It's a wonderful life - Speak Life

Speak Life! 

Illustrate Here Video: Valley of dry bones 

Ezekiel 37:1 "The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?" "O Sovereign LORD," I replied, "you alone know the answer to that." 4 Then he said to me, "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" 7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.'" 10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army."

1.     Speak Life.

1.      Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones came to him after God had directed him to prophesy the rebirth of the Nation of Israel in chapter 36.

2.      God had just announced, through the prophet, that Israel will be restored to her land in blessing under the leadership of “David, My servant [who] shall be king over them”, clearly a reference to the future under Jesus Christ the Messiah, descendant of David.

3.      However, this seemed remote in light of Israel’s present condition.

1.      Israel was “dead” as a nation, deprived of their land, their king and their Temple.

2.      They had been divided and dispersed for so long that unification and restoration seemed impossible.

3.      So God gave Ezekiel the valley of the dry bones as sign of what was to come.

1.      God transported Ezekiel in a vision—to a valley full of dry bones and directed him to speak to the bones.

4.      Speak Life into the bones.

1.      Ezekiel was to tell the bones that God would make breath enter the bones and they would come to life, just as in the creation of man when He breathed life into Adam.

1.      What God has done God can do again.

Genesis 2:7 "Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person."

2.      Ezekiel obeyed, the bones came together, flesh developed, skin covered the bones, breath entered them and they stood up in a vast army.

3.      This vision symbolized the whole Nation of Israel that was then in captivity.

1.      Like unburied skeletons, the people were in a state of living death, pining away with no end to their judgment in sight.

2.      They thought their hope was gone and they were cut off forever.

3.      The surviving Israelites felt their national hopes had been dashed and the nation had died in the flames of Babylon’s attack with no hope of resurrection.

4.      The reviving of the dry bones signified God’s plan for Israel’s future national restoration.

5.      The vision also, and most importantly, showed that Israel’s new life depended on God’s power and not the circumstances of the people.

1.      Pouring breath, pouring life into the bones demonstrated that God would restore them physically and spiritually.

2.     Why speak Life?

1.      Speaking life is all we have.

2.      God commanded the man of God to speak the Life of God; I assume He expects no less from us.

3.      We are to speak life everywhere we go and in everything we do.

1.      Many, many marriages fall apart because everything thing but life was spoken.

2.      Great churches cease to exist because everything gets spoken, but life.

3.      Many parents destroy their relationships with their children because they only speak rule, order, condemnation, frustration, fear, and punishment and they never try to speak Life!

4.      Careers get lost, opportunities get buried, potential gets obliterated, value becomes incinerated, and hope degenerated all because life refuses to be spoken.

1.      When people choose to attend God's house they ought to be hearing a message of God's life!

2.      A message filled with God's restoring power, God's healing power, God's forgiving power, and God's rescuing power.

1.      God's life ought to fill His house, fill His message, and fill His people.

3.     As we speak life.

1.      Others lives are affected.

2.      Others lives are dramatically affected.

3.      As we speak life Christ is exalted, freedom is restored, and humanity is rescued.

1.      It's a wonderful life as we Speak Life.

2.      It's a wonderful life when humanity is restored in God.

3.      It's a wonderful life when faith in humanity is restored and that only occurs when life is spoken.

1.      When death is spoken death occurs.

2.      The Devil speaks death every chance he gets.

3.      He speaks death and we start shaking.

4.      He speaks death and we let fear overtake us, doubts overwhelm us, and unbelief resides in us.

1.      He drips death, breathes death everywhere he goes and in everything he does.

2.      He is the author of confusion, the father of every lie, and the destroyer of life.

4.      God commands us to Speak Life for very good reason.

1.      In Him is life and the life brought light to everyone.

John 1:4 "The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone."

2.      As we speak life we are speaking God.

1.      We are speaking heaven.

2.      We are speaking truth.

3.      We are speaking eternity.

4.      We are speaking life.

1.      Can humanity live again?

1.      As we speak life they can.

2.      Only as we speak life will they live again.

2.      Some are so confused at the command to Speak Life.

3.      Some are so fearful at the instruction to Speak Life, some are paralyzed at the future, believing that saying and doing nothing is doing something.

1.      As we Speak Life eternities are altered.

2.      As we speak life families are restored. Children are inspired to their God purpose.

3.      Adults are reunited to their God Mission and life multiplies.

4.      As we speak life a vast army will rise up.

5.      A vast army will take their place and will speak life with us.

1.      God's army speaks empowerment, speaks compassion, speaks direction, and speaks forgiveness. God's army speaks power, speaks overcoming, speaks mercy, speaks resource, and speaks truth.

2.      God's army speaks leadership, speaks sacrifice, speaks restoration, and speaks healing. God's army Speaks Life.

4.     Forever speak life.

1.      What if life was the only thing that could exit out of me?

2.      What if all I could speak was, Life?

3.      What if all I could produce was life would it make a difference?

1.      Yes a drastic one!

Isaiah 41:9,10 "9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, 'You are my servant.' For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. 10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

2.      I have been given new life so I will speak that life.

3.      I have been empowered by life so I will empower others in that life.

1.      Life represents the salvation of Jesus Christ.

2.      I will speak life, not death.

3.      I will speak justification, not condemnation.

4.      I will speak to the life-changing agent in us all the Holy Spirit.

1.      You might have walked in here in a spiritual death sentence but Jesus Christ is here to bring life, speak life, empower with life and restore   you to new life.

John 1:6 "God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light."

4.      God sent a man.

1.      God has sent mankind to tell mankind about the light, about the life. 

2.      We are not the light we are witnesses to the light.

1.      This culture this generation is waiting for us to prophesy.

2.      Our family, our friends, our coworkers, our associates and acquaintances are waiting for a breath from heaven.

1.      A breath so faith filled so empowered, so enveloped with the presence of an almighty, life giving, life restoring, and life bringing God.

2.      God is sending me into the death, into the hopelessness, into the nations to Speak LIFE!

Isaiah 55:11 "It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

3.      Everywhere we send the Word and speak the Word it will prosper.

1.      If all we speak is gloom, and doom, everything is gonna go boom, and zoom, zoom what is our message!?

Romans 5:21 NLT [21] "So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

5.      We have the greatest life giving, life altering, life igniting, and life lasting message of all time!

1.      It's about time we live out this wonderful life. 

2.      Our message gives life.

3.      Our message breathes eternal life not threatening.

1.      This message is one of strength it is one of character it is one of impossibility!

Acts 20:24 NLT [24] "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."

2.      Why do you think the bones were there exposed to the elements?

1.      Because many times we just want to bury those things we call dead.

1.      God is not interested in burying it but requires us to speak life in to it.

3.      What we want to forget, what we endeavor to bury, what we act as if never happened God wants us to resurrect and speak life into it.

Super Excited to be sharing next month where we are going and how we are going to get there.

You do not want to miss a service in January!!