Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / How to Abide in Christ - Minister Max Lucado

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How to Abide in Christ - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: Send a special social greeting to those of you who
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Speaker 1: are watching online. Also those of you who are part
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Speaker 1: of one of our campuses in Fredericksburg or Crownridge, North Central,
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Speaker 1: West Side, Alamo Ranch, the Tall Brazil Journey Fellowship, we
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Speaker 1: send you special special greetings. And by now you're likely
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Speaker 1: aware you may not be, that Randy Frasey has sensed
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Speaker 1: a call to pursue a citywide ministry and has resigned
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Speaker 1: as our senior minister. We continue to thank God for
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Speaker 1: the growth that our church experience under his leadership. Can
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Speaker 1: you imagine Oak Hills without campuses in Fredericksburg, the Alamo Ranch,
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Speaker 1: North Central, or the Tall Brazil campuses. We're so grateful
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Speaker 1: for the time we've had to study through the story
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Speaker 1: and through believe all of these were initiatives under Randy's leadership,
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Speaker 1: and we deeply appreciate him and rose and issue many
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Speaker 1: many prayers for their new chapter. The elders have asked
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Speaker 1: me to resume the role of senior minister, and after
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Speaker 1: much prayer, my wife Danelon and I have sensed that
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Speaker 1: the Lord is telling us to do so, so we
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Speaker 1: said yes, I felt it would be good. Uh this
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Speaker 1: weekend alone first to step away from our study through
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Speaker 1: the story, and and take just a moment, and and
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Speaker 1: and allow me to share some thoughts with you regarding
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Speaker 1: my heart as senior minister, and and uh and what
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Speaker 1: seems right to me that we should focus on as
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Speaker 1: a church. By the way, I'm really glad you came back.
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Speaker 1: I wasn't sure anyone would. So let's pray and then
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Speaker 1: we'll get to work. We welcome you, Holy Spirit. Please
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Speaker 1: forgive our speaker his sins or many, grant that we
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Speaker 1: can see just Jesus through Christ. We pray. Amen. If
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Speaker 1: you knew you had one final conversation with a good friend,
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Speaker 1: what would you talk about? Granted one final meal with
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Speaker 1: some colleagues, what would you want to discuss? Given one
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Speaker 1: last opportunity to be with your family, what would you
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Speaker 1: tell them? Jesus had the opportunity to answer this type
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Speaker 1: of question on the night before his crucifixion. He had
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Speaker 1: a final meal and also a final conversation with his followers,
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Speaker 1: and that evening gave birth to what we could call
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Speaker 1: his final sermon before the crucifixion. Don't you know he
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Speaker 1: chose his words carefully. Maybe that's why we cherish them.
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Speaker 1: So here's what he said. He said, abide in me
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Speaker 1: as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot
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Speaker 1: bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine,
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Speaker 1: neither can you unless you abide in me. I am
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Speaker 1: the vine. You are the branches. Those who abide in
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Speaker 1: Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart
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Speaker 1: from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide
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Speaker 1: in Me is thrown away like a branch in withers.
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Speaker 1: Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
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Speaker 1: If you abide in Me and my words, abide in you,
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Speaker 1: ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done
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Speaker 1: for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you
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Speaker 1: bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father
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Speaker 1: has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in
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Speaker 1: my love. If you keep my command once, you will
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Speaker 1: abide in my love, just as I have kept my
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Speaker 1: father's commandments and abide in his love. I believe this
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Speaker 1: is a timely message for our church. It's my heart's
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Speaker 1: desire that we learn to abide in Christ, that we
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Speaker 1: like branches to a vine, cling to him. I sense
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Speaker 1: that this is the highest calling of the Christian that
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Speaker 1: our highest call is not to bear fruit, but our
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Speaker 1: highest call is to stay connected to Christ, and the
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Speaker 1: purpose of the church is to help encourage this union.
