Worship Preparation - February 16, 2025

Read the sermon text: Ezekiel 36:16-37:14

Read the sermon summary: This Sunday, we explore the breathtaking promise of the new covenant in Ezekiel 36:24-32 and its powerful illustration in the resurrection of dry bones (37:1-14). God will not only gather his people but transform them from within, giving them new hearts and his very own Spirit. This marks a crucial shift from Ezekiel 11, where obedience depended on the people removing detestable things, and judgment still loomed for those who remained disobedient. Here, God acts unilaterally. He himself cleanses his people, gives them a new spirit, and causes them to walk in his ways. The vision of the dry bones reinforces this reality: apart from God's Spirit, Israel is not just in exile. They are dead. Only his breath, his Spirit, his sovereign work can bring true life. This is how God will vindicate his name, not merely through judgment, but through making his people holy and alive.

Read the following song lyrics in relation to the sermon: 

The Power Of The Cross

Verse 1

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day

Christ on the road to Calvary

Tried by sinful men torn and beaten then

Nailed to a cross of wood

Chorus 1

This the pow'r of the cross

Christ became sin for us

Took the blame bore the wrath

We stand forgiven at the cross

Verse 2

Oh to see the pain written on Your face

Bearing the awesome weight of sin

Ev'ry bitter thought ev'ry evil deed

Crowning Your bloodstained brow

Verse 3

Now the daylight flees now the ground beneath

Quakes as its Maker bows His head

Curtain torn in two dead are raised to life

Finished the vict'ry cry

Verse 4

Oh to see my name written in the wounds

For through Your suff'ring I am free

Death is crushed to death life is mine to live

Won through Your selfless love

Chorus 2

This the pow'r of the cross

Son of God slain for us

What a love what a cost

We stand forgiven at the cross

CCLI Song #4490766

Keith Getty | Stuart Townend

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