Let me just say that I'm so thankful to see every single one of you and to be able to stand up here. This has been a dream for over eight years, and to stand here is so unbelievable for us. We're filled with so much gratitude and expectation. Not just expectation for Spirit Church, but expectation for you.

When you look at the wall, we have the statement that says, "There is more." And we believe that no matter where you are in your walk with God, there is more for you. If you are here and you do not know God, I've got incredible news: there is more. If you're here and you just met God, I've got incredible news for you: there is more. And if you're here and you've been following God your entire life, I've got even better news for you: there is more. There is always more of God.

My prayer at Spirit is that we will always meet you where you are, but that we will never leave you where you are. Because the vision God has for your life a year from now is not the person sitting in your seat today. The vision He has for your life five years from now is not the person sitting in your seat today. No. The Bible says you're going to go from glory to glory to glory. So we're just so filled with expectation.

I want to read a scripture today, and then we'll grab our seats. It's found in Ezekiel chapter 37, and I truly believe it is going to set the trajectory of our church. If you have your Bibles, you can grab them, and if you don't, we'll have it on the LED Bible right behind us. We've got you.

It says this, verse 1: "The hand of the Lord was on me, 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." I wonder what bones are in the room today. I wonder what things have died in your life. I wonder what brought you here today, saying, "God, I need something from You." "He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'" Can they live again? "I said, 'Sovereign Lord, you alone know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!"'" Whatever is going on in your life: dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. "'This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.'"

I don't know what's going on in your life, but my prayer today is that God is going to take the things that are dead and bring them to life. Can you believe that? That He can bring it to life, in Jesus' name.

I'm going to be speaking from this topic today: Come Alive. As Spirit comes alive, I pray that there are things in your life that come alive. So do me a favor. Find yourself a neighbor and say, "Hey, neighbor, come alive." Now turn to your other neighbor, your second choice, and say, "Hey, neighbor, I know you're my second option, but whatever it is in your life, I'm telling it to come alive, in Jesus' name."

Father, we thank You for who You are. We pray that You will move, Lord. Whatever exists that is dead, Lord, we pray that You'll do what only You can do, which is bring it to life. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Y'all can go ahead and grab your seats.

Most of life is lived in the valley

I know we met a couple of minutes ago, but if we haven't met before, my name is Brad. Hi. I am from South Africa, which is why I talk a little funny. I am not from Chicago. I am from the great country of South Africa. And this is week one, so we're going to get to know each other a little bit.

Something you need to know about me: I am not adventurous. I know I look like the adventurous type. I am not. Every now and then I like to pretend I'm adventurous, but then my wife tells me, "What are you doing? You are not adventurous in the slightest."

But last year we had the opportunity to go to Japan. I shared this at our worship night. We went on a missions trip, and it was amazing. And we were like, "Guys, we're in Japan. And if we're going to be in Japan, we need to do the one thing you're supposed to do, which is climb Mount Fuji." So we extended our missions trip a couple of days. We started researching it, because we were going to climb it in the winter, and what they said was, "Professional climbers only." And we were like, "I think we just ran a marathon, so surely this is the same thing. Surely they're talking about fitness. We'll be great."

So we hired a guide, and the guide was like, "You need crampons." And I'm like, "What are crampons?" They're these spikes you attach to the bottom of your shoes, because apparently there's ice and you're climbing ice. And then he's like, "You need an ice axe." And I'm like, "What did I just get myself into? This is absolutely terrifying." But we ended up going. My wife is like, "This is the worst thing in the world." We get there at 5:00 a.m., and I'm like, "I'm going to climb that thing? That's insane."

So we start climbing at 5:00 a.m., and five and a half hours later we summit. I wish I could say the view was beautiful. A storm came in. I couldn't even see my hand. I'm like, "Five and a half hours for this? Really?" We stayed there for ten minutes, and then our guide is like, "The storm's coming in. We're going to be struck by lightning. We need to go down." And I'm like, "How are we going down?" And he says, "You see that snow? We're going to slide down it." Never slide down Mount Fuji, okay? I almost died. I lost my balance, I hit my friend, and I stopped myself right before I hit rocks. But I made it. For all of you who wondered, I'm alive. I'm here today. Praise God.

But I was thinking about it this week, and it's crazy. We spent five and a half hours climbing this mountain, and the next thing, we're back in the valley. I think so often we live for mountaintop moments. But I don't know about you; most of my life is not spent on the mountain. Most of my life is spent in the valley.

