DRY BONES.

DRY BONES.
 Pastor Lewis Cushman.                                 St Cloud Church of God
GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN US, THEN he THAT IS IN THE WORLD.
 
“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.”
Ezekiel 37:1-3 KJV
 
It always pays to obey the Word of the Lord. You can come to a church service and sing a few songs, listen to a preacher, and head out on your way you can in. Same thing as last week, and the week before, and the week before. What if God has something for you? Are you in a church that will yield to the moving of the Spirit and change things up as needed? What if there are people in the church that are not Christians. There needs to be, we should pray that God send the lost, so they can find out who Jesus is. He is A LIFE CHANGER! Service should always be led by the spirit of God. If not it’s just ceremony.
 
Always take notice of the word "but" when reading the Bible. 
What happens when you turn your back on God?
It is a serious thing when you backslide.   But... 
There is always a God to go back to, and he is always ready to give us a second chance.
 
For Ezekiel this was a vision of the nation of Israel. They were hopeless and everything has gone wrong. Today there may be people who are dry bones, hopeless, and everything is going wrong. Sometimes a preacher might feel like they are preaching to a bunch of dried bones. You go into a church and you get no amens, that’s rights, or O Me’s, the people just sit there looking at you.
 
When you look at your own situation and everything is a complete mess, it's hard to imagine life getting better. Ask yourself "can these bones live?" 
 
Q: Are you in a hopeless situation today?
God is still in control, and with God nothing is impossible. He can even make dried old bones to live. 
 
Two areas where we can see dead dried bones.
1- In the church.
2- In the life of the lost.
 
IN THE CHURCH THERE ARE BONES.
1- Tailbone Christians - just sit and let's others do the ministry of the church.
2- Finger bone Christian - always pointing their fingers at other people and not taking responsibility for their own actions.
3- Jawbone Christians - runs off at the mouth, he puts his mouth into motion before his brain is in gear. 
4- Hipbone Christian - sits on his wallet each service.
5- Dry-bone Christian - no word no prayer
6- Wishbone Christian - always wishing on one thing or another. Gimme  gimme  gimme prayers.
7- Backbone Christian - won't live their life conforming to the world.
8- Knee bone Christian - knows the only way to get power in life is through prayer.
 
IN THE LIFE OF THE LOST THERE ARE DRIED BONES.
A life that is lost is a without hope. Watch the news and you will see what life without God does to people. Look at this world and what it has come to. We need Jesus to come in and change our hearts. We need the life that God gives. The world needs a relationship with a living and loving God who save people.
The lost can fill a church but without the Spirit of God they will leave with the same dead bones they came in when the service is done. In and out of a service without change is a sad way to have church.
Where is the prayer time?
Why are we always in such a rush to get out?
When the Holy Ghost comes in and moves amongst his people something good is going to happen.
That’s when people are blessed, healed, and saved.
 
Can you imagine Ezekiel preaching to dry bones? Listen to what God has to say.
He continued to speak to all the dry bone and there was a noise... and a shaking... And the bones come together. 
 
LIFE LESSON FROM PASTOR:
   When my wife died I did not want to ever preach again, after all the years of serving God, how could he do this to me. "I will never preach again" I was dried bones. I got in the car with my grandson and headed to Florida. Are we there yet?  I stayed for 6 weeks with family. I did not want to see anyone; I sat in church and cried. I was proud and did not want people to see me wiping my tears.  But then.... Then the choir started to sing, just a little talk with Jesus. After the message, the alter call was given, I jumped up and said Lord I can't live like this. I needed life in my dead bones. God can give life to dead bone when your life is a mess.
 
Your life might be a complete mess today and you might have lost all hope, you might have trashed every friendship you have had. You have burnt every bridge, wasted every blessing, and turned away from God...
 
BUT...
HERE COMES THE WORD...
“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:”.  Ezekiel 37:4-5 KJV
 
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”   Romans 10:13-14 KJV
 
When all you see is a valley of dead dry bones, turn to God.
 
Bring in the lost, they need to be saved and where else are they going to get saved?

---

I just feel like something good is about to happen
I just feel like something good is on its way
He has promised that He’d open all of Heaven
And, brother, it could happen any day
When God’s people humble themselves and call on Jesus
And they look to Heaven, expecting as they pray
I just feel like something good is about to happen
And, brother, it could be this very day