Illustrations for March 9...
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Object:
Illustrations for March 9
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Here is preaching's central event. Preaching doesn't occur just when someone shouts, moralizes, or presents a three-point treatise. Preaching isn't an endless quoting of the Bible or a reasoned justification of the faith. Preaching is when someone in God's name speaks to our deadness, applies God's love, and brings God's promise, power, and purpose to our situation.
Through preaching, God's Spirit brings hope to people who can't imagine a way out. What looked like a dead-end becomes a thoroughfare. What appeared to be a cave turns out to be a tunnel through the mountain.
Through preaching, God's Spirit arrives at the doors of those who think life is over for them, like the Hebrews exiled to Babylon and like Jesus' disciples whose dead master was tossed in a tomb. Through preaching, God's Spirit brings resurrections, not just one long ago, but again and again in God's people. "I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live."
Ezekiel 37:1-14
My brother-in-law raised cattle in northeast Kansas. One summer, years ago, when my family and I visited from Los Angeles, he gave me a leg bone from a cow of his that had died the winter before. That bone traveled far. I took it when my wife and I tried to become contestants on the old Let's Make Deal show in Hollywood. It didn't work.
Later, that bone moved to Iowa with us and helped decorate my wife's flower garden. Our dog, Doke, somehow got his mouth around it, and he carried it around for a while. The ample-sized bone finally met its end when Norma accidentally drove over it while she mowed the lawn. It shattered into a hundred pieces.
At no point, however, did I expect it to connect with other bones, be surrounded with flesh, and walk again. Neither did Ezekiel or any of his contemporaries expect their "bone-dry" captive nation to exist anymore. But they hadn't reckoned with God's mighty power. We can't lose faith in it.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
One of the most fascinating experiences of our trip to the Holy Land was standing on top of the mountain at Masada where the Jewish Zealots held off the Roman army for two years. There, we read this passage from Ezekiel telling of the valley of the dry bones. Many times in history it appeared that the Jewish nation was wiped out. But God has a purpose for his chosen people. From the bone heaps of history the nation has emerged again and again.
It happened when Joseph saved his family. It happened when Queen Esther saved her people.
Where are the dry-bone yards in your life? Maybe some major disappointment, some physical brokenness, or some mental anguish.
You are asking, "Lord can you revive the dry bones in my life?" And his sure answer is: "... O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live ... And you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:5).
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Hope comes when new life is breathed into a situation where none appears to exist. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier was in tense negotiations with her country's Arabian enemies. She insisted on meeting her opponents face-to-face, even though a journalist suggested to her that doing so was not necessary. He argued, "Even divorces are arranged without personal confrontation." Replied Meier, "I'm not interested in a divorce. I'm interested in a marriage."
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Hint: If God ever asks you the question, "Can these bones live?" the correct answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Ezekiel answered that question in good King James English, "Thou knowest, Lord!" Some might even think he was saying that only God knows for sure, but we can argue that Ezekiel was answering in the affirmative: "Yes, Lord, you know these bones can live!" Ezekiel, living in the midst of tragic times, knew that God is the God of possibilities! God is the God of optimism and confidence and hope! Even in the face of unbelievable obstacles, God assures the unlikely.
It is like the man who was condemned to die by the king. The man pleaded to have the execution postponed. "O great king, I will teach your horse to fly if you will postpone my death for one year." A friend asked him, "Why do that? It's inevitable that you are going to die!" The man responded, "No, it's not inevitable. In fact, the odds are four to one that I will not be executed!"
"How do you figure those odds?" asked the friend. The man answered, "It's simple. One, the king might die before the year is up. Two, I might die of natural causes. Three, the horse might die, and four, I just might teach the horse to fly! It's four-to-one in my favor!"
Can Israel be restored? Can our enemies be vanquished? Can these bones live? Yes, Lord! You know it! We are called to have such optimism in the face of obstacles.