Even here in Phoenix, there are mountains we love. We love Camelback Mountain. We love Piestewa Peak. I don't know how we say that. We love South Mountain. We love all these mountains, but we don't live on the mountain, do we? Where do we live? We live in the Valley.

And as I've been praying for you guys, God kept bringing to my remembrance the valley moments we're all walking in. Because you can have a mountaintop moment. The job just came through: "Praise God." The thing you've been praying about finally comes through: "Praise God." But the next thing you know, you come down the mountain, and you're like, "Man, my marriage is still falling apart." Maybe it's not even that you don't love each other anymore, but you're in this place and you're like, "Man, I don't even know if we like each other."

Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's your finances. You come down the mountain and the reality of the valley hits you: "Man, I'm in so much credit card debt. I don't even know what to do." Maybe it's not that. Maybe your kid has run away from God, and you're praying, "God, will they ever return?" Maybe it's that dream you've been praying about for so long, and you're like, "God, is that ever going to come to pass? Is that ever going to happen for me?" Time and time again you get to this place, and the reality of the valley meets you.

Maybe for you it's what my wife and I experienced: years of infertility, praying for a baby. You meet all your friends, and all of them are pregnant. You go on Instagram: pregnant. You turn around and watch something on TV: pregnant. You meet someone and ask, "What's your name?" and they're like, "Pregnant." "Your name is not Pregnant. Why is everybody pregnant?" Time and again, faced with the reality of the valley.

If that's you, let me just say you are in a great place today, because I feel like God has sent me on assignment to talk to anyone who is in a valley, anyone who has something dead in their life. Because I believe this: anytime we open the Word of God, He has the ability to revive the things that are dead. A dream that's dead. A job that's dead. A marriage that's dead. You are never too far gone for God. And while I may not be able to change your situation, I believe the Word of God has the ability to shift your perspective in your situation.

Is God the God of the valleys?

Every single one of us is going to have moments where we live in the valley. So my question is this: if we're going to have valley moments, does God live in the valley? Can He live in my valley moments? Is He only the God of the mountains, or is He the God of my valley?

There's a scripture I love in 1 Kings 20, where the Israelites are going up against the army of Aram, modern-day Syria. They fight them in the mountains, and they win. And the Arameans say, "No, no, no. The reason they won is because their god is only the god of the mountains. Let's attack them in the valley, because he is not a god of the valleys." I love the Bible. The Bible's gangster. Just straight gangster.

1 Kings 20:28 says this: "This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.'" And if that doesn't fire you up, I don't know what will. Because we serve a God who is a God of the valleys. He is not just a God of my mountains. He is the God of my valleys.

The Psalms talk about it. Psalm 23 says this: "Even though I walk through," what? "The valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life." Y'all, I'm happy to tell you that we serve a God who is not only the God of the mountain. He is the God of the valley too.

What does the valley of dry bones mean?

So we come to this scripture. God takes Ezekiel to this valley of dry bones in a vision, which is like an open dream. He is talking about the Israelites, who have been exiled and scattered. And He asks him a question. Verse 3: "Son of man, can these bones live?"

Let me say something. When God asks you a question, it's not because He's confused. If God is asking you a question, it's not because He needs the answer. It's because you need the answer. God already knows the answer. And Ezekiel answers right. He's like, "God, You alone know."

And I want you to notice something. God says to him, "Ezekiel, can these bones live?" Say "these." He didn't say, "Ezekiel, do you think bones can live?" He said, "Can these bones live?" Because I think so often we believe God can do something miraculous for someone else. "God, I've seen You revive things. I know You can revive things. My question is not, can You revive things? My question is, can You revive these bones, Lord? I've seen You revive their marriage. That's not my question. My question is, can You revive these bones, God? It's not that I doubt You. I just don't know if You will do it for me. God, I know bones can live, but can these bones live?"

1. God sees what we don't

You see, God was seeing something Ezekiel couldn't. Which brings me to my first encouragement today, and we need to understand this: God sees what we don't. "Can these bones live?" Sometimes God is going to do something in your life, and it's not going to make sense. You're wondering why you're going through this valley season, and sometimes it's only going to make sense later. Say "later." Or, as a South African would say, "now."

Okay, say "now." You need to know something about South Africans, because if I ever say this, I need you to understand what it means. My wife got so confused when we first met, because she was like, "Brad, can you take out the trash?" And I was like, "Beautiful, I'll do it now." And I just kept sitting there. And she looked at me and said, "What are you doing? Take out the trash." And I was like, "I told you, I'm going to do it now." And she's like, "Why are your feet not moving? Your feet have got to be moving." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. In South Africa, 'now' means later." This is the honest truth.

