Richvale Church
Sunday, September 12 2021
- Good morning... Next Sunday, the 26th September is our Fall kick off .. We are celebrating “The Roaring 20's” and we are starting Children’s church and Adult Sunday School ---Mark Alvidrez is going to be leading a course Entitled -- How to study to the Bible for the first time again? If you are wanting fresh perspective on how get more from you Bible reading.. this class will be just right for you… It sounds intriguing and encourage you to attend that class.... It is going to be awesome.. So..Adult Sunday School will be on Sundays starting at 9:00 am...This morning message is entitled “Breath of God.”WE all know that Breathing is essential to life... Each of us takes about 20 000 breathes each day.…What is amazing about number is breathing is that it is an involuntary action — We don’t even think about it ..… our brains are programed to constantly monitor the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide levels .. and our breathing is all automated.... Breathing is not only essential to life it is essential to our health..When we breathe it fuels our bodies…The Oxygen we breathe takes the glucose that we eat and uses it as energy… Breathing heals the body and repairs and replaces dead cells..Oxygen creates superoxides that fight against bacteria and viruses in the body… Paying attention to our breathing has health benefits..I have this app on my watch that will reminds me to breathe... Apple thought it was a good idea... to help people deal with stress and anxiety... and so they created an app… that will notify you during the day to take a moment to breathe… The point of the app is to remind us to stop for moment and collect our thoughts and focus on what’s important..Here is the science behind the app.. Even though breathing is automated.. by breathing deeply we can literally slow down our heart rates..When we breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to the rest of your body. ..Here is the thing.. even though I get these notifications …to stop and breathe… I normally ignore them because --- I am too busy to do it… How ironic is that?We may have heard this phrase Breathe of God… This morning we are going to see that breathe of God is essential to life… both the physical and the spiritual world.In the scripture the breathe of God is tied to two basic ideas…the first is creation and second is recreation…T/S First of all The breath of God Reveals ...1. God’s Breath Reveals God’s Purpose in Creation.We first find the breathe of God …in the book of Genesis....Genesis is the book of beginningsMartin Luther the protestant reformer in the 1500’s said that...“There is nothing more beautiful than the Book of Genesis, nothing more useful” and he regarded the opening verses as “the foundation of the whole of Scripture”In the first verses we find that God’s purpose in creation…
Genesis 1:1–3 ESV 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.In these opening verse of Genesis we are - immediately challenged in our worldview… It divides us into two camps… Either we are creationist who believe in a creator God who made all things or we are Humanists that believe that everything evolved overtime through evolution…Humanists are made up atheists (who don’t believe in the existence of God) and Agnostic who says “We don’t know whether or not God exists.” Humanists believe that all rational thought..is the only source of knowledge and morality....Listen to this Brief excerpts from the_Humanist Manifesto I and II_ these are the humanist statements of belief..it says..“Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created … we begin with humans not God … we can discover no divine purpose or providence for the human species … no deity will save us; we must save ourselves.” Humanist Manifesto I and II_Genesis 1:1-2 is a Declaration that creation didn’t just happen or evolve… It isn’t self existing but but there was a first cause…and it wasn’t the big bang… but rather God spoke the world into existence… God spoke light and life into the world… There is purpose and providence all the way through the Bible from beginning to end...In verse 1 we are introduced to God..WE learn three things about the nature of God.. First of all...1 His self existenceThe concept of the beginning of the universe is mind boggling!!! We have finite minds… and we have trouble thinking about the beginning of something as familiar as a building. This building was built before I was born… at some point there were building plans… their were surveys walking around here… excavators… an bulldozers… and bricklayers.. This building had a beginning… and the fact that there is a building points to a creator..Genesis goes back to the first day of Creation history.. and tells us that God was present in the beginning and that he was alive and well…He was self existent…. Secondly we see his...2. His self-sufficiencyWe are told that ..God created the Heavens and the earth..The phrase “God created” …is the Hebrew word Elohim