Gregg DeMey 0:09
Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, May 16 and Sunday's coming indeed - it's not just any Sunday, but Pentecost Sunday! This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and God's word for us today comes from the book of the prophet Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 1 through 6.
Gregg DeMey 0:30
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Gregg DeMey 1:21
What a scene, right? A vision of a valley full of dry, dead bones and then the breath of God promises to bring them back to life. This is what God alone can do to bring life from death valley (and strength, out of weakness.
Gregg DeMey 1:42
Some years ago, there was a personal assessment tool that hit the market called Strength Finders. It came across in both the business and the church worlds. The basic idea of Strength Finders is that out of a possible 40 or so qualities and competencies, effective folks lean into their own top 3 competencies and largely downplay or ignore their weaknesses. For example, if you're a basketball player and you're not very tall but have an amazing three point shot, you should probably spend your time on the perimeter of the court. While that may work in basketball (and to some degree in business), it's not a workable spiritual principle. In fact, if we only pay attention to our spiritual gifts and strengths, we can easily delude ourselves that we are competent in our own right and not beggars, desperately in need of God's grace for salvation and redemption. In fact, it is God's great work to meet us right in the middle of our weakness, our sin, our sickness, our failure and to work some kind of turnaround with us.
Gregg DeMey 2:56
God himself is not exempt. Jesus went through the cross into the grave, and there in the grave the power of God exerted its greatest power. I like to think that the Holy Spirit is something of a weakness finder - never to shame or humiliate us, but to bring life into these bones of ours to demonstrate for us and the whole world to see that God alone can do it.
Gregg DeMey 3:25
Let's pray. Lord, today, meet us in the midst of our weakness. Find our dry bones and breathe new life into your people. We are open to you. In Jesus name and for his sake, amen.
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