Latest / Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons / Going Backwards or Forwards

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Going Backwards or Forwards · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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Well, we're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise in Psalm 96a. Sing Psalm's version, page 126. We're going to sing from verse 1 down to verse 9. And the tune is Free Church.
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We'll sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day. Let all the earth proclaim. We'll stand to sing verse 1 to 9 to God's praise.
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Oh, sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name.
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And his salvation day by day. Let all the earth proclaim.
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His glory and his mighty to every man declare.
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And great and awesome is the Lord. With him no gods compare.
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For other posts and wood and stone, the Lord make heaven's high.
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All nations to the Lord have strife.
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All nations to the Lord have strife.
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The glory act is due.
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Glory and strength has strife to God and places near anew.
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B
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for them now.
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We're going to bow our heads in a word of prayer.
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Now let us pray.
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Our Father in heaven,
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we thank you for this day
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that we are able to gather in your name.
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We thank you that we are able to come to
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worship you and praise your name
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in song. Thankful for these
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words that we have sung together,
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remembering that we come and
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worship of you as the one who is
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God and Lord of all.
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And we pray today that young
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and old together alike, we may know
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your blessing over us.
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We may know your peace with us.
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We thank you for the Sunday
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school as they resume again today.
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And we do look back and thankful for
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the holiday times enjoyed,
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for the rest and refreshment in
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that, and just pray for this term
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ahead as it comes to the last term
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of a school year
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and a Sunday school year.
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We do pray for help and strength
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to teachers in our day schools
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and all the staff and children
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as they go in there during the week,
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but also for our Sunday school teachers
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and all who help in creche and tweenies
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and in every way, Lord,
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with our young people,
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that we would know, Lord,
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your blessing from the young classes
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up to the Bible class,
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that you would be with us
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in all of these things.
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Thankful for all the children here
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and the families
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and just our community
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as a whole, Lord,
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that we would come to know
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your blessing and your peace
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with us.
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Teach us by your word.
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We thank you that it is
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a word that reminds us
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of the great power
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that you have.
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Even in that memory verse,
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we think of,
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if God is for us,
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who can be against us.
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So may we know God with us,
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God on our side,
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God for us in all things.
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And we thank you
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that we can come
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to worship God
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in and through
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the name of Jesus,
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the one who came
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into this world for us,
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the one we worship
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and praise as our Savior.
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We pray in his name,
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thankful for the power
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of the Holy Spirit too
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that ministers to us.
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So hear our prayers
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and continue with us
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as we ask all things
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for the forgiveness
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of our sin in Jesus
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name.
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Amen.
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It's good to be back
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into the routine once again
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of all the Sunday school
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classes meeting
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and coming together
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in this way once again.
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I hope you all had
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a good holiday
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and enjoyed great weather
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we've had.
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It's been fantastic weather
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the last few weeks.
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So we've been blessed
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with that as well.
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But it's good to come together
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and remember to give thanks
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to God in all things.
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And I want to ask
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a question today.
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And it's a question
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that maybe straight away
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something comes to your mind
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and you maybe think
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the answer is yes
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to the first question
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and no to the second one.
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So first question is this.
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Who wants to be rich?
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Nobody.
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Woody.
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My goodness.
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That's not the answer
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I expected.
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I'll ask again.
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Who wants to be rich?
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Hands up if you want
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to be rich.
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Oh well.
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There's a few hands
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going up now.
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Well.
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Second question then.
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Who wants to be poor?
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Hands up if you want
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to be poor.
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No hands going up here.
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Is there?
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Nobody wants to be poor
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but at least some people
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are honest.
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They want to be rich.
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They've got a plan.
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They're going to make it.
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They're going to be rich
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in life.
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But when we think of rich
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what do we immediately think?
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We think money.
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Don't we?
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We think riches
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is all about
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how much money
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we have.
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How rich
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are we as always?
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How much money
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we have?
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And what do you think
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when you think
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to be poor?
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To be poor
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we often think
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oh that's just
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to have nothing.
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Maybe not even
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to have a house
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or anything.
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Maybe you have to
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live on the streets.
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These people
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they are poor.
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Well I want us
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to look at these
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two things
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in a very different way
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in a way the Bible
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teaches us.
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Because if I was
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to ask you this
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who wants to be
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rich according
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to the Bible?
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All our hands
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would go up
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I hope.
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But also
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who wants to be
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poor?
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I think
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and I hope
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all our hands
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would go up.
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because listen
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to what the Bible
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says about being
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rich and being
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poor.
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It's nothing
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to do with money.
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That's only one
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way of looking
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at being rich
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and being poor.
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The Bible
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looks at it
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in a very
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different way.
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And it speaks
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about being rich
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and being poor.
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And first of all
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I want to think
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of being poor.
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And we all
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need to be poor.
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Because listen
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to what the Bible
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says.
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Blessed are the
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poor in spirit
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for theirs
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is the king
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kingdom of heaven.
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So what does
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that mean?
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Blessed are the
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poor in spirit
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for theirs
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is the kingdom
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of heaven.
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Well
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to be poor
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in spirit
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means we are
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just depending
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on God
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in every way
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and for everything.
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So we're poor
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in spirit.
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It doesn't mean
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that we're poor
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without money
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or without food
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or any of these
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things but to be
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poor in spirit
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is a good thing
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because it means
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that we are relying
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entirely on God
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for everything.
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So it's good
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to be poor
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in that sense
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because it means
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we're depending
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on God
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and that's what
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we should do
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with all our lives.
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And then
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when we do that
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we will be
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rich
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because it says
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we get the
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kingdom of heaven.
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That means
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that God
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gives us
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everything that
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we need for now
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and for eternity
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as well
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that he will give us
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all of these things.