which is the plural form of God… but it is tied to the singular form of the word “created”… This idea of Plural God that makes up the Godhead.. continues through scripture... in Gen 1:26 the bible say then God created man He said…“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.John in his gospel writesJohn 1:1 ESV 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.What find in scripture is Triune God.. a Godhead made up of three persons.. Saint Patrick used the shamrock the three leaf clover to explain the trinity… He would say the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit... three in one and the one in three… One God in three persons.Why is this significant when it comes to the sufficiency of God...The significance is that before there was a universe, there was a “wholeness” and a “completeness” about God in His “three person-relatedness” which made Him totally self-sufficientWhat this means is that God did not have to have to create in order to feel good about himself…He didn’t need mankind because he was alone in the universe or that he need to discover his identity…When realize that God is self-sufficient… we understand that the fact that God created was purely out of Grace…God’s purpose in creation was the man might know God and enjoy him forever..the third thing is...3. His Self determinationGod is the author of Creation.. it was God’s idea and His idea alone.God spoke creative words to bring material world into being...Our initial impression of creation of the world is that it was without form and void.Genesis 1:2–3 ESV 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.God begins creation…and the phrase “without form and void” implies that creation lacked order and content. All that is present is a deep darkness over the face of the waters/ the deep..We told that the Holy Spirit is hovered on the face of the water…The Spirit is represented by breathe or wind…One commentator noted that when we see the Spirit of God… it always creates a sense of expectation that something is about to happen… shortly after the Spirit appears...God Speaks...“Let there be light” and there was light and it was good...When God created man we are told that - God created man from the earth…God formed or shaped man from the dust of the ground.. then God .. “Blew into his nostrils the breath of life.” And man became a living creature..Genesis 2:7 ESV 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.God created the world with intention and shaped man from the dust of the earth… Then God gave man the breathe of life…When God breathed into man… He came became a “living creature”....Here is the the thing... the humanist wants to reduce man to simply a collection of of chemicals and electrical impulses… What Creation tell us is that God made us into a living creatures… We became image bearers…Genesis 1:27 ESV 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.Each of us is created in the image of God…What is significant about the breathe of life.. is that impartation of physical life anticipates the impartation of spiritual life, the Life is in the Son and comes to us through the SpiritT/S Why is the Breathe of God Relevant?1. God’s Breath Reveals God’s Purpose in Creation.2. The Breath of God Transforms Communities.Today you may have heard of the term being WOKE..it is term that was put into the dictionary in 2017 and means to HAVE a NEW AWARENESS. Being WOKE to racial prejudice and discrimination. TO BE WOKE TO other issues of social inequality, for instance, regarding gender and sexual orientation...This language reminded me of what was present during the great awakening in New England in the 1700’s… Revival fires were burning in the church through ministries of Charles Finney and George Whitfield…But there were also opponents to the revival… The opposition led by Charles Chaucny… Caused a division between the clergy...The revivalists were called the “new lights” and the conservatives were called the “old lights”… This continued for a number of years … until they realized how harmful this kind rhetoric was to the church itself… and after that you find more tolerance between the two groups…While Wokeness sounds Good… The problem is it claims moral high ground without foundation for their ethics.