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Speaker 1: I was not seeking this second tour of duty as
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Speaker 1: senior minister, as you know, I filled this role from
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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight to two thousand and eight. Here's a picture,
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Speaker 1: a couple of pictures of the day we arrived at
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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven from Brazil in the airport for our
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Speaker 1: first visit to the church. I was a lot younger then,
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Speaker 1: I was a lot smarter than Over the years, I've
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Speaker 1: conducted many weddings, your weddings, buried many of your loved ones.
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Speaker 1: I love this church. I just love this church. It's
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Speaker 1: far from a perfect church. In fact, it's quite messy
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Speaker 1: at times, but God's favor, for whatever reason, has been
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Speaker 1: upon us. I love our elders and staff, our leadership team,
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Speaker 1: and those who serve here on the church staff. They're
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Speaker 1: just top notch. I love where we're headed, building strong campuses,
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Speaker 1: impacting neighborhoods through the kind of Christ. This can work,
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Speaker 1: and we have great days ahead of us. I've since, however,
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Speaker 1: that it would be good for us before we just
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Speaker 1: keep pressing forward to pause and be quiet and listen.
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Speaker 1: I'd like to kick off forty days of listening prayer
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Speaker 1: today and invite every person who has any connection with
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Speaker 1: this church to take time and pray every day. What
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Speaker 1: are you saying to us? What do you want to do?
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Speaker 1: What is your plan? What are you up to? Where
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Speaker 1: are you leading? You're the shepherd of this church, You're
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Speaker 1: the true shepherd. You're the pastor of this church. Where
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Speaker 1: do you want us to go? And as the Lord
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Speaker 1: speaks to you, let us know. Created a special email
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Speaker 1: address listening at Oak Hills Church dot com. If the
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Speaker 1: Lord gives you a verse or gives you a word,
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Speaker 1: let us know. How do we listen to God? How
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Speaker 1: does this happen well? One way is, like Tom Anthony
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Speaker 1: taught us a couple of weeks back, is to pray
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Speaker 1: and pause, to pray and then be quiet, just be silent.
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Speaker 1: Another way is to be especially attentive to the messages
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Speaker 1: that come your way. If you've invited the Holy Spirit
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Speaker 1: to speak to you, then be on the alert for
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Speaker 1: a word that comes through a friend or through a
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Speaker 1: passage of scripture. Especially. Maybe you could requisition a part
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Speaker 1: of your day that typically is used for something else,
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Speaker 1: like a daily commute or cutting the grass or washing
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Speaker 1: the dishes, and use that in addition to the task
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Speaker 1: to say Lord, I'm listening. I'm listening. I go in
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Speaker 1: with two ears in one mouth and listen more than
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Speaker 1: you speak. Maybe you could gather the kids around at night,
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Speaker 1: or have a few quiet moments with your spouse and
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Speaker 1: just say, Lord, is there anything you're telling us? As
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Speaker 1: a church. I think the Lord loves his church and
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Speaker 1: he wants to guide us since his guidance during this transition.
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Speaker 1: It's not been an easy transition. I had to make
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Speaker 1: some take some time for some serious prayer. During this
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Speaker 1: whole process, I got a pimple. I haven't had a
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Speaker 1: pimple since college. Delon said it was a stress pimple.
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Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't even remember how to pop
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Speaker 1: those things. Sixty two years old, I'm getting pimples. On
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Speaker 1: the night that Randy shared his resignation with the elders,
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Speaker 1: he and I had agreed to meet in the prayer
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Speaker 1: tower afterwards on the Crownridge campus, and so I was
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Speaker 1: already there, got there good twenty minutes before he and
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Speaker 1: I was having some doubts and I was saying, Lord,
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Speaker 1: you sure you don't have somebody else for this, Somebody younger, smarter, faster, quicker. Surely, Lord,
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Speaker 1: or's somebody else for this. And there's a prayer book
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Speaker 1: up in the prayer tower, just a nice little prayer book.
