fifth sunday of lent - shepherd of the hills · 2020. 3. 29. · bread and wine: readings for lent...

Fifth Sunday of Lent Can These Bones Live? Ezekiel 37:1-14 God is still in the resurrection business

Lent is a season when we can prepare ourselves for our journey with Jesus—40 days of letting go, and taking up.

Bones… What do bones tell us…. Signs and symbols of mortality… Hamlet All is lost… hope is gone… nothing comes back….

And yet…. This is what we affirm:

GOD IS STILL IN THE RESURRECTION BUSINESS

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - The valley of dry bones • Ezekiel was taken in exile in 597 BCE - a future priest• He experiences the news of the Temple destroyed, his wife dies soon• If anyone knew what it was like to be “dried up” it was Ezekiel• God shows him a vision of a valley stacked with bones—devoid of life• “Will these bones live?” God asks this—isn’t that odd? It’s our question• The ruach the breath, the Spirit breathes life into the impossibleNo matter how bleak the situation… nothing can keep God’sresurrecting Spirit from God’s people.

Can These Bones Live…?

What Have you Left For Dead?Relationships, Faith, Potential, Hope?

God is still in the resurrection business What Seems Lost and Barren?

Society, Civility, Religion, Environment, So Much… God is still in the resurrection business

The Greatest Words In All Of The Bible….

GOD IS STILL IN THE RESURRECTION BUSINESS

sermon extras & further reading

FOR FURTHER READING: Bread And Wine: Readings for Lent & Easter Collected by Plough Publishing House

The Unvarnished Jesus: A Lenten Journey Brian Zahnd

Preparing For Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings C.S. Lewis

A Way Other Than Our Own Walter Brueggeman

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PASTORCAST WITH PASTOR LEON AND MERIDETHPastorCast Podcasts can be found by: • Listening online through the “Audio” page of Pastor Leon’s

website leonbloder.org or leonbloder.com• Searching for “PastorCast Weekly Podcast” in iTunesYou can also subscribe to our podcasts from iTunes and receive themautomatically.

DAILY DEVOTIONALS THIS WEEK: The daily devotionals will be posted on Pastor Leon’s blog, linked on his Tumblr account, the church’s Facebook Page and Twitter.