Romans 8:6-11
The Congregational Church of Machias, Maine, which dates back to the eighteenth century, contains a stained-glass window that honors its founding pastor. Among other noteworthy qualities, it describes him as "full of the Holy Ghost."
It's hard to imagine anyone today describing a person -- even a pastor -- using such exalted language. Can you imagine someone turning to a neighbor and saying, "I'd like to introduce our pastor, she's full of the Holy Ghost"? Yet, that's pretty much what Paul, in Romans 8:11, says ought to be true of every Christian. The Holy Spirit dwells in all those who follow Jesus Christ.
How might our friends describe us, in a stained-glass window?
Romans 8:6-11
Edith Burns lived in San Antonio, and she always introduced herself this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" When Edith was hospitalized and close to death, she asked her doctor to put her in a room with a non-Christian so she could share her faith. Everybody at the hospital loved Edith, but the head nurse, Phyllis Cross, was not impressed. Phyllis rejected all of Edith's comments that Edith was praying for her, until one day Phyllis asked Edith, "How come you ask others if they believe in Easter, but you never ask me?" That day, Edith told Phyllis all about Christ, and Phyllis gave her life to Jesus.
A few days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis went to take some flowers to Edith, but she had died during the night. Phyllis walked out of the room and sat down next to a few student nurses. She said, "Hi. My name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"
Romans 8:6-11
It was shocking when Mark was caught stealing from the house of one of his friends. No one really thought he would have done such a thing. At the time, Mark was thirteen years old. The police were called and questioned several other boys. Eventually, Mark confessed to taking the missing items, which were quickly recovered. Mark's parents grounded him for a month. After school, he was supposed to go straight home.
Other parents told their children to stay away from Mark and have nothing to do with him. He was a bad influence, they told their children. Mark was no longer welcomed in their homes.
Interestingly, several of the teenagers did not exactly follow their parents' suggestions. Some became even closer friends with Mark. They treated him in such a way as if he had never done anything wrong. Without realizing it, Mark's loyal friends were offering him grace and forgiveness, even though he did not deserve it. Years later, Mark credits his friends who stood by him as changing his life. He could only speculate what might have happened if all his friends deserted him at that tender age all because of one mistake.
The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, contrasts life in the flesh with life in the Spirit. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus we are able to live by the Spirit.
Romans 8:6-11
Paul may not have known how easy it is to set our minds on the flesh. For example, in 2006, the internet pornography industry had worldwide revenues of $97 billion, over $12 billion of that in the United States. Every second $3,074.65 is being spent on porn, 28,258 internet viewers are on a porn site, and every 39 minutes a new porn film is made. Most sadly, the largest age group for viewing porn is the twelve- to seventeen-year- olds.
Pornography is addictive, likened to an addiction to cocaine. MRIs show that when a person addicted to pornography is exposed to sexual stimulation his brain lights up in much the same way a cocaine addict's brain does when exposed to cocaine.
Besides the ethical and moral considerations, pornography desensitizes viewers to sexually inappropriate behaviors, destroys relationships, and teaches young viewers the wrong lessons about sexual behavior. Author Naomi Wolf, in a 2003 article to New York magazine reported that more and more young women are finding that young men would rather stay at home and watch porn than be out dating.
Although the apostle Paul wasn't exposed to pornography, his saying couldn't be any more relevant: to put your mind on the flesh is death.
John 11:1-45
Bea was always serious about her faith, but only after her sixtieth birthday did she feel God's call to be a pastor. She was confused, but certain she should obey the spiritual summons. She immediately went half-time at her job so she could enter the two-year course to become a commissioned lay pastor.
Three months into the study, her best friend, Alexa, died. Alexa's family turned to Bea to perform the funeral. Bea hadn't gotten that far in her study and asked that they find someone else. They insisted and she finally agreed.