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And when we put
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our trust
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in the Lord
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Jesus Christ
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and we are
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poor in spirit
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depending on Jesus
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that means
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then we are rich
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because
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another part
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of the Bible
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in 2 Corinthians
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chapter 8
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Jesus says
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or we're talking
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about Jesus here
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for you know
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the grace
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of our Lord
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Jesus Christ
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that though
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he was rich
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yet for your sake
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he became poor
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so that you
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by his poverty
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might become rich.
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so there we see
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that Jesus
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was rich
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but became poor
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and that by him
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becoming poor
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we become rich
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because Jesus
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left everything
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aside
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all his glory
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everything that
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he could have done
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could have saved
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himself
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from going to the
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cross
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and all of these
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things
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but he said
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no
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I'm going to
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become poor
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for my people
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that they
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might become rich.
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Jesus became
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poor
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that we might
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be rich
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so we are
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to become
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poor
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and depend
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on God
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for everything
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that we might
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be rich
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and have
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everything that
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we need
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not money
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but by faith
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have everything
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that we need
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through faith
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in Jesus
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who gives us
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everything that
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we need
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for life
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and more
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importantly
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for eternity.
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So hands up
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who wants
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to be rich?
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Convinced a few
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more?
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Yes good.
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Who wants
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to be poor?
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A few hands
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should go up
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now as well.
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We want
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to be rich
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we want
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to be poor
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in Jesus.
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We're going
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to say
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the Lord's
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prayer
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together
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now.
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Our
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Father
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which art
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in heaven
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hallowed
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be thy
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name
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thy kingdom
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come
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thy will
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be done
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on earth
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as it
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is in
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heaven
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give us
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this day
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our daily
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bread
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and forgive
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us our
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debts
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as we
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forgive
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our
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debtors
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and lead
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us not
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into temptation
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but deliver
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us from
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evil
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for thine
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is the
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kingdom
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the power
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and the
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glory
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forever
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amen
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we're going
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to sing
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again
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together
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to God's
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praise
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psalm 90
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this time
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in the
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sing psalms
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version
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psalm 90
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page 120
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we're going
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to sing
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from verse
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10 down
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to the end
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of the
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psalm
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and the
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tune is
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even
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tied
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psalm
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90
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at
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verse
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10
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and
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during
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this
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singing
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the
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young
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ones
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can
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go
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out
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to
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the
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classes
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our
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years
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amount
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to
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70
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in
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length
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or
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even
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80
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if
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we
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have
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the
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strength
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and
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yet
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our
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days
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in
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grief
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and
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pain
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are
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past
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they
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quickly
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end
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away
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we
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fly
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at
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last
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and
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then
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in
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verse
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12
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there
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the
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middle
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of
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that
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stanza
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teach
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us
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to
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number
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all
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our
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days
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are
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right
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so
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will
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our
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hearts
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be
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filled
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with
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wisdom's
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light
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we're
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going
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to
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be
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thinking
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about
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time
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today
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and
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this
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psalm
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tells us
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to make
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the most
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of the
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time
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that we
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have
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so
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psalm
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90
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verse
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10
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to
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the
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end
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we
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stand
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to
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sing
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to
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God's
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praise
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!
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groan
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Our years are bound to seventy and land
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All even beauty, if we have the strength
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And yet are we still grief and pain our past
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Then we can end now, we will fly at last
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The power of your anger, new and old
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Your wrath, sans free, that's is the fear we owe
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Teach us to number, all our peace are high
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So will our hearts be filled with wisdom's pride
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Reetard, O Lord, how long will you delay
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Have mercy on you, servants Lord, we pray
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O satisfy us with your love always
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Happy, wasting, rejoicing, over our days
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In place of our affliction make us glad
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In joy for all the years you've made us sad
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To all your servants may your needs be shown
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And to their children may your glory own
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Now may the favor of Almighty go
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Have I known us which blessings over o'er
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Already, our efforts, our efforts, our efforts
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Already, our efforts, our efforts, our efforts
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Because he's a big strength, he's one.
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We're going to turn to read God's word in the Old Testament and in the book of Jeremiah.
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The prophecy of Jeremiah.
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You'll find it around page 768 of the church Bibles.
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Of course, Jeremiah chapter 7, we're going to read from verse 1 down to verse 29.
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Jeremiah 7 at verse 1.
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
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Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say,
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Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
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Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.
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Do not trust in these deceptive words.
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This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
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For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,
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if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place,
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and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,
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then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave you of old, to your fathers forever.
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Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.
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Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal,
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and go after other gods that you have not known,
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and then come and stand before me in this house,
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which is called by my name, and say,
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We are delivered, only to go on doing all these abominations.
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Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?
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Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.
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Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first,
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and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
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And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord,
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and when I spoke to you, you persistently did not listen.
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And when I called you, you did not answer.
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Therefore, I will do to the house that is called by my name,
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and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers,
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as I did to Shiloh.
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And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen,
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all the offspring of Ephraim.
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As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them,
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and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.
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Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
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The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough
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to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven.
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And they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger.
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Is it I whom they provoke, declares the Lord?
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Is it not themselves to their own shame?
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Therefore, thus says the Lord God,
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Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place,
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upon man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground.
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It will burn and not be quenched.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
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Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh.
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For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
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I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices,
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but this command I gave of them,
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Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people.
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And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.
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But they did not obey or incline their ear,
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but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts,
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and went backwards and not forwards.
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From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day,
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I have persistently sent all my servants, the prophets, to them day after day.
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Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear,
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but stiffened their neck.
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They did worse than their fathers.
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So you shall speak all these words to them,
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but they will not listen to you.
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For you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
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And you shall say to them,
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This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God,
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and did not accept discipline.