And if a South African says "now now," you'd think that's immediate. No, no, no. "Now" means later. "Now now" means much later. Probably never. If you're ever like, "Brad, we need to grab coffee," and I'm like, "Now now," okay, I would never say that, but that's what it would mean. It means never. I'd love to grab coffee with you, by the way. That'd be amazing. If you want a South African to do something immediately, you need to get them to say "right now." "Now" doesn't work. "Now now" doesn't work. "Right now" is your ticket.

Sometimes God is going to do stuff in your life and it's not going to make sense. I remember this for us. Just so you can get to know us a bit, my wife and I have been married for eight years. When we first got married, we had this in our hearts. We had you in our hearts. We knew God had called us to plant a church, and we were like, "Great, this is going to happen now." The American now.

We went on our honeymoon to Jamaica. It was amazing. I had so much jerk chicken. I picked up ten pounds, and I wasn't even mad about it. I was like, "Praise God. This is incredible." So we come back, ready to jump into ministry, and we go through passport control, and something happens that I would never, ever expect. They pull me into a side room and say, "Hey, there have been some technicalities in your paperwork. I'm so sorry, but we're going to deport you." And I'm like, "What? Can I go talk to my wife?" And they're like, "No." I get one phone call. So I call her: "Hey, hilarious story. I'm getting deported. You can't come with me. They said it'll take about two weeks." It ended up taking two years.

Two years of waiting. "God, I thought You told us to plant. God, I thought You told us this is what we're supposed to do. God, I don't know what You're doing in this place." Then when we walked through infertility: "God, I don't know. Why do we need to wait so long?" When we miscarried: "God, why us? Why me? Why me always?" Anyone ever felt like that? "God, why me, always?"

And I was like, "I don't know what prayer I can pray to get You to move on my behalf." Anyone ever tried that? "God, tell me the words and I'll say them." I fasted everything you can fast. I prayed standing up, sitting down, lying down, on my head. "God, move. Why me? Why always?"

Why does God allow suffering?

There's a person in the Bible by the name of Job. It's part of the wisdom literature, even though it's a narrative. And what's crazy about Job is that everything gets taken away from him: his family, his wealth, everything. And it happens in a day. So his friends come to him, and so often they think like us. They're like, "Job, why is God punishing you? You must have cursed Him." Why did you miscarry? You must have done something wrong. Why is your marriage struggling? This is all your fault.

What's crazy about the book of Job is that we actually know a side of the story Job never gets to hear. At the beginning of the book, the enemy goes to God and says, "The only reason Job loves You is because You've blessed him. Watch. If You allow me to take everything away from him, he will curse You to Your face." And everything gets taken away from him, and Job never curses Him. So his friends are saying, "God is punishing you because you're bad." No, no, no. God allowed it to happen, get this, because Job was trusted.

Could it be that the thing you're walking through in your life is not because you've done a bad job? Could it be that God is trusting you with that thing? God was trusting us with infertility. God was trusting us with a miscarriage. Why? Because we've been able to do more ministry than ever before because of what God trusted us with. The best person to help someone get through drug addiction is someone who at one point was addicted to drugs. The best person to help someone get out of debt is someone who once got out of debt.

Could it be that God is trusting you with something, and you've seen it as an attack, but it's actually preparation from God? Could it be that God sees what we don't see? Even though I would not choose it, I wouldn't change it. Where we see death, He sees life. Where we see hopelessness, He sees hope. He says, "Can these bones live?"

2. God speaks life over death

And then He says this: "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.'" Not only does God see what we don't see, God speaks life over death. Whatever death has been spoken over your life, God speaks a better word.

It says there were a great many bones on the floor of the valley. That means they were disjointed, dislocated, and dismembered. These bones were absolutely everywhere. Sally's jawbone was over here, but her ankle was over there. James's femur was over here, but his skull was over there. Disjointed, dismembered, disconnected.

And what we need to know is this: anything that is disconnected will always die. That's why we're so passionate about you being connected to a church. It doesn't have to be this church, but it needs to be a church. Get connected to a church, because when you're connected to the source, to the vine, to the body, that's where life comes.

