'Ready for an Outpouring of the Spirit' Ezekiel 37:1–11; Acts 1:1–8
A brand-new car rolling off the assembly line is a beautiful thing. The paint shines. The interior still carries that new-car smell. Every part has been carefully designed and assembled. It looks powerful. It looks ready. But without fuel, it isn’t worth much. Its power—its value—depends on what fills it. There is a difference between being assembled and being alive.
That difference is exactly what God shows Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones. “The hand of the LORD was on me,” Ezekiel says, “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.” This is not a green pasture with quiet waters. It is a battlefield graveyard, a wide valley littered with the remains of a defeated army. These are not fresh bodies. They are “very dry”—bleached by the sun, broken by time. Whatever life was once there is long gone. God leads Ezekiel back and forth among them, step after step, through a place where hope has evaporated. And God asks an astonishing question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” Why does God ask that? He is drawing Ezekiel into the tension. He is forcing him to confront what looks impossible. God is asking, Do you see only what you can explain, or do you see what I can do? Ezekiel answers wisely: “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
That same question hangs over Acts 1. After the resurrection, Jesus spends forty days with the disciples—teaching them, eating with them, speaking about the kingdom of God. Then he gives them a command: “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised.” The disciples had walked with Jesus. When he was with them and gave them authority, they healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed miracles. They had seen God’s power at work through their lives. But now Jesus is leaving. And what worked before will not work again in the same way. A new season is coming. A global mission they could not yet imagine. Something they had been prepared for—but could not do on their own. They are assembled. They’ve walked with Jesus, been taught by Jesus, and witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. They are convinced. But they are not yet empowered.
And we know this tension. Munholland is assembled. Programs are running. Calendars are full. Structure is in place. We’ve read. We’ve prayed. We’ve followed Jesus for years. But many of us are longing for something more, because we know there is a difference between being assembled and being alive. So here we are, waiting for the Gift. Because motion without breath is not life. Because structure without Spirit is not revival. Because this new season requires a power that can only come from God. We are primed, ready to go, anticipating a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings to all,
Jonathan Beck