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Truth has perished.
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It is cut off from their lips.
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Cut off your hair and cast it away.
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Raise a lamentation on the bare heights,
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for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
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Amen.
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And may God bless that reading from his word.
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Again, just bow our heads in a word of prayer.
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Let us pray.
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Lord, our gracious God,
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as we approach your word and as we come to hear it,
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we recognize that the many truths that we find in it
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are not always the truths that make us joyful and rejoicing,
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but the truths that open up the reality of our own hearts
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and our lives and our world in which we live.
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Even as we think of this passage as we approach it today,
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we see so much in it that makes us wonder what God was doing,
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how he seems not to be interested in his people in some ways.
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And yet by giving his word to them,
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he is reminding them that he is a God who cares and has concern.
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And we thank you that today you are such a God to us,
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that despite the wickedness we see around us and in us,
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that you are still a God who speaks to us and calls us.
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You warn us through your word,
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that we are to be a people who turn to you.
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And that's through individually and collectively
21:50
and even as a nation and as a world.
21:53
This is what we need, Lord,
21:55
to hear the voice of the Lord calling us to turn,
21:59
not to go backwards away from you,
22:02
but to go forward in the joy and the strength of our Lord and our God.
22:07
And so, Lord, teach us today by your word and through your spirit
22:11
and be with us in all that we seek to do.
22:14
So we thank you for your goodness and mercy on you each day,
22:17
as we thank you for the privilege of worship,
22:20
for the joy of our companionship,
22:23
our friendship with one another in this life
22:26
and in our church congregation.
22:29
And we do thank you for all our people, Lord,
22:32
not just those here today,
22:33
but also those tuning in in line,
22:36
those maybe unable to be with us,
22:38
but longing to be here.
22:39
We thank you that you surround your people where they are,
22:42
that you comfort, uphold, and strengthen in so many ways.
22:46
And, Lord, we come today,
22:49
whether we are sitting in the pew or sitting at home,
22:52
tuning in,
22:54
we come with all our different cares and burdens,
22:56
and we thank you that we can bring them to you,
22:59
that you are a God who cares for us,
23:02
who already knows our burdens,
23:04
whether they are burdens of grief,
23:06
whether they are burdens of ill health,
23:09
whether they are burdens for family or friends,
23:12
whatever burdens we carry, Lord,
23:14
we thank you that though they are many,
23:16
that your grace is always sufficient.
23:20
And we pray, Lord,
23:21
that each one of us would know the wonder of your grace,
23:25
of your power at work in us.
23:28
Leaning upon you, Lord,
23:29
is what we are commanded to do.
23:32
And so, Lord, teach us to do as we should.
23:35
Teach us as we see in these words, Lord,
23:38
that we are to listen to you.
23:41
And so we ask your blessing and peace upon us.
23:43
Remember us in all of these things.
23:46
And remember us as a people.
23:48
Even as we look, God, willing to the week ahead,
23:51
we commit, Lord,
23:52
every meeting around your word
23:54
and in fellowship with one another.
23:56
As we think of the toddler group,
23:58
we thank you for all the young parents
24:00
who come in there
24:01
and for all who help at it.
24:02
And we just pray for a place of peace
24:04
and stillness and calm
24:06
in the midst of life
24:08
and all that it brings our way, Lord.
24:10
We pray blessing in that.
24:13
We thank you too for the WFM
24:15
and for all the work they do
24:17
here in our own congregation,
24:18
but also our island group
24:20
and our national group as well.
24:22
The amazing fundraising
24:24
that goes on each and every year,
24:26
supporting so many different works.
24:28
And we do thank you
24:29
and praise you, Lord,
24:30
for the generosity in service in that
24:33
and generosity in giving to it.
24:35
As we see the amazing amounts
24:37
that have been raised over the years
24:39
to help causes near and far.
24:42
And so we pray blessing on the meeting
24:44
tomorrow evening,
24:45
as Peggy will speak there,
24:47
that there'll be a rich time
24:48
of fellowship together
24:50
and blessing in it.
24:51
Remember too,
24:52
the holiday club's preparations
24:54
are made for that.
24:55
We pray for your guidance
24:56
and your help
24:57
and your wisdom in it
24:58
as we prepare.
25:00
And as we look ahead, Lord,
25:02
to those who might help in it, Lord,
25:05
we pray that you will encourage us
25:06
in our hearts.
25:07
Thankful for all we've seen in the past
25:09
and praying and committing
25:11
this future endeavour into your hands.
25:14
Thank you too for the craft group
25:16
who meet on Tuesday evening
25:17
and for all that they do as well
25:19
in terms of encouraging one another
25:22
and also helping many different people
25:25
and groups as well, Lord.
25:26
And we pray that it'll be a blessed time
25:28
for them as well.
25:29
Remember our prayer meetings
25:31
during the week too
25:32
in Blackstil in the MA Hall
25:34
on Wednesday evening
25:35
and in the Seminary on Thursday.
25:38
We do pray that as we come together
25:40
as a congregation
25:42
and also as we think of Wednesday
25:43
coming together
25:44
as congregations
25:45
in an area prayer meeting,
25:47
we do pray for encouragement
25:49
and thanksgiving
25:50
in all of these meetings
25:52
that we depend on you,
25:54
that when we think of being poor in spirit,
25:57
it reminds us, Lord,
25:58
of how we are to approach you
26:00
and dependence on you in all things.
26:03
And so, Lord, hear our prayers
26:05
and continue with us in this day.
26:07
Guide us in our worship,
26:09
in our time of rest,
26:11
in our time with family or friends
26:13
and whatever we do,
26:15
Lord, may we know your presence with us.
26:18
So hear our prayers
26:19
and we ask all seeking forgiveness
26:21
for all our sins.