In fact, after the first service every week, we do something called Growth Track. Get connected. That's our membership class. It helps you understand who we are as Spirit, and it helps you get involved. If you want to join the team, go through Growth Track right after the first service next week. And my challenge is this: give us five weeks. If you're checking us out, beautiful. Check us out for five weeks, and watch what God can do in your life. And if you don't change in those five weeks and you leave, I'll leave with you. We'll go find a church together. I can say that so confidently because I know what God's Word says, and I know that when you're connected to the house of God, things begin to shift.

God speaks life over death. It says the bones were very dry. They were dead. Dead dead. This wasn't a little bit of flesh on them. This was dead. But God speaks life. "I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life." And I pray this is for someone.

What does ruach mean?

This is what I love: breath. The word for breath in the Hebrew is ruach. Say ruach. If it sounds like you've got a kernel in your throat, you are saying it right. That word can be translated multiple ways: breath, wind, and spirit. "I will put My Spirit in you." And what is the result? The Bible says, "You will come to life."

People ask us, "Why did you call this church Spirit?" Here's why: because in the Bible, the role of the Holy Spirit is that He is the giver of life. That's why I'm preaching this today. What are we saying today? We are saying to Chandler, the East Valley, Phoenix: life. Things that are dead, revive. Not because of us, but because of the Word of God. The Spirit brings life.

In Genesis chapter 2, God creates the man, but there was no life in him. So He breathed into him: Spirit, life. Ezekiel 37: the Spirit comes, life. Acts chapter 2, Pentecost: the church is gathered, and it says, "Suddenly," say "suddenly," "a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house," and they were filled with the Spirit, and the church was born. What is the role of the Spirit? He is the giver of life. I pray that if you attend Spirit, you will find that we are life-giving, because we believe God is life-giving.

3. God revives what we can't

God sees what we don't. Not only that, God speaks life over death. And the final thing we know is this: God revives what we can't.

It says, "So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath,"'" Holy Spirit, come, "'"from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live."' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet, a vast army." He brings life.

How do you receive new life from God?

So often, though, we're disconnected. We're not following the pattern of Scripture in order to have life in our lives. So the question is this: how do we receive life? There are a couple of things I want us to do.

1. Hear life

Number one: in order to receive life, you have to hear life. You have to get around life. Some of you wake up in the morning, and the first thing you do is check the news, check social media, and hang around your negative friends. We're around things that aren't life-giving, and then we wonder why we don't have life in us. You've got to hear life.

What is the ultimate source of life? His Word. "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!" Which is crazy, because bones don't have ears. Y'all read the Bible and you're like, "It's wild." But the Word of God can still bring dry bones without ears to life. John 6:63: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life." You have to hear life.

When Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray, He said, "This, then, is how you should pray," and part of it is, "Give us today our daily bread." What kind of bread? Daily. But so often we don't eat daily bread. We eat weekly bread, or monthly bread, or Christmas-and-Easter bread. We're not in the Word of God the way we need to be.

If you're a new Christian, let me encourage you: do the First 15. What is that? Five minutes of worship, five minutes in the Word, five minutes of prayer. Start there. If you're a mature Christian, great. Do the One Year Bible. Start studying a book of the Bible. But we have to get into the Word daily.

It's crazy what will happen if you do. The Center for Bible Engagement did a study, and they found that for people who engaged with the Bible three days a week or less, get this, there was no statistical difference in alcoholism, sex outside of marriage, pornography, gambling, and destructive thoughts. No change. But four days or more saw a 49 percent drop in drunkenness, a 51 percent drop in sex outside of marriage, a 51 percent drop in pornography, and a 43 percent drop in gambling. Get into your Bible.

And not only do we need to get into the Word, get into a church where you can hear life. Like I said, it doesn't have to be this church, but it does need to be a church where you can hear the Word of God and be surrounded by people who can encourage you and sharpen you. We have to hear life.

2. Speak life

The second thing we have to do is speak life. It's funny. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, when the enemy came and tempted Him, every single time Jesus had the same response: "It is written," and He quoted the Bible. And so often the enemy comes and tries to attack us, and we can't respond with "It is written," because we don't know what is written.

It's only when we get into our Bibles that we can say, "No, no, no. I know what my Bible says. It is written." So if you're praying for healing, and the enemy says you'll never be healed, you can say, "Okay, devil. But Isaiah 53:5 says, 'By his wounds we are healed.'" It doesn't matter what you say, because my Bible speaks a better word than you could ever speak.