… their morality is derived from a purely humanistic worldview… A world view that starts and ends with man --- it looks to mankind to save itself and excludes any kind of divine intervention.. It excludes the very God who created them in his image..the author of life —The breathe of God…Wokeness without the Grace God— is still is still asleepness...Paul tells us in Ephesians 2Before we came to grace of God… we were dead in tress-passes and sin.. we used to follow the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air.. the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience…What is needed in our land is not WOKENESS BUT Revival…We need the breathe of God to breathe upon us AGAIN..In book o Ezekiel chapter 37.. we have the well known chapter on the Valley of the dry bones. Ezekiel was a prophet during Israels captivity in Babylon.. They were invaded and carried of to Babylon — they had very little hope for the future… God gives Israel this hope that he can recreate them as a nation… that not all was lost…Chapter 37 is a fulfillment of promise given in Ezekiel 36:26…Where God promises to give Israel the gift of a new heart and a new spirit… Chapter 37 is really an illustration How God changes a community..And so the tension is in chapter 37 is how is God going to change the hearts of Israel?We are familiar with this type of tension…How is God going to change a relationship? How change our church and community? How is God going change our nation?lets read our text...Ezekiel 37:1–4 ESV 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.Ezekiel has a vision the Spirit of the Lord set Ezekiel in the middle of a valley that is full of dry bones.. It is really a gruesome sight.. The valley was full of bones..First there is the observation… where the Holy spirit led Ezekiel around the bones.. he has opportunity to observe how many there are and how dry these bones were..The Holy Spirit makes known the need...We need to see the real need in order to have sense of urgency … How many times do our check engines light go on and we ignore it… Smog is a year away… we can live with that… What the Spirit does is brings sense of urgency.And the Spirit spoke to Ezekiel --Can these bones live... This is a great question? Ezekiel answers.."O Lord God, you know. "In other words.. humanly speaking there is absolutely no way this can happen… dry bones don’t live..This needs divine intervention..Ezekiel is told to it prophecy God's Word over the bones… The Lord says tell the bones that God will cause breath to enter into the them and they will live...God Spirit creates and it Recreates...Two miracles were necessary, to reconstitute the bones into bodies and to reanimate the bodiesFirst phase..Ezekiel spoke God's words and the bones started to join together.... Ezekiel - sees and hears the bones coming together.. and incredible sight as the flesh and bones comes together. Then there is theSecond Phase — God speaks life into these lifeless bodies..God give Ezekiel another word.. to prophecy that Lord Come from the four winds and breathe on these slain... that they may live...Ezekiel 37:10 ESV 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.What amazing vision… when….Ezekiel prophesied and the thousands that were slain stood up into a great army...Who was this great exceedingly big army.. . Who did this valley represent? The house of Israel..They were dry because they had lost hope and were cut off from the blessings... God says he is going to open up their graves and bring them into the land of Israel.. Then they will know that I am there God...What is the lesson? Revival comes from God… God is able to recreate and bring new life… God renews people… if you are feeling downcast … put your hope in God… He gives strength to the weary… You need renewal in your marriage —God is ables to recreate… He is a God of Resurrection… Ezekiel is ultimately point to the death and resurrection of Jesus…When the **Spirit** is present, God’s people are enabled to **live**.T/S Why is the Breathe of God Relevant?1. God’s Breath Reveals God’s Purpose in Creation.2. The Breath of God Transforms Communities.3. Breath of God Speaks to us through His Word.The New York Times Sunday Book Review regularly interviews a writer about what books he or she is reading.In June 2015 they asked the screenwriter Judd Apatow questions like: What books are currently on your night stand? Who is your favorite novelist of all time? What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?When they asked him what was the most, "Disappointing, overrated, book that he rdad..He replied: "The Bible. It's just not working for me. I wish it was. Wouldn't it be great if it did work for me and I had the peace one gets when knowing the universe is just and kind and guided by eternal intelligence? Maybe I'm reading it wrong."The problem with reading the Bible as a book… is that it wasn’t designed to be a good read… It was designed to transform us… The bible is likened to sword that strikes at the heart….D.L Moody said...The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation. Dwight L. MoodyTo be serious about the Scriptures, we must ask ourselves again and again, “How is the word of God transforming me”Paul encouraged Timothy to continue in the Word of God… that he had received in his use… to continue with sound doctrine…2 Timothy 3:14–16 ESV 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,When we tallked about this verse at our Mens study… The discussion came up… what was the content… It would have been the OT… and Gospels…(words of Jesus). Pauls writings were still at the printing press.. Paul reminds Timothy that he had learned sound doctrine from from Lois and Eunic His grandmother and mother..Paul says