26:22
We ask all in Jesus' name
26:24
and for his sake.
26:26
Amen.
26:26
Now, before we turn back
26:30
to this passage,
26:31
we're going to sing in Psalm 89,
26:33
the Scottish Psalter version,
26:35
page 344.
26:43
Psalm 89, page 344.
26:46
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 5
26:49
and the tune is Effingham.
26:51
God's mercies I will ever sing
26:54
and with my mouth I shall
26:55
thy faithfulness make to be known
26:57
to generations all.
26:59
We'll sing from verse 1 to 5
27:01
to God's praise.
27:03
Amen.
27:08
God's mercies I will ever sing
27:16
and with my mouth I shall
27:23
thy faithfulness make to be known
27:32
to generations all.
27:40
For mercy shall be built, said I,
27:50
forever to endure.
27:56
Thy faithfulness
28:02
even in the end
28:07
thou will be starly sure.
28:14
I will, my chosen one,
28:23
have they
28:25
a calm and gracious thee,
28:31
and to my servant
28:37
whom I lot
28:41
to give his warm high.
28:49
The kind thy seed
28:55
is done we shall
29:00
forever to remain
29:06
and will to generations
29:11
Generations of thy throne will not maintain.
29:24
The praises of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express.
29:42
And in the congregation of saints I beg who is.
30:04
Well, we can turn back to a reading in Jeremiah chapter 7.
30:09
And we're going to read again at verse 23 and 24.
30:15
Jeremiah chapter 7 at verse 23.
30:21
But this command I gave them, obey my voice, and I will be your God and you shall be my people.
30:29
And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.
30:34
But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts and went backwards and not forwards.
30:47
They went backwards and not forwards.
30:52
When we think of time, there's a number of different ways and sayings about time.
31:01
Things like, time and tide waits for no man.
31:05
How time just never stands still for us.
31:09
We can also use it in the sense of time is a great healer.
31:12
Time is used in all kinds of different ways to kind of think about life and think about our circumstances and what's going on with us or around us.
31:24
A man called Carl Sandberg, an American poet, journalist, he once said this.
31:32
Time is the coin of your life.
32:02
Time goes on.
32:04
But it's also a question of how are we spending our time.
32:09
None of us know how much time we have left.
32:13
But we all know that time is ticking on.
32:16
Time is always marching on.
32:18
So how are you spending the time of your life?
32:24
It's amazing how quickly time goes past.
32:29
This is the last Sunday of April.
32:32
We're already a third of the way through 2025.
32:37
2025 maybe sounds just like a year that when you were young just seemed so far away.
32:44
It was like one of these movies about the future where 2025 we just, we thought things would be so different.
32:51
We thought it was so far away and yet here we are.
32:54
Time goes past so quickly.
32:59
But what are we doing with our time?
33:03
As in Psalm 90 which we sang together, there was a reminder in that psalm about our time as well.
33:10
Saying this, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
33:15
Teach us to take account of our days, our time, the coin of our life.
33:21
That we may apply our hearts to gain wisdom.
33:26
What wisdom do we have?
33:29
What wisdom are we relying on?
33:31
So the most important question when it comes to time in our experience and time marching on is,
33:38
am I pleasing God in my time?
33:41
The time that I have, the time that I'm spending, am I pleasing God?
33:46
Am I right with God?
33:50
Because time is moving on.
33:54
And so in this chapter in Jeremiah chapter 7,
33:58
we see Jeremiah bringing God's word to the people.
34:02
And what God is saying is, he's talking about the stubbornness of their hearts.
34:08
And how they're spending their time.
34:11
How they're not listening to the wisdom of God as you see in these verses.
34:16
But going their own ways, using the time, the way that they see right and fit.
34:22
But what he says to them is,
34:23
they're walking in their own counsel on the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
34:27
In verse 24, they went backwards and not forwards.
34:34
As you read through Jeremiah, it's a very sad story.
34:38
You think maybe the scripture is there to help us rejoice and be full of joy all the time.
34:45
But it's the reality of the world and the lives in which we live.
34:49
And Jeremiah is a reminder on so much of the Old Testament and into the New Testament.
34:55
Reminds us, it's not all about just the highs, but the lows as well.
35:00
Of every area in life where we go wrong, where we drift away from God.
35:04
And that that has consequences.
35:07
We see a nation here of God's people.
35:10
The ones you expect to always be close to God.
35:13
Instead of going forward with them, they're going backwards.
35:15
They're going backwards just like they were sort of going back to the time when they came out of Egypt.
35:21
God has been with them over years and generations.
35:26
And yet they're drifting away from them.
35:28
They're rejecting his words.
35:31
They're not listening to the prophets, the people of God who are sent to them with a word from God.
35:37
And instead they're listening to false prophets and other teachings and just doing their own thing.
35:45
And in Jeremiah's day, that was sad.
35:49
But the reality is in our own day today, it's so sad as well that we are in such a similar set of circumstances.
35:57
That we could apply these words in verse 24.
36:01
But they walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts and went backwards and not forwards.
36:10
That we can apply that to our own day.
36:13
Because that's the reality of God's word.
36:16
It speaks to every generation.
36:18
And every generation so often finds themselves in these situations.
36:25
People turning away from God and suffering consequences.
36:29
But here in Jeremiah and today as well, the wonder of it all is that God is still crying out.
36:38
That God is still calling to his people to come.
36:44
And you see it throughout this chapter as well.
36:46
The verses that we read.
36:48
In verse 1, the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
36:53
So God was speaking.
36:56
And then in verse 3 you see it again.
36:57
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.
37:01
God has something to say.
37:05
And that's still true today.
37:08
This is what God is saying to us today.