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Speaker 1: You've seen the daily prayer readings that exist in books,
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Speaker 1: and there's one in the prayer tower. And I picked
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Speaker 1: it up and read that day's reading, and the passage
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Speaker 1: itself would not have had any form of equal impact
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Speaker 1: had it not been for what I was wrestling with.
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Speaker 1: I took a picture of it so I would always remember.
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Speaker 1: But the passage from Second Kings two point fifteen said
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Speaker 1: the company of the prophets from Jericho who were watching, said,
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Speaker 1: the spirit of a Elijah is resting on Elisha. Now
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Speaker 1: I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I
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Speaker 1: was praying about transition from one leader to the next,
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Speaker 1: and here's a verse describing a peaceful transition from Elijah
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Speaker 1: to Elisha, that the Lord can orchestrate that. And I thought, well, okay, Lord,
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Speaker 1: if you're talking, I want to be listening. I want
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Speaker 1: to hear what he says to you. It's my desire
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Speaker 1: that we would have a walk with Christ that is
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Speaker 1: so intimate that we would sense when he speaks, and
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Speaker 1: we would know when he moves. I have a hunch
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Speaker 1: that's your desire as well. That's the promise of this
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Speaker 1: passage again. Let's read that text from John fifteen. Abide
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Speaker 1: in me as I abide in you. As the branch
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Speaker 1: cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine,
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Speaker 1: neither can you unless you abide in me. I am
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Speaker 1: the vine. You are the branches. Those who abide in
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Speaker 1: me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart
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Speaker 1: from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide
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Speaker 1: in me is thrown away like a branch and withers.
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Speaker 1: Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
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Speaker 1: If you abide in me and my words, abide in
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Speaker 1: you as for whatever you wish, and it will be
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Speaker 1: done for you. My Father is glorified by this that
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Speaker 1: you bear much fruit to become my disciples. As the
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Speaker 1: Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide
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Speaker 1: in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will
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Speaker 1: abide in my love, just as I have kept my
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Speaker 1: father's commandments and abide in his life. Again, This was
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Speaker 1: Jesus' final sermon, his final time with his followers. They
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Speaker 1: did not know what was coming, but he did so.
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Speaker 1: He escorted them out of the upper down the stairs,
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Speaker 1: through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, out the Eastern Gate,
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Speaker 1: down a path called the Path of Kidron, into the
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Speaker 1: Kidron Valley, and they came to stand in a vineyard.
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Speaker 1: Can you imagine the disciples as they form a horseshoe
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Speaker 1: around Jesus, Peter, James, and John and Matthew, and as
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Speaker 1: the moonlight falls upon their bearded faces. They have no
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Speaker 1: idea what's about to happen. They have no idea that
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Speaker 1: before the sun comes up again, their leader will be arrested.
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Speaker 1: And they have no idea before the sun sets again
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Speaker 1: their leader will have been crucified and killed. They have
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Speaker 1: no idea that all of the promises they've made just
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Speaker 1: hours before are about to be broken, all those pledges
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Speaker 1: to never leave. They're about to scatter like scared cats.
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Speaker 1: They have no idea what's about to happen. But Jesus
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Speaker 1: knows exactly what's about that. So what does he say
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Speaker 1: to them in this his final conversation? Does he tell
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Speaker 1: them to buck up? Stay strong. Does he tell them
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Speaker 1: to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Does
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Speaker 1: he tell them to fetch their weapons and get ready
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Speaker 1: to fight? Now? He talks to them about about a vineyard,
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Speaker 1: and he uses the vineyard as an allegory, a metaphor.
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Speaker 1: He says, God is like a gardener, an orchardist, one
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Speaker 1: who's in charge of a vineyard. And he prompts, and
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Speaker 1: he pampers, and he stirs. He coaxes the best out
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Speaker 1: of the vineyard. He wants to bring the best, the
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Speaker 1: best fruit out of us. So the picture is God
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Speaker 1: is in charge. We are not. Are you okay with that?
