Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / What Would You Do? (Luke 10:25-37)- Rev. Steve Leonard

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What Would You Do? (Luke 10:25-37)- Rev. Steve Leonard · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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It's great to be back with everybody today. At
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the same time, it's a privilege and an honor
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to be asked to preach anytime. I'll have to say
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that I have done good with my retirement. I've
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avoided any ministerial stuff as much as possible
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and have tried to be a good granddaddy and a
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good husband. and a good hunter and a good fisherman.
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So I've enjoyed that very much. It's been great
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also to sit under the ministry, whether I've
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been sitting under Kenny or Jonathan or at my
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church, and it's been a great honor to just hear
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the word and just soak in stuff. I'm telling
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you, when you're a minister, you do this all
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your life, and every Sunday, if you're a senior
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minister, every Sunday you've got a sermon prepared.
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and you've got to present God's Word to his people
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and stand as it were between him and his people.
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And that's a daunting task. I don't care who
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you are and I don't care how long you've been
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in the ministry. It never is something you're
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comfortable with. So it's great to be able to
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sit at this time in my life and receive and that's
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just been so good. Now I got one announcement
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and Kenny didn't say any, he'd probably say shut
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up if he knew what I was going to say. He didn't
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say anything, but October is Pastor Appreciation
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Month. And the color of appreciation is green.
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Just to let you know that, that's Pastor Appreciation
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Month. And that's just something that I won't
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say anything else. My journey has been, since
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I left Fairview, I spent four years in Virginia,
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five in West Virginia, 13 in Louisiana, and then
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nine more in Louisiana. The last nine years of
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my ministry has been an independent church. We
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started a church after the church got enough
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of me and said it was time for me to be on my
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way. Of course, I had other ideas about that,
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but God knew exactly what he was doing and taught
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me so much about his faithfulness through those
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times. And I'm standing before you now as somebody
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who has really been kind of gotten outside of
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the church, not that I left the church ever.
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but gotten outside of a framework of stuff that
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we're familiar with and examined things from
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what the Word says and just gone back to the
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Bible. I've been enjoying this time so much because
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I've just gone back to the scripture and let
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the Word of God speak to my heart and let it
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speak through me instead of trying to conform
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to the ideals of men. And it's been absolutely
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exhilarating. I mean, I preached for nine years
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in blue jeans and tennis shoes and a t -shirt,
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and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Now, I did
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wear a tie today. I'm trying to be thoughtful
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of everybody, but I could be just as comfortable
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in a t -shirt and tennis shoes and blue jeans.
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And the pastor I sit under right now preaches
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at barefoot, so you know there's no help for
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me now. I do have my boots on. Let's pray. Father,
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we're about to open your word. It is life. It's
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about what living is for. And I pray, Father,
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that you would talk to us today. I know that
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there is so much in me that... is going to hinder
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this. There's so much about me that's not right.
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But there's nothing, nothing that's not right
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about you. And there's nothing that's not right
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about your Holy Spirit and how he comes to us.
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And if there's one thing I ask today, Father,
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is that you get a hold of our hearts. We get
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so comfortable. And we get so in ruts. we want
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you to be this great blade today and remove those
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from our lives and bring us back to Jesus Christ
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and who we are in him and Help us to live that
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way Speak Your servants are listening in Jesus
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name The word of God comes to us today from the
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book of Luke, Luke chapter 10, beginning with
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verse 25. And behold, the lawyer stood up to
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put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall
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I do to inherit eternal life? Now notice, first
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of all, the lawyer comes up, and I'm not gonna
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say any jokes about lawyers, there's plenty of
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that out there. The lawyer comes up, and in classic
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lawyer fashion, test. Jesus. You got to see this.
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There's arrogance here. It's a question, but
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it's arrogance. And Jesus is about to show him
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exactly what he means in his word. So that's
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the preface here. He said to him, Jesus said
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to him, what is written in the law? How do you
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read it? And he answered, you shall love the
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Lord your God with all your heart and with all
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your soul and with all your strength and with
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all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.