You're like, "I don't have the strength to stand." Philippians 4:13 says this: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." If you're facing fear, 2 Timothy 1:7 says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. If you're in grief, Matthew 5:4: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." "God, I just feel like I don't have direction." That's great, because Proverbs 3:5–6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." "But I have no peace." That's great, because Isaiah 26:3 says this: "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." We have to hear life so that we can speak life.

3. Receive life

And there are some things in your life that, in order for them to change, you simply have to receive life. There are some things you just do not have the power to do. A man cannot save himself. Only God can do that. The bones couldn't make themselves come together. Only God can. He can speak life, and He wants to put people around you who can do the same.

Ezekiel 37 is the story of the Israelites and how God was going to bring them back together. It's a type and shadow of what God did in Acts 2, but it's also a type and shadow of what God wants to do in your life. Because I don't know the valley you're in. I don't know the thing in your life that doesn't have life right now. But I know this: God has the ability to revive it. You're not too far gone. You're not too lost. He can still move, and He wants to move.

Planted to flourish

There's a scripture where God promises something to us, and I want to read it. Psalm 92:13 says: "Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God." Say "planted." There's a promise in that scripture, and the promise is that you will flourish. How many of you want to flourish? Yeah. But there's a precondition to that promise. In order for you to flourish, what do you have to be? Planted.

I remember when Paige and I were walking through the hardest times of our lives: the deportation, the miscarriage, the infertility, waiting on this moment for eight years. The only thing that kept us was that we had the best church community around us, who loved us and poured courage into us. So many of them have moved to Phoenix to be here, because they want you to have that: people who will love you, walk with you, and care for you. But we have to be planted. We have to be in the environment for revival to happen. We have to put ourselves in the right environment.

It's not dead. It's dormant.

There's a place in California, the hottest, driest place in America. It's called Death Valley. No one lives there, because nothing grows there. And this is what it looks like: dry. When I look at that, I so often think of my life. There were moments when that was my life: "God, I can't see a flower. I cannot see what You're doing. All I'm experiencing is drought." Maybe it's not your entire life, but there are moments, there are cracks, in your life. People say it's Death Valley. It's dead. It's never going to be resurrected.

But in December of 2004, something remarkable happened. Death Valley got seven inches of rain. Seven inches. And nothing happened immediately. But as it stayed in the right environment, I want to show you what Death Valley looked like a couple of months later. What they found out was that Death Valley wasn't dead. It was dormant.

The thing in your life is not dead. It's dormant. The dream is not dead. It's dormant. Your marriage is not dead. It's dormant. Whatever the valley, God has the ability to bring it to life. You just have to get in the right environment. And we believe Spirit is a pretty good environment, where you can flourish, where five years from now you can look back and say, "Look how far God has brought us." Amen.

Get connected. Go all in. Give it five weeks. See what God can do in your life. Next week, after the 9:00 a.m. service, attend Growth Track. Get plugged in. Go all in, and watch what God can do. Can I pray for you? Can we close our eyes and bow our heads?

Father, I come before You today, and Lord, You know every need, even though I don't. Lord, You know the valley seasons we're walking through. Lord, You know the struggles we have. Holy Spirit, I pray that we will hear life and we will speak life. But at the same time, Lord, we recognize that You are the giver of life. Holy Spirit, You are the giver of life. So I pray for every need. Holy Spirit, I just pray that You will breathe. Breathe on them, on their situations, on their hearts, on their minds, on their souls. Do what only You can do.

I also want to take a moment, with everyone's heads still bowed and eyes closed. You might be here today, and you don't have life because you've never actually accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The gospel is simple. It says every single one of us has fallen short of God's glory. What does that mean? It means we've all made mistakes. But the Bible says God can't be in relationship with anything that has made a mistake. But He sent His Son Jesus to come to this earth, to live the perfect life, and to die in our place, so that the righteousness of Jesus can be passed on to us. And the Bible says it so simply: all you have to do is declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. Not might be saved. You will be saved.

So I'm going to pray a prayer, and I want everyone to pray it for the benefit of those praying it for the very first time. If you're here today and you want to say yes to Jesus, if you want to make Him your Lord and Savior, repeat this after me. Everybody say, "Dear Jesus, I believe that You're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe You came to this earth, You died on a cross, and You were raised so that I may have life. And right now I make You my Lord. I make You my Savior. In Jesus' name."

With every head still bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you prayed that for the very first time, I'm going to ask you to do something bold. On the count of three, I just want you to slip up your hand. No one's looking. I just want to be able to celebrate with you. Here we go. One, two, three. If you prayed that for the first time, lift up your hand. Thank you. I see those hands. That's awesome.