37:11
And just as the people then were being challenged, are you going to go forwards or backwards?
37:16
So it is the same with us.
37:19
How are we spending our time?
37:22
The coin that we have.
37:25
How little time we have.
37:27
That's ticking away that we are spending.
37:31
But how are we spending it?
37:33
And what are we doing with it?
37:36
Are we going forwards or are we going backwards?
37:39
Are we listening to God or are we not?
37:41
And so as we consider what Jeremiah says here.
37:46
I want us to look at these verses under three headings.
37:50
The first is a false hope.
37:54
A false hope.
37:55
That's what the people had here.
37:57
A false hope.
37:59
Then secondly we see the direction they were going.
38:03
And then thirdly we see the call that was put to them.
38:07
And we're looking at this in light of the coin of our own life.
38:12
And asking ourselves, what is our hope?
38:16
What direction are we going?
38:18
And are we listening to the call that God is giving?
38:23
How are we spending the coin of our life?
38:26
Firstly we see the false hope.
38:30
Jeremiah was a prophet.
38:32
A man sent by God to bring God's word to the people of his day.
38:38
And like many prophets, they wouldn't listen.
38:42
Even though he brought them a message of hope and help.
38:46
A call to repent and turn.
38:49
Yet they still thought that they were wise enough themselves.
38:52
That they could manage just fine by themselves.
38:56
But as Jeremiah is bringing this word to them,
39:01
he is bringing it to a people who had loved God.
39:05
If you go back to chapter 2, verse 2.
39:12
See what it says there about the devotion that they had.
39:15
I remember the devotion of your youth.
39:21
Your love as a bride.
39:23
How you followed me in the wilderness.
39:25
In a land not sown.
39:27
I remember the devotion of your youth.
39:30
The love as a bride.
39:33
And so as he's writing to them,
39:35
he's writing to a people who God has known.
39:38
That have loved him.
39:41
They've trusted him.
39:42
They've listened to him in the past.
39:45
But they're not listening now.
39:50
And that's the key.
39:53
And ask yourself this today.
39:56
Are you someone who grew up loving God?
40:02
Loving God with a sense of joy and gladness.
40:06
And hearing God speaking to you.
40:10
And thinking of the wonder of the gospel.
40:13
A love like described there.
40:15
The love of a bride.
40:17
That joy.
40:20
But that love has gone cold.
40:24
For whatever reason.
40:26
And there can be many different reasons.
40:28
That love has gone cold.
40:31
Circumstances.
40:33
The way things have gone in life.
40:35
Has made you question things.
40:38
Question God.
40:39
Providence.
40:42
Providence.
40:43
Hard providence.
40:45
Things that come our way that are so difficult.
40:47
And we don't seem to marry in to a God of love and care and compassion.
40:52
When we hide tragedy in our experience.
40:54
Our difficulties.
40:56
And our love for God just seems to grow cold.
40:58
Or sadly.
41:02
Sometimes people.
41:04
Can cause us to lose our devotion to God.
41:08
People hurt us.
41:10
People say the wrong thing too.
41:12
As Christians.
41:13
We are guilty as any.
41:15
Sadly people.
41:17
Can cause offense.
41:19
So we can think of circumstances.
41:21
Providence.
41:22
And people.
41:23
But we cannot blame God.
41:28
Because we live.
41:29
In a world that is full of sin.
41:31
And pain.
41:32
And grief.
41:34
But where are we putting our hope.
41:36
In the midst of it.
41:38
You see the people here.
41:39
That love and devotion that they had.
41:42
They thought they were seeing something better.
41:43
In others.
41:44
Or in other teachings.
41:46
They didn't see a God who cared.
41:48
Or was concerned for them.
41:50
And so they turned away.
41:51
But any hope that they had away from God.
41:56
Was a false hope.
42:00
And the forgetfulness.
42:01
That was coming into their experience.
42:03
Here of just forgetting God.
42:04
Was making their hearts cold.
42:07
And hard.
42:08
Towards God.
42:09
And yet God is reminding them.
42:11
Here that they need to return to him.
42:14
And you see it in a warning here.
42:16
As well.
42:17
Of how they still think.
42:19
They're right with God.
42:21
When you look at verse 4.
42:24
Do not trust in these deceptive words.
42:27
This is the temple of the Lord.
42:29
The temple of the Lord.
42:31
The temple of the Lord.
42:32
It's repeated there.
42:33
Three times.
42:35
There's something important about this.
42:37
So what is it meaning?
42:41
Deceptive words.
42:42
This is the temple of the Lord.
42:44
The temple of the Lord.
42:45
The temple of the Lord.
42:47
This is their false hope.
42:49
They think that.
42:51
Although they're away from God.
42:53
The fact that they're still.
42:54
Coming to the temple of the Lord.
42:56
Makes everything okay.
42:57
And everything right.
42:59
And our love and devotion for God.
43:02
Can come into that kind of situation.
43:04
But I'm still going to church.
43:05
I'm still going to church.
43:07
I'm still going to church.
43:09
And therefore I'm right.
43:10
But it's a false hope.
43:13
If you're only coming to church.
43:16
And not coming to God.
43:19
To God with that sense of love.
43:22
And devotion.
43:23
And dependence on him.
43:26
So they had a false hope.
43:30
I go to church.
43:32
So God will save me.
43:34
No.
43:34
I give to the church.
43:36
So God owes me.
43:37
No.
43:37
It's about our devotion to God.
43:41
Our love to God.
43:42
A love that can so easily grow cold.
43:45
And we become dependent.
43:47
On a false hope.
43:49
And not upon God.
43:51
Himself.
43:54
And so it is into the midst.
43:56
Of this false hope.
43:58
That he is calling.