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Can't you just hear him say that? And he said
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to him, you've answered correctly. Do this and
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you will live. And Jesus is ready to drop it
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right there. This is what it means. But he desiring
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to justify himself, you know, in the ministry
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you meet all kinds of people and I remember one
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lady that had been married two or three times
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and she was on the third one I think and and
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we were have we were visiting one time and she
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and her husband good people live right behind
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the church loved them but she was giving all
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these excuses as to why she had divorced why
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she was in the position she was in and I'm not
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saying anything about divorce Both my kids have
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been divorced, okay? I'm not saying anything
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about divorced people, but I am saying this.
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She was justifying everything she had done. She
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is justifying why she had left, how intolerable
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her husband had been, and all this stuff, wishing
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to justify her actions. And I just stopped her
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and I said, look, repent. All you have to do
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is repent and say, Lord, help me. Don't try to
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justify what you've done. Listen to the Holy
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Spirit speaking to you instead of coming up with
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all these excuses. Admit that you're a sinner.
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That's all she had to do. And Jesus received
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sinners. Jesus came for sinners, like me. The
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lawyer desiring to justify himself said to Jesus,
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and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, a man
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was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
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he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat
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him and departed. This is New Orleans. This is
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Chicago. This is Greenville. Now, thugs everywhere.
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This is why I have concealed carry permit. I'm
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not packing now, but that's why I have it. leaving
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him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going
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down that road and when he saw him, he passed
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by on the other side. Okay, by chance, Pastor
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Steve was driving down that road and he saw the
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guy and he passed by on the other side. Or Reverend
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Jones was going down that road and he saw the
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man and he passed by. So likewise, a Levite,
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when he came to the place and saw him, passed
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by on the other side. So we've got a pastor,
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now we've got a theologian, a church worker,
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an elder maybe, I don't know, saw the problem,
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didn't want to involve himself in the problem.
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So he avoids the problem. How easy is it to close
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your eyes and not see the problem? How easy is
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it for you and I to cross by on the other side
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and not stop and help? How easy that becomes.
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In a world of cell phones, in a world where we
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can justify our actions, Now listen, I want to
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make something really clear because I want to
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make a point today about helping people, but
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I want to make something really clear. Ladies,
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you're exempt from most of this. Point to your
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husband. But guys, you're not. Ladies, I don't
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expect you and God doesn't expect you to put
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your life in danger by stopping and helping somebody
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that could take advantage of you in any way or
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anything like that, okay? But you still need
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to listen to the sermon. But guys, I'm speaking,
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I'm preaching to you, and the Holy Spirit is
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too, okay? So likewise a Levite when he came
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by, passed on the other side. But a Samaritan,
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as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when
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he saw him, he had compassion. I don't know if
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we can get this analogy really. as good as it
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was back then, but to the Jews, you've heard
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this a dozen times. To the Jews, the Samaritans
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were derped. You don't touch a Samaritan. You
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don't have any dealings with a Samaritan. They
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are the people, if you rub up against them, you
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might get a mark on you. You know what I mean?
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They're the kind of people that stink. They smell.
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They don't bathe right. They don't take care
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of themselves. You don't want anything to do
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with them, and you better not play with them
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or dance with them or anything like that with
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them. there was a separateness there between
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the Jews and the Samaritans and it was based
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on ceremonial law and the fact that for centuries
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there had been animosity between those who had
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left and married intermarried with the pagan
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tribes and had this mixture of religion the Samaritans
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versus the Jews who had been pure. Jesus comes
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in the middle of all this mess and uses us American
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to shame the Jews. And you think about what he's
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saying. And you can fill the blanks in. I don't
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have to say anything to you. You can fill the
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blanks in about who he's talking about here.
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In every culture, there are cast, there are differences.
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There are people who we don't want to be part
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of. We don't want to be around. But what if that
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person comes up and changes your time? And what
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if that person comes up and gives you a cup of
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cold water? How do you feel now? He went to him
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and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.
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Then he set him on his own animal and brought,
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put him in his pickup truck, took him in his
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Mercedes or whatever he's driving and brought
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him to an inn and took care of him. And the next
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day he took out two denarii and gave them to
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the innkeeper saying take care of him and whatever
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more you spend I will repay you when I come back.
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Now that's care, that's real care. that's personally
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involving yourself and somebody with need, that's
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love. That's neighborliness. You know, I love
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coming back to the South. I've been in the frozen
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North of West Virginia. I've been where there's
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a culture that's so much different from mine.
