THINK TOGETHER
Have you ever seen a skeleton?
READ TOGETHER
God makes dead people alive. Not just physically, but also spiritually. There’s a story in the book of Ezekiel, that illustrates this. God was teaching Ezekiel about the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Do you remember these covenants? The Old Covenant was full of laws that made the people guilty and dead. But the New Covenant was full of grace that makes the people forgiven and alive. To show Ezekiel this amazing truth, God took him to a valley full of skeletons. Listen to what God tells Ezekiel to do:
Ezekiel 37:4-6. 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6And I…cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
God’s people were in a bad place. They were far from home, slaves in a foreign and evil land. They had no temple to worship in. And they had disobeyed God for hundreds of years. Spiritually, they were like dry dead bones on the inside. And that’s how we all are. We all start out as sinners that are dead inside. We all need to be resurrected by God’s love and kindness. And the good news is that God wants to resurrect us. Just like he did those dry bones. Listen to what happened next:
Ezekiel 37:10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Wow. Can you imagine seeing that? Skeletons coming to life as an army? Did you know that you are never to bad or too sinful for God? God can make dead people alive. And that is what he wants to do for each of us. How do we know? Because he made Jesus alive after he died on the cross for our sins. Just like those skeletons that Ezekiel saw, God raised him to life! And when we trust in Jesus God raises us to life as his army of love and kindness.
Because of Jesus you have been raised from death to life.
With Jesus you are part of God’s army of love and kindness.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Act out the dry bones story together. Have everyone play dead in the “valley of dry bones” while “God” breathes on everyone and they come to life.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you didn’t just take me from good to better. You took me from dead to alive. Now let me live for you.
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