She began the funeral, "I've never officiated at a funeral before, and so I read the gospels to receive instruction from our Lord Jesus. The only reason I'm here today as Alexa's friend is to share with you the good news of what I found in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus doesn't perform funerals. He performs resurrections."
John 11:1-45
I can only guess how many graves I've seen while officiating at scores of funerals in numerous states. My wife has tried to trace where some of her ancestors are buried in Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee, so I've traipsed across many burial grounds with her looking at barely legible headstones and markers. All cemeteries share this -- silence broken only by wind and frequent sounds of sorrow and weeping.
One day in the Bethany cemetery near Jerusalem, something different happened. An occurrence took place that I've never seen in the many graveyards I've visited. A man commanded a corpse to come alive and walk out of its grave.
The dead body amazingly obeyed; the four-days-dead Lazarus came alive and had a reunion with his sisters. It was only a preview of a sudden, worldwide event to come. Jesus will command every body, live or dead, to appear. Some will rise to eternal life with him. Others will meet condemnation. What will happen at your grave?
John 11:1-45
Thomas said, "Let us go that we may die with him."
The home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had always been open to Jesus. Surprisingly when he first heard about the needs at the home of Mary and Martha, he was in no hurry to be there, knowing in his heart that Lazarus would die from this sickness. Here was a crisis that would provide opportunities for the Lord Jesus. Jesus was always turning a "crisis" into an opportunity. Here was an opportunity. An opportunity to demonstrate not only that he had power over sickness and could heal, but he had power over death and could demonstrate that with Lazarus. If he had arrived earlier he could not have demonstrated the power over death.
Other than Jesus, the surprising hero of this incident is Thomas, when he says, "Let us go that we may die with him" (John 11:16). Death was a real possibility at this time because of the fury and uproar Jesus had caused with his last visit. Thomas well knew that he and the other disciples could be facing imprisonment and possibly even death. No doubt he was truly afraid, but he was brave. Bravery includes knowing that a danger is very real, but having a willingness to do the right thing despite the danger. Thomas did the right thing and helped open the door to the marvelous resurrection that was soon to take place.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Here is preaching's central event. Preaching doesn't occur just when someone shouts, moralizes, or presents a three-point treatise. Preaching isn't an endless quoting of the Bible or a reasoned justification of the faith. Preaching is when someone in God's name speaks to our deadness, applies God's love, and brings God's promise, power, and purpose to our situation.
Through preaching, God's Spirit brings hope to people who can't imagine a way out. What looked like a dead-end becomes a thoroughfare. What appeared to be a cave turns out to be a tunnel through the mountain.
Through preaching, God's Spirit arrives at the doors of those who think life is over for them, like the Hebrews exiled to Babylon and like Jesus' disciples whose dead master was tossed in a tomb. Through preaching, God's Spirit brings resurrections, not just one long ago, but again and again in God's people. "I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live."
Ezekiel 37:1-14
My brother-in-law raised cattle in northeast Kansas. One summer, years ago, when my family and I visited from Los Angeles, he gave me a leg bone from a cow of his that had died the winter before. That bone traveled far. I took it when my wife and I tried to become contestants on the old Let's Make Deal show in Hollywood. It didn't work.
Later, that bone moved to Iowa with us and helped decorate my wife's flower garden. Our dog, Doke, somehow got his mouth around it, and he carried it around for a while. The ample-sized bone finally met its end when Norma accidentally drove over it while she mowed the lawn. It shattered into a hundred pieces.
At no point, however, did I expect it to connect with other bones, be surrounded with flesh, and walk again. Neither did Ezekiel or any of his contemporaries expect their "bone-dry" captive nation to exist anymore. But they hadn't reckoned with God's mighty power. We can't lose faith in it.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
One of the most fascinating experiences of our trip to the Holy Land was standing on top of the mountain at Masada where the Jewish Zealots held off the Roman army for two years. There, we read this passage from Ezekiel telling of the valley of the dry bones. Many times in history it appeared that the Jewish nation was wiped out. But God has a purpose for his chosen people. From the bone heaps of history the nation has emerged again and again.