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Speaker 1: Can we do our thing?
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Speaker 2: We do?
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Speaker 1: Ever? So often raise your hand. I hereby resign as
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Speaker 1: ruler of the universe. God is in charge. Well you're not.
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Speaker 1: Any fruit that happens is up to him, not up
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Speaker 1: to us. So Jesus then is the vine. He's the
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Speaker 1: thick part, the stalk, the trunk, if you will, that
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Speaker 1: digs down into the dirt with roots and draws the
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Speaker 1: necessary nutrients out of the soil and passes them up,
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Speaker 1: cables them, is the conduit for them and delivers them
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Speaker 1: into the branches. That's us, We're the branches. And as
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Speaker 1: this process works, as God does his cutting and trimming
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Speaker 1: and nurturing and feeding and caregiving, as Christ receives the
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Speaker 1: nutrients and distributes them, then something wonderful happens. Fruit happens.
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Speaker 1: The fruit of the spirit is love and joy, and
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Speaker 1: peace and patience and kindness and goodness and self control.
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Speaker 1: All of these wonderful things happen. All of us desire
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Speaker 1: to have those fruits, don't we All of us do.
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Speaker 1: But Jesus says that the secret to being fruitful, to
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Speaker 1: bearing these fruits, is not forcing the fruit, but staying
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Speaker 1: connected to the vine. That the secret to bearing fruit
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Speaker 1: is not forcing the fruit, but staying connected to the vine.
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Speaker 1: It does you no good nor me to say, okay today,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to be happy today. I'm going to be
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Speaker 1: joyful if it kills me. Forcing fruit doesn't work, clinging
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Speaker 1: to the vine does. This is something wonderfully freeing. And
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Speaker 1: of all the things for us to tell his disciples
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Speaker 1: on the night before his crucifixion, the one thing he
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Speaker 1: wanted them to reflect back on and to remember was
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Speaker 1: you just hang on to me. You hang on to
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Speaker 1: me like a branch hangs onto the vine. Unless we
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Speaker 1: miss the point. Jesus employs the word abide ten times
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Speaker 1: in seven verses. Look at this, Abide in me and
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Speaker 1: I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
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Speaker 1: itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can
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Speaker 1: you unless you abide in me. He who abides in
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Speaker 1: me and I in him, he bears much fruit. If
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Speaker 1: anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away as
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Speaker 1: a branch and dries up. If you abide in me
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Speaker 1: and my words, abide in you. Ask whatever you wish,
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Speaker 1: and it will be done for you. Abide in my love.
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Speaker 1: Abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's
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Speaker 1: commandments and abide in his love. What's the key verse?
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Speaker 1: A key word in the verse, abide, Come and live
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Speaker 1: in me, Jesus says, make me your home. What does
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Speaker 1: it mean to abide somewhere? Most of you, if not
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Speaker 1: all of you, abide somewhere when you go home, quite
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Speaker 1: the odds are quite good that you will relax a
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Speaker 1: little more. You may put on some more comfortable shoes,
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Speaker 1: You may find something to eat. Your home is a
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Speaker 1: place of rest and nourishment. It's a place where you're
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Speaker 1: really your authentic self. You're not trying to show off.
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Speaker 1: You're not trying to impress anybody. It's okay to have
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Speaker 1: bad breath in your home. It's okay to have your
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Speaker 1: hair uncombed in your home. It's a safe place. So
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Speaker 1: Jesus says, let me be that. Let me be that,
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Speaker 1: not a place where you have to perform. Let me
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Speaker 1: be your ultimate place of rest. Let my word, let
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Speaker 1: my promise be the foundation of your home. Let my
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Speaker 1: sovereignty be the walls that keep the cold wind. Let
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Speaker 1: my roof of grace protect it from the hailstorm of guilt.