44:01
That the Lord calls them.
44:03
But they don't listen.
44:04
And you see there in verse 13.
44:08
How it speaks of this.
44:11
And now because you have done all these things.
44:13
Declares the Lord.
44:14
And when I spoke to you.
44:17
Persistently you did not listen.
44:19
And when I called you.
44:21
You did not answer.
44:25
God is calling.
44:27
And yet they're not listening.
44:28
It's still the temple of the Lord.
44:30
The temple of the Lord.
44:31
The temple of the Lord.
44:32
But it's not God.
44:35
They're not listening.
44:37
And you see the same emphasis there.
44:39
In verse 24.
44:41
They did not obey or incline their ear.
44:43
But walked in their own counsels.
44:46
And the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
44:49
They went backwards.
44:50
And not forwards.
44:53
There was a stubbornness.
44:56
In them.
44:57
They're relying on something.
44:59
Or someone else.
45:00
A false teaching.
45:01
A false hope.
45:02
That cannot save them.
45:05
But they think.
45:06
They have peace.
45:08
Have you ever seen the programs.
45:10
About the tragic tsunamis.
45:12
It was a boxing day one.
45:14
Or the ones in Japan.
45:15
In March 2011.
45:16
It's so frightening.
45:20
Watching them.
45:21
And just how subtle.
45:22
And gentle.
45:23
Everything seems at first.
45:25
It's not like there's loud noise.
45:28
Or something.
45:30
Major.
45:30
Happening immediately.
45:31
It just looks so gentle.
45:33
And so subtle.
45:34
The tide.
45:35
Coming in.
45:36
And people are almost awestruck.
45:38
By it.
45:38
They're just looking.
45:41
And they think.
45:41
Maybe.
45:41
Oh.
45:41
But we just go back.
45:42
A little bit.
45:43
We'll be okay.
45:44
Or I'll just go back.
45:45
To my house.
45:46
And get.
45:47
My possessions.
45:48
Or something.
45:49
You know.
45:49
They're just this.
45:50
They don't know what to do.
45:52
But what begins.
45:53
So gently.
45:54
And subtly.
45:55
With the water.
45:56
Then lipping over.
45:57
The barriers.
45:58
Over the piers.
46:00
All of a sudden.
46:01
It just becomes.
46:03
A raging torrent.
46:04
Of water.
46:06
And that's the way.
46:08
Life is.
46:08
Sometimes.
46:10
We can have peace.
46:11
That seems so gentle.
46:12
But we don't realize.
46:14
There's this tide.
46:15
Of this flood.
46:17
That's going to overwhelm us.
46:19
When we are putting our trust.
46:21
In the wrong things.
46:22
Instead of going away.
46:24
To the high ground.
46:25
Where they be safe.
46:26
They just watch on.
46:28
As if.
46:28
It's not going to come near me.
46:31
Only to be overwhelmed.
46:33
That's what false hope is.
46:36
It's thinking.
46:36
You have peace.
46:37
And safety.
46:38
But all of a sudden.
46:39
You're overwhelmed.
46:41
Going backwards.
46:43
Instead of forwards.
46:44
With stubborn.
46:45
Evil hearts.
46:46
That's what.
46:46
He's getting at here.
46:49
And that's what we come to.
46:50
Secondly.
46:51
We see just.
46:52
The way their direction.
46:53
Is going.
46:55
And when we think of.
46:56
Our own direction.
46:57
When we think of.
46:57
The coin of time.
46:59
That is our life.
47:00
And how we're spending it.
47:01
Well what direction.
47:03
Are we going.
47:05
Jeremiah's.
47:07
People in Jeremiah's day.
47:08
They did not have.
47:09
The hope.
47:11
Of God.
47:12
They weren't trusting in him.
47:14
What about ourselves today.
47:15
Do we have the hope of Christ.
47:17
Is Christ our cornerstone.
47:20
Is Christ our security.
47:22
Our foundation.
47:23
Is he the one.
47:24
That we are choosing.
47:25
To love.
47:26
And devote ourselves to.
47:28
With all our hearts.
47:31
They weren't listening here.
47:33
So they went backwards.
47:34
Instead of forwards.
47:35
But what about ourselves.
47:37
Well the decisions.
47:38
That we make.
47:40
They define the direction.
47:41
That we go.
47:43
And that's what you.
47:44
So often find.
47:46
In Jeremiah.
47:47
A challenge.
47:49
To them.
47:50
In chapter 6.
47:51
The previous chapter.
47:52
At verse 16.
47:54
He says there.
47:55
This is what the Lord says.
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Again.
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God is speaking.
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He says.
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Stand at the crossroads.
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And look.
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Ask for the ancient paths.
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Ask where the good way is.
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And walk in it.
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And you will find rest.
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For your souls.
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So there.
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God is speaking.
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Look.
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Where are you going?
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What direction?
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Walk.
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In the right way.
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The good way.
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And you will find rest.
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For your souls.
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What was the response.
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Of the people.
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But you said.
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We will not walk in it.
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There is stubbornness.
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There is hardness of heart.
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There is a love for God.
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That if it was there.
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It is now cold and hard.
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We will not walk in it.
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What a brazen attitude.
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And yet.
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In our own hearts.
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We can have the same thing.
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God tell me what to do.
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No.
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We will not walk in that.
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I will not walk in that way.
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It's rejection.
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And the same is here.
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In verse 23.
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Where he says to them.
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Walk in all the way.
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That I command you.
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That it may be well with you.
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But they did not obey.
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Or incline their ear.
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They wouldn't listen.
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No matter how often.
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God is saying it.
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The stubbornness.
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Of their own evil hearts.
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They listen to that.
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And so again and again.
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We are being challenged.
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To choose.