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I remember singing Dixie and crying. I was in
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West Virginia and it was so different up there
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in Charleston. Oh my goodness. I longed for the
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South where I could come back and you could put
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your finger up and just wave at people. My daddy
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told me when we were growing up, you can wave
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at men but you can't wave at women. That's the
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rule. Unless they wave at you first and then
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you can wave at them. And the rule is, you never
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pass somebody in an older vehicle when you're
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driving down the road because you don't want
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to shame them. You want to stay behind them.
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I don't care if they're going 25 in a 45. You
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never pass them on a two lane road. That's just
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the rules. That was how we were raised because
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you know what that taught me then? That taught
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me to care about people that didn't have the
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V8 engine and the fancy car that I was driving.
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That taught a lot of stuff. And parents, I don't
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care how old your kids get, you're teaching them
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every day of your life because they want to please
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you more than they want to please anybody on
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this earth. And they'll always want that. There's
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a lot to be said about what you teach your kids.
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So take care of him. I'll repay you. Which of
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these do you think proved to be a neighbor to
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the man who fell among the robbers? He said the
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one who showed him mercy Jesus said to him you
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go and do likewise Well folks I What what we
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want to be about is first of all show this Jesus
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cares. Jesus cares. He cares for you. And he
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cares for you whether you're the rich man. It's
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harder to enter heaven than for a rich man to
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go. It's easier for a camel to go through the
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eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
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heaven. He cares about rich people. He cares
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about poor people. He cares about sinners. Jesus
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cares. And Jesus says for us to go and do likewise.
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And what I'm wanting to proclaim to you today
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is that God can take your heart and make you
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somebody who cares. Maybe you're a hard butt
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like I've been. My son, I remember when he was
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15, he said, I can be a hard butt. If you want
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to be a hard butt, I'll be a hard butt too. I
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don't want to be, and I thought myself, and that's
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not the words he used, but that's what he meant,
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okay? We're in church. But it's possible for
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you to harden your heart. Sometimes we think
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it's probably easier for us to harden our heart,
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because when our heart's not hard, that makes
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us vulnerable. And one of the things we fight,
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we hate. Men, especially eight, is to be vulnerable.
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Emotionally, with our spouse, or socially, with
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other people. It's hard to be vulnerable. It's
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hard to open yourself up and really listen to
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what the Holy Spirit is really telling you. I
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had an experience. I was driving up from Interree.
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We're staying down at their little place at Interree.
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gets fixed. If anybody knows a good plumber,
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I'm all, I'm in the market. Every plumber in
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the Piedmont of South Carolina has got six weeks
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worth of business ahead of him. So we're, we're,
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we're needing plumbers. But anyway, I think I
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got somebody I don't know. So we're down at Interree.
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We got a little double wide trailer. I always
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joke with Eunice when we first got married. The
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country song was out at that time. I'll make
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you the queen of my double wide trailer with
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the polyester curtains and the red wood deck.
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I'd sing that to her just to mess with her because
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that's where I wanted to live, you know, in a
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double wide trailer with all that good stuff.
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Well, now I'm living in a double wide trailer.
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I love it. And I tell her all the time, it took
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45 years to get you in a double wide trailer.
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And we're happy. But we're down at Ennery and
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I was driving up to Spartanburg coming up 26
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and I had I thought about preaching on another
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sermon. Kenny had asked me to preach. I go to
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Sam's every couple weeks to get our stocks and
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supplies. I was driving to Sam's and there's
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this guy that's at Sam's. I got off 26, come
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down 29, turned in there at Sam's and there's
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this guy that's right there. I don't know if
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you've been to Spartanburg Sam's. Just about
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every single time I've been there in the daylight,
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this guy sits on the corner. He doesn't have
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a sign or anything. He's sitting in a wheelchair.