know the source -- you know whom you have learned from.. and He learned the scriptures from a child which are able make you wise for salvation.The Bible is wisdom literature... principles on how to live.. The Bible will teach how to live by faith... how to respond to life. The bible is meant to produce life change..The reason is that the Bible is not an ordinary book... The Bible is breathed out by God... Divinely inspired.. We talk about inspiration… to right a book.. to create a piece of music… we might even say that was inspirational..Paul joins two words together... God Breathed.. or God inspired..Paul is asserting the divine origin of Scripture… The Scripture was Divinely inspired.... Even though men were involved in process..Peter tell us how this happened..the process2 Peter 1:20–21 ESV 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.Peter tells us that scripture came... not from the mans inspiration but as God breathe his breath on 40 authors of the Bible... They were carried along by the Holy Spirit..They were channels or the delivery system… In a sense, they are the "mail carriers," delivering His word in the state how and when He wants it given.The scripture is from God... Scripture ....“Scripture emits God’s breath… God breathed out his Word..Because it is God's very Word to us...The Scripture is.. Profitable for teaching, reproof, correcting and training... In order to have the full learning experience we need... all of these aspects of the word... we need teaching.. (information)... Content is key... know the word... reproof... (course correction) and training... (how to put this into practice)Why so that the man of God will be fully EquippedWe see the “sufficiency of Scripture” — We don’t need anything plus the Word of God..Fyodor Dostoevsky, wrote in the Christian Reader“We have never truly breathed air nor seen light until we have breathed in the God-inspired Bible and see the world in the Bible's light”Here is the confidence -we have when we place our trust in the Word of God… first of all… God’s words are eternal… Jesus said...Luke 21:33 ESV 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.Secondly.. What is written will be fulfilled..Habakkuk 2:3 ESV 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.The prophet Habakkuk says…thought the vision awaits.. It also hastens to the end..The word Hastens… means to breath out... God's has breathed upon his word.. and it will accomplish its purpose.. The Hebrew word carries some force to mean blast or to knock out... declare and witness.ConclusionT/S Why is the Breathe of God Relevant?1. The Breath of God Transforms our Purpose2. The Breath of God Transforms our Community.3. Breath of God Speaks to us through His Word.When Jesus commissioned his disciples we are told that he breathed on his disciples...- On that first Easter morning… the tomb is empty.. and Jesus appears to Mary Magadelene … who then immediately tells the disciples that she had seen the risen Lord..… That evening the disciples are on lock down…the reason is they are fearful of the Jews… The doors are locked and we are told that Jesus came and stood among them...Jesus said "Peace be with you" and he then showed the disciples his hands and his side… We are told that disciples are glad when they saw it was the Lord..Then Jesus said..John 20:22 ESV 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.In Ezekiel we saw that God promised to deliver Israel form Babylonian captivity… that was the hope… When breathed on the disciples..Keller tells us that..Jesus Christ saying, “I am about to lead the ultimate return from exile. I am about to get you out of the ultimate problem. I am going to have you escape from death itself. If you believe in me, I will breathe my Holy Spirit into you. That means because I was raised from the dead, if you believe in me, someday you will be raised from the dead.” There is the ultimate hope.We need Oxygen to Live…Breathe brings physical and spiritual life..There are what is called the rules of three..in survival — there are 3 theirs..1. You can survive 3 Weeks without food (if you have water and shelter)2. You can survive 3 Days without water (If sheltered from a harsh environment)3. You can survive 3 hours in a harsh environment (unless in icy water)4. You can survive about 3 minutes without air (oxygen)Here is the thing… The air which our souls need is avaiable 24/7 night and day…God is round about us in Christ on every hand, with his many-sided and all-sufficient grace. All we need to do is to open our hearts.Take a deep breath! Breathe in God, breathe out God!Start breathing life…• Breathe in God everyday• Breathe out God everyday• Don’t waste your breath Genesis 1:1–3ESV
John 1:1ESV
Genesis 1:2–3ESV
Genesis 2:7ESV
Genesis 1:27ESV
Ezekiel 37:1–4ESV
Ezekiel 37:10ESV
2 Timothy 3:14–16ESV
2 Peter 1:20–21ESV
Luke 21:33ESV
Habakkuk 2:3ESV
John 20:22ESV
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Richvale Church
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