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To choose.
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Just like you go back.
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To Joshua.
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As he spoke to the people then.
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Choose this day.
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Whom you will serve.
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Whether you will serve.
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The false gods.
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Or the bales.
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But what did he say?
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But as for me.
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And my house.
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We will serve the Lord.
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He had a definite answer.
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We will serve the Lord.
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Not.
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No God.
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We are not going to walk in your ways.
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They are too hard.
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Or there is a better way.
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Or we know best.
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We will serve the Lord.
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And that's the challenge.
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That Jeremiah is giving to the people.
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Here as well.
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The response though.
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Is rejection.
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And turning away.
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And there is this.
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You see it.
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That there is.
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An underlying problem here.
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That has been going on.
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For a long time.
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Because he speaks.
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In verse 22.
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About being brought out of Egypt.
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And being speaking to your father.
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So it's like a generation.
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Past has been spoken to as well.
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As speaking to this current generation.
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So this stubbornness of heart.
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It's just something that's been.
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Almost increasing all the time.
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You see the progression from chapter 2.
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Which is.
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I know the love that you had in your youth.
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But now the stubbornness of your heart.
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And it's this direction that they're going in.
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They think they're going forwards.
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But they're actually going backwards.
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Because they're going away.
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From God.
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And that's what we see today.
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As well.
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You can look at.
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A church.
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A congregation.
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Like ourselves here.
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Or a denomination.
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Or the church throughout our land.
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And think.
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Oh there was days.
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When there was such love.
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And devotion to God.
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Where there was praising.
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And worshipping of God.
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Throughout all the land.
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Where so many gathered.
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Every Lord's day.
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When they were looking for more and more.
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Coming in.
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And praising God together.
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And yet today.
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That love has grown cold.
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Are we at fault as a church?
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We often blame others.
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We blame the day we live in.
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We blame all kinds of things.
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The direction politics are going.
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And the media.
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All of these things.
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But do we really examine ourselves?
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Are we at fault?
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Are we at fault?
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My heart.
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Am I at fault?
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That people aren't coming to church?
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Are our congregations at fault?
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That people are not coming to church?
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Is there a denomination at fault?
52:05
That people are not coming to church?
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We have to examine ourselves.
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Have we caused people to turn away?
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We have to look at all of these things.
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And ask.
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Are we listening to God?
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What direction are we going in?
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First and foremost.
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Not the world around us.
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But ourselves.
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What direction are we going in?
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What direction am I going in as a Christian?
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How is my love to God?
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My devotion to God?
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And how is that working out in our congregation?
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How is it working out in our denomination?
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And in the church of God throughout the world?
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Do we show the love of Christ?
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Do we reflect the one who was rich yet for our sakes became poor?
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How are we living for God?
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Because if you go forward here again.
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And God is warning them here in Jeremiah's day.
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You're going backwards and not forwards.
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Well if you jump forward again to the day of Haggai.
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And you see there the problems of the people.
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They're not even relying on the temple of the Lord there.
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You see they're relying on their own homes.
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They've turned away from God completely.
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In Haggai chapter 1.
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Haggai comes with a word that says.
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Is it time for yourselves to be living in your panelled houses?
53:32
While this house remains a ruin.
53:34
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says.
53:38
Give careful thought to your ways.
53:41
To your direction that you're going in.
53:43
So it's almost like they've abandoned the very temple that Jeremiah is speaking about here.
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That they were showing so much dependence on.
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Now it's just we're just living completely away from God.
53:55
The temple's in ruin.
53:57
That's the direction.
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That's the trajectory.
54:00
Because they were not listening to God.
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And that's the warning to ourselves.
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What are we like in our day?
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What are we leaving for a generation to come after us?
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What are we passing on?
54:12
Have we listened to God and shown the love of Christ in everything that we do?
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Or has the devotion, the love that we had grown cold?
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And we're relying on ourselves.
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Our own stubborn, evil hearts.
54:27
We need to return to our first priority.
54:32
The kingdom of God.
54:34
Seek first.
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Look to God.
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Look to him.
54:39
Individually and collectively.
54:43
So how are we spending the coin of our life?
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What are we doing with it?
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Are we using it for the glory of God?
54:53
Are we rejoicing in him?
54:57
Well, the final thing we see from here is the word that God speaks.
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And what is he saying to them?
55:07
He's saying you have a false hope.
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He's saying you're going backwards instead of forwards.
55:14
But what else does he say?
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Well, he's saying in the midst of this, it's time to turn.
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It's time to turn.
55:25
Jeremiah, as he was speaking to the people throughout his days, was calling on his people to return.
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Their priorities were themselves.
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Their priorities were the temple of the Lord.
55:40
The place that they thought, well, if we're going there, we'll be okay with God.
55:44
But God had slipped down the list.
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How were they spending their time?
55:54
And what did it mean for their soul?
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That is always the warning that comes again and again.
56:05
And here he's saying, walk in the ways I command you.
56:09
It's the ongoing theme throughout God's word.
56:14
Walk in the ways I command you.
56:18
You go back to Deuteronomy.
56:20
You go back to the time when these people were coming out of Egypt into the promised land.
56:26
And the warnings were given there.
56:28
Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 33.
56:30
Walk in all the way the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you possess.
56:40
This was all about God's relationship with his people, his covenant relationship with them.
56:47
That's what you see in verse 23 of chapter 7 here.
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Obey my voice and I will be your God and you will be my people.
56:56
That relationship is there.
56:58
That love is there.
56:59
Listen to me.
57:01
Obey me.
57:02
Walk in my ways.
57:04
And we will have that love.
57:05
We will have that bond.
57:07
But they would not listen.
57:10
So Deuteronomy gave, Moses gave that warning to Deuteronomy long before.