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He's got one artificial leg. He's just sitting
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there. He's never said anything to anybody, never
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made eye contact with me or nothing. He just
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sits there. So I go to Sam's and I'm thinking,
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you know, preacher, you're thinking about preaching
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on the Good Samaritan and about caring for people
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and you're about to drive, right? by this guy
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that's sitting on the corner. So I came back
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out of Sam's and I came back out the driveway
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and I pulled into the parking lot and I stopped
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and I got out and I crossed over the road and
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I said, how you doing? My name's Steve. He said,
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I'm Wayne. I said, tell me about yourself, Wayne,
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what's going on? He said, oh, I'm just trying
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to get enough money to eat. He said, yeah, he
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said, the police let me sit out here if I don't
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have a sign. He said, McDonald's lets me store
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my wheelchair in their shelter. And he said,
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I said, where are you staying? He said, I sleep
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in a tent with another guy over a couple blocks
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away. And I said, OK. I said, what do you need,
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Wayne? And he looked at me and he said, you know
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what, I really, he said, Walmart has a policy
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that they'll let, he said, he told me, now this,
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I may be wrong, but this is what he told me,
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has a policy that if you just stay overnight,
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they'll let you sleep in the parking lot and
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leave then. He said, boy, I'd love to get a little
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minivan. I said, well, I don't have a little
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minivan. Wayne, I'd love to help you. He said,
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that's okay. He said, that's fine. I talked with
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him a while, and let me tell you, as a pastor,
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you'd meet all kinds of people with their hand
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out. And the churches that I've been part of
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have had a policy from right here on up. I mean,
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we had two people drive in one time when Eunice
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and I were here, and they were in an old, old
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beat up car, and I don't know, they were a mess.
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But anyway, we tried to help them out, get them
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on the road. the church did. So, there's a problem
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with getting old because if you get off on a
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subject, you're gonna forget where you were supposed
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to be, but I'm okay. I was singing in the, I
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know y 'all probably heard me, I was singing
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the second hymn there and I didn't realize there
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was a stanza, so I'm, you sing the first verse
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and I just jump right into the second verse and
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I'm singing loud and bold and everything and.
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doesn't sound right because the choir is singing
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something different and I'm thinking, you idiot,
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you need to read a little better and so I'm sorry
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about messing everybody's singing up. But I finally
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got back on track. So anyway, Wayne, Wayne just
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needed help. That's all he did. He's homeless.
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And you know, you don't have to look past Fountain
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Inn. You don't have to look past Simpsonville.
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You don't have homeless people. I remember when
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we were living in Charleston, Nathan and I would
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get up in January, the walleye and the sauger
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would start spawning and they would run real
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early and they were a night feeder. So there
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was this creek called Campbell's Creek that went
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into the canal river right across the road from
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where we lived. So we would drive and park on
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the interstate frontage road. we'd cross under
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the bridge and we'd walk out the sand bar and
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we'd fish under the lights from the interstate
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and there's four or five guys that would do that.
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We'd catch sauger and walleye but as you go under
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that bridge there was always two or three people
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that were sleeping under the bridge. That's where
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they slept. That's where they had. And I'm talking
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about when I was going fishing out there I had
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five millimeter thick neoprene chest waders and
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I was cold. And the ice would form on the rod
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guides. And these people were sleeping on concrete
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under the bridge. The homeless are everywhere.
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And Jesus said they'll always be poor with you.
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There's always, always going to be the poor.
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And I know, I know, they made bad decisions,
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didn't they? They drank a little bit too much
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wine, didn't they? They got involved in drugs.
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They made terrible decisions and they're paying
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for it now. But you can't stop there, folks,
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because the same people back in Jesus' time,
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there was plenty of wine to drink back then,
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and plenty of people got sloppy -dog drunk drinking
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wine, and they lost their jobs, and they lost
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their families, and they became alcoholics, and
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they couldn't make a living, and they ended up
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on the street. And there was plenty of beggars
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that just were begging for some crumb to fall
24:01
down so I could put something in my starving
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stomach. Just some place. And Jesus cared about
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the people that made bad decisions. I look at
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Steve Leonard's life, and I see a man who's made
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some bad decisions. Why on earth, Lord, have
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you loved me through those times? And I'll tell
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you why. It's so I can show that love and that
24:36
compassion to the people that I live with today
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that have made some bad decisions. So the question
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before you today is, you see somebody on the
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side of the road. You see somebody homeless.
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You know a family that needs help. It's real
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safe. It's real easy. To say the church is gonna
25:06
do or the government is gonna do or this person
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is gonna do You say to yourself I'm gonna get
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dirty That's where the change is going to occur
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That's what Jesus Christ is all about because
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when you have a personal relationship with the
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God of the universe through his son, Jesus Christ,
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it changes you. It changes your heart. And it
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smashes the stone that makes up our hearts. And
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that's what we need today in the church. That's
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what we need today. We need revival. And we need
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to be uncomfortable. And we need to ask Jesus
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what. would you have me do? What would you do?