It happened when Joseph saved his family. It happened when Queen Esther saved her people.
Where are the dry-bone yards in your life? Maybe some major disappointment, some physical brokenness, or some mental anguish.
You are asking, "Lord can you revive the dry bones in my life?" And his sure answer is: "... O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live ... And you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:5).
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Hope comes when new life is breathed into a situation where none appears to exist. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier was in tense negotiations with her country's Arabian enemies. She insisted on meeting her opponents face-to-face, even though a journalist suggested to her that doing so was not necessary. He argued, "Even divorces are arranged without personal confrontation." Replied Meier, "I'm not interested in a divorce. I'm interested in a marriage."
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Hint: If God ever asks you the question, "Can these bones live?" the correct answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Ezekiel answered that question in good King James English, "Thou knowest, Lord!" Some might even think he was saying that only God knows for sure, but we can argue that Ezekiel was answering in the affirmative: "Yes, Lord, you know these bones can live!" Ezekiel, living in the midst of tragic times, knew that God is the God of possibilities! God is the God of optimism and confidence and hope! Even in the face of unbelievable obstacles, God assures the unlikely.
It is like the man who was condemned to die by the king. The man pleaded to have the execution postponed. "O great king, I will teach your horse to fly if you will postpone my death for one year." A friend asked him, "Why do that? It's inevitable that you are going to die!" The man responded, "No, it's not inevitable. In fact, the odds are four to one that I will not be executed!"
"How do you figure those odds?" asked the friend. The man answered, "It's simple. One, the king might die before the year is up. Two, I might die of natural causes. Three, the horse might die, and four, I just might teach the horse to fly! It's four-to-one in my favor!"
Can Israel be restored? Can our enemies be vanquished? Can these bones live? Yes, Lord! You know it! We are called to have such optimism in the face of obstacles.
Romans 8:6-11
The Congregational Church of Machias, Maine, which dates back to the eighteenth century, contains a stained-glass window that honors its founding pastor. Among other noteworthy qualities, it describes him as "full of the Holy Ghost."
It's hard to imagine anyone today describing a person -- even a pastor -- using such exalted language. Can you imagine someone turning to a neighbor and saying, "I'd like to introduce our pastor, she's full of the Holy Ghost"? Yet, that's pretty much what Paul, in Romans 8:11, says ought to be true of every Christian. The Holy Spirit dwells in all those who follow Jesus Christ.
How might our friends describe us, in a stained-glass window?
Romans 8:6-11
Edith Burns lived in San Antonio, and she always introduced herself this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" When Edith was hospitalized and close to death, she asked her doctor to put her in a room with a non-Christian so she could share her faith. Everybody at the hospital loved Edith, but the head nurse, Phyllis Cross, was not impressed. Phyllis rejected all of Edith's comments that Edith was praying for her, until one day Phyllis asked Edith, "How come you ask others if they believe in Easter, but you never ask me?" That day, Edith told Phyllis all about Christ, and Phyllis gave her life to Jesus.
A few days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis went to take some flowers to Edith, but she had died during the night. Phyllis walked out of the room and sat down next to a few student nurses. She said, "Hi. My name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"
Romans 8:6-11
It was shocking when Mark was caught stealing from the house of one of his friends. No one really thought he would have done such a thing. At the time, Mark was thirteen years old. The police were called and questioned several other boys. Eventually, Mark confessed to taking the missing items, which were quickly recovered. Mark's parents grounded him for a month. After school, he was supposed to go straight home.
Other parents told their children to stay away from Mark and have nothing to do with him. He was a bad influence, they told their children. Mark was no longer welcomed in their homes.
Interestingly, several of the teenagers did not exactly follow their parents' suggestions. Some became even closer friends with Mark. They treated him in such a way as if he had never done anything wrong. Without realizing it, Mark's loyal friends were offering him grace and forgiveness, even though he did not deserve it. Years later, Mark credits his friends who stood by him as changing his life. He could only speculate what might have happened if all his friends deserted him at that tender age all because of one mistake.