57:15
In chapter 26 of Deuteronomy as well.
57:18
And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised.
57:24
And that you are to keep all his commands.
57:27
Treasured possessions.
57:31
You are his people.
57:32
But there is also that if you keep his commands.
57:37
And so what the Lord is asking is for acceptance of his lordship.
57:41
That's what he is asking of us today.
57:44
As you spend the coin of time that you have.
57:47
Is the Lord Jesus Christ your lord?
57:50
Is he the one that you are loving with all your heart?
57:54
Serving with all that you are?
57:57
Is he the first and foremost thing in your life?
58:01
Are you listening to him?
58:06
Because Jesus himself gives us a warning.
58:10
A warning if we are looking or trusting in other riches or anything else in this world.
58:15
He says in the Gospel of Mark.
58:17
Chapter 8 verse 36.
58:18
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world.
58:22
Yet forfeit his soul.
58:24
What are you spending your time on?
58:31
We speak about the swiftness of time as it passes.
58:36
It seems like yesterday it was a new year.
58:40
New year's day.
58:42
It may seem like yesterday since you were in primary school or secondary school.
58:48
It may seem like yesterday you were starting your first job.
58:51
Excited about life and all that lay ahead.
58:54
Time is swiftly going by.
58:59
Can you say today it was me?
59:02
I managed to do it all by myself.
59:05
Or do you see apart from God we can do nothing?
59:10
The people here were forgetting God.
59:14
Has your love for God grown cold?
59:17
Maybe you loved him in the past.
59:19
That love has just gone cold and hard over the years.
59:24
How are you spending that coin of time now?
59:28
How much have you got left?
59:30
We don't know.
59:33
But today as we think of time going past.
59:39
What are we doing with our time?
59:42
When does a new year start?
59:44
We ask that question we would say the first of January.
59:49
It's obvious.
59:51
And that's one way of looking at it.
59:55
But we could also say a new year starts the hour we first believe.
1:00:02
And that's that version of an amazing grace.
1:00:05
The hour I first believed is a new beginning.
1:00:10
And so even think of today as the start of a new year.
1:00:15
The start of listening to God.
1:00:18
Of a love being rekindled in our hearts.
1:00:23
Of a love of trusting God.
1:00:27
And a poem that's often referred to at the beginning of a new year in the sense of 1st of January.
1:00:32
We could think about it today.
1:00:34
Something that applies for the time of our life.
1:00:39
Dear Master for this coming year just one request I bring.
1:00:45
I do not pray for happiness or any earthly thing.
1:00:49
I do not ask to understand the way thou leadest me.
1:00:54
But this I ask.
1:00:55
Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee.
1:00:59
I want to know thy guiding voice to walk with thee each day.
1:01:03
Dear Master make me swift to hear and ready to obey.
1:01:07
And thus the year I now begin a happy year will be.
1:01:12
If I am seeking just to do the thing that pleaseth thee.
1:01:17
That's the command that Jeremiah is giving here.
1:01:21
To come and listen to God.
1:01:23
Do what pleases him.
1:01:24
Not ourselves.
1:01:27
Because if we just seek to please ourselves we're going backwards.
1:01:29
But if we seek to do the thing that pleaseth God.
1:01:35
Committing our lives to the Lord Jesus.
1:01:38
Then we go forward.
1:01:40
We go forward knowing that the coin of our life is being wisely spent.
1:01:45
That the time that we have is being put to good use.
1:01:49
And is being used for the eternity that is before us all.
1:01:53
So let us hear what God is saying.
1:01:57
Let him be the God that we walk with.
1:02:01
Forwards.
1:02:03
And not back.
1:02:04
Let us listen to God the Lord as he calls us to follow him.
1:02:09
Let us pray.
1:02:10
Our Father in heaven.
1:02:14
We do thank you for your word.
1:02:16
And just pray blessing on it.
1:02:18
That you would help us to seek wisdom in you.
1:02:21
And to lean upon you.
1:02:23
That you would counsel us Lord by your truth.
1:02:25
And that you would lead us in the ways and paths of life divine.
1:02:29
And to know your goodness and mercy with us each step.
1:02:33
So hear our prayers and continue with us as all we ask.
1:02:36
We ask in the name of Jesus.
1:02:38
Amen.
1:02:38
Amen.
1:02:40
We are going to conclude by singing in Psalm 37.
1:02:44
The Scottish Psalter version.
1:02:48
Psalm 37 page 254.
1:02:53
We will sing from verse 23 to verse 27.
1:02:58
A good man's foot steps by the Lord.
1:03:01
I order it aright.
1:03:02
And in the way wherein he walks.
1:03:04
He greatly doth delight.
1:03:06
We will sing from verse 23 to 27.
1:03:09
The tune is Evan.
1:03:10
When we stand to sing from verse 24 to 31.
1:03:11
det, from 31 to 31, det,
1:03:40
He does delight.
1:03:46
Although he call, yes, shall he not,
1:03:54
he cast a luxury.
1:04:00
Because the Lord with his own hand
1:04:08
have holden mightily.
1:04:16
I have been young and now I'm old,
1:04:25
yet I never see
1:04:30
the just man led, nor God did see,
1:04:40
for they have beggars be.
1:04:46
He's ever merciful and raised,
1:04:56
his seed is blessed therefore.
1:05:01
Keep her from evil and due good
1:05:11
and well for evermore.
1:05:18
After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my left.
1:05:23
We'll close with the benediction.
1:05:25
Now may grace, mercy and peace from God,
1:05:27
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
1:05:30
rest upon and abide with you all,
1:05:34
Amen.
1:05:35
Thank you, Father,
1:05:49
Thank you.
1:06:19
Thank you.