The Valley of Dry Bones

The past Sunday at my church we had guest speakers, a young pastor and his wife. They are starting up a new church in the county I live in. Several things stuck out to me, one of which is that when he got up on that stage to speak you could tell he was filled with the spirit of the Lord. He was so passionate about seeking God's will. It made me want to express that same passion to those I encounter everyday instead of shy away!!

Another things that stuck out to me about this situation is that it was at my church, someone else was going in to talk about a new church! This is huge! Usually churches are concerned about their own numbers and funds and help. Don't think I am bragging about my church here... even if I absolutely love it!!:] I just thought, "How cool that we are one body of Christ, united. Not just one church or another. We are helping each other out and seeking(together) to reach out to every individual in the community." This is huge for the Church today, to stick together. I think it is crucial!

The third thing that stuck out to me from this past Sunday was the story the pastor is using to start this new church. It is...


Ezekiel 37: 1-14

37 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. ² 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. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ 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.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin 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 it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”


I know that was a lot. But this pastor who spoke is reaching out and calling out to the dry bones in my community, the souls that need awakening who have been asleep and dead far too long. We as individuals don't have to start up a new church but in out work places, homes, neighborhoods, towns, and communities need to reach out to the dry bones. They are desperately in need to wake up just how Ezekiel spoke to the bones in the valley and they rose and a new flesh covered their bodies and a new soul was in them, just like this young pastor is seeking to awaken souls in Elkhart county. Let's be one body of Christ and be the example of the love of Jesus by reaching to those dry bones!