The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, contrasts life in the flesh with life in the Spirit. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus we are able to live by the Spirit.
Romans 8:6-11
Paul may not have known how easy it is to set our minds on the flesh. For example, in 2006, the internet pornography industry had worldwide revenues of $97 billion, over $12 billion of that in the United States. Every second $3,074.65 is being spent on porn, 28,258 internet viewers are on a porn site, and every 39 minutes a new porn film is made. Most sadly, the largest age group for viewing porn is the twelve- to seventeen-year- olds.
Pornography is addictive, likened to an addiction to cocaine. MRIs show that when a person addicted to pornography is exposed to sexual stimulation his brain lights up in much the same way a cocaine addict's brain does when exposed to cocaine.
Besides the ethical and moral considerations, pornography desensitizes viewers to sexually inappropriate behaviors, destroys relationships, and teaches young viewers the wrong lessons about sexual behavior. Author Naomi Wolf, in a 2003 article to New York magazine reported that more and more young women are finding that young men would rather stay at home and watch porn than be out dating.
Although the apostle Paul wasn't exposed to pornography, his saying couldn't be any more relevant: to put your mind on the flesh is death.
John 11:1-45
Bea was always serious about her faith, but only after her sixtieth birthday did she feel God's call to be a pastor. She was confused, but certain she should obey the spiritual summons. She immediately went half-time at her job so she could enter the two-year course to become a commissioned lay pastor.
Three months into the study, her best friend, Alexa, died. Alexa's family turned to Bea to perform the funeral. Bea hadn't gotten that far in her study and asked that they find someone else. They insisted and she finally agreed.
She began the funeral, "I've never officiated at a funeral before, and so I read the gospels to receive instruction from our Lord Jesus. The only reason I'm here today as Alexa's friend is to share with you the good news of what I found in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus doesn't perform funerals. He performs resurrections."
John 11:1-45
I can only guess how many graves I've seen while officiating at scores of funerals in numerous states. My wife has tried to trace where some of her ancestors are buried in Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee, so I've traipsed across many burial grounds with her looking at barely legible headstones and markers. All cemeteries share this -- silence broken only by wind and frequent sounds of sorrow and weeping.
One day in the Bethany cemetery near Jerusalem, something different happened. An occurrence took place that I've never seen in the many graveyards I've visited. A man commanded a corpse to come alive and walk out of its grave.
The dead body amazingly obeyed; the four-days-dead Lazarus came alive and had a reunion with his sisters. It was only a preview of a sudden, worldwide event to come. Jesus will command every body, live or dead, to appear. Some will rise to eternal life with him. Others will meet condemnation. What will happen at your grave?
John 11:1-45
Thomas said, "Let us go that we may die with him."
The home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had always been open to Jesus. Surprisingly when he first heard about the needs at the home of Mary and Martha, he was in no hurry to be there, knowing in his heart that Lazarus would die from this sickness. Here was a crisis that would provide opportunities for the Lord Jesus. Jesus was always turning a "crisis" into an opportunity. Here was an opportunity. An opportunity to demonstrate not only that he had power over sickness and could heal, but he had power over death and could demonstrate that with Lazarus. If he had arrived earlier he could not have demonstrated the power over death.
Other than Jesus, the surprising hero of this incident is Thomas, when he says, "Let us go that we may die with him" (John 11:16). Death was a real possibility at this time because of the fury and uproar Jesus had caused with his last visit. Thomas well knew that he and the other disciples could be facing imprisonment and possibly even death. No doubt he was truly afraid, but he was brave. Bravery includes knowing that a danger is very real, but having a willingness to do the right thing despite the danger. Thomas did the right thing and helped open the door to the marvelous resurrection that was soon to take place.
