying, I'm praying some of you, within the sound of my voice will surrender to God's global call for your life. And you will say, I'm willing to risk everything to go to the nations, whatever that looks like for you, wherever that may be. That's what's next. I'm telling you what's next is exciting. What's next is an adventure. But it takes a heart of obedience. God, we give you this time, In Jesus name, Amen.

Follow Along with the Message

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 middle of the valley; it was full of
bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very
many on the surface of the valley, 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 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones,
and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the
Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you
shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall
live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 7 So I prophesied as I was
commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone 8 And I looked, and
behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and
skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he 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, O breath, and breathe
on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded
me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet,
an exceedingly great army.

1. God’s Hand is upon you—Ezekiel 37:1
You are the primary instrument God uses in the advancement of the Gospel!
“The Gospel Moves at the Speed of Relationships”
Are you cultivating relationships for the advancement of the Gospel?


2. He leads us by His Spirit—Ezekiel 37:1
God’s Vision and Mission is uniquely Personal
It is based on the need of the moment
It is born in prayer
It necessitates listening and recognizing the Spirit of God speaking and leading.
It requires sacrifice
It demands obedience


3. He calls us out and into hard things—Ezekiel 37:1-2
Ezekiel was sent into the valley
Ezekiel was surrounded by death, decay and brokenness.
We long for the mountain top but God often sends us and uses us most in the valley
Calling isn't for the sacred few super Christians. It is for all of us. The DNA of every Christ
follower is the mission of God. That calling was given to you when you met Jesus.

4. He calls us into faith—Ezekiel 37:3
What are you trusting God for today that if He doesn’t do it it’s not going to happen?
What would it look like for you to dream God sized dreams again?
What would it look like for your family to really live and walk by faith?

5. Humility, Prayer and Obedience lead to the unexplainable—Ezekiel 37:7-8
We are called to action
Ezekiel acted in humble obedience and God began to do
“The doors of opportunity swing on the smallest hinges of obedience.”
Is your YES already on the Table?

6. The Holy Spirit of God brings life and life change—Ezekiel 37:9-10

7. Personal, Powerful Moments with God lead to Movements—Ezekiel 37:10
God intends to use me
The Holy Spirit fills me
I owe the Gospel to others
God is moving, let’s join HIM!