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Speaker 1: Just make your home in me. You see, I think
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Speaker 1: it comes down to this, that our aim, our only aim,
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Speaker 1: is to be at home in Christ. Now, we Christians
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Speaker 1: tend to miss this, and we banter about phrases like
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Speaker 1: I'm going to change the world, I'm going to make
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Speaker 1: a difference, I'm going to solve all the problems. I
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Speaker 1: think those are noble ambitions. But I've come to see
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Speaker 1: that those are fruits. Those are fruits. Our better statement
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Speaker 1: would be today, I'm going to connect with Christ because
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Speaker 1: He wants to connect with me. So how do we
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Speaker 1: do this? How do we abide in Christ? Well, the
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Speaker 1: answers think different for every individual because we're all different.
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Speaker 1: We have different learning skills or different aptitudes, different personalities,
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Speaker 1: but it will always include some common denominators like encountering scripture, prayer, worship,
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Speaker 1: finding our unique service, how we can best serve the
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Speaker 1: heavenly Father, fellowship. The truth of the matter is we're
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Speaker 1: like grapes. We do better in bunches and we grow together.
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Speaker 1: We're more fruitful when we're together. I think that's why
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Speaker 1: the devil likes to tear us apart. But you find
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Speaker 1: the way in which you connect to Christ the most.
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Speaker 1: But please remember this, it's his invitation. This isn't something
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Speaker 1: you have to foster. You're not trying to convince God
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Speaker 1: to connect with you. He's trying to convince you to
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Speaker 1: connect with him. What happened in the garden of Eden.
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Speaker 1: He wants to replicate before the all Adam and Eve
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Speaker 1: walked with God in the cool of the evening. No shame,
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Speaker 1: no fear. When you wake up in the morning, before
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Speaker 1: you climb out of bed, just incline an ear to
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Speaker 1: heaven and listen, and you will hear God say, why
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Speaker 1: don't we live this day together? Don't go out by yourself.
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Speaker 1: Let's just go together. I know what's coming. You keep
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Speaker 1: an ear inclined to me, and I'll keep an eye
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Speaker 1: on you. I have a dream that someday I will
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Speaker 1: live a day in which my thoughts about God outnumbered
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Speaker 1: my thoughts about anything else. I'm so far from that.
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Speaker 1: But you know there's a scripture in the Bible that
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Speaker 1: says that God's thoughts about me. God's thoughts about you
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Speaker 1: outnumber the number of grains of sand on the seashore.
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Speaker 1: He can't quit thinking about you. You're on his mind
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Speaker 1: all the time, and so he issues that invitation. Now,
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Speaker 1: if you decline, he'll be sad, but he won't abandon you.
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Speaker 1: He'll come back throughout the day and say, hey, we
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Speaker 1: can walk through this together. Let's just stay connected, connected, connected.
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Speaker 1: So I hereby issue my first edict as senior minister,
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Speaker 1: stay connected to Christ. You just connect to Him. Just
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Speaker 1: connect to Him. You know, the best thing you can
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Speaker 1: do for your marriage be connected to Christ. The best
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Speaker 1: thing you can do is a parent, be connected to Christ.
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Speaker 1: The best thing you can do at your workplace you
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Speaker 1: be connected to Christ. The best thing you can do
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Speaker 1: in your neighborhood be connected to Christ. The best thing
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Speaker 1: you can do in this church be connected to Christ.
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Speaker 1: He won't let you down, he won't walk away. You
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Speaker 1: connect to Him, and fruit in the right way at
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Speaker 1: the right time is going to happen. It's not up
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Speaker 1: to you to force fruit. It is up to you
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Speaker 1: and me to connect to Christ. This is a slightly
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Speaker 1: different emphasis than the one I had when I inaugurated
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Speaker 1: my first term as senior minister. It's some interesting symmetry here.
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Speaker 1: My first time to preach at this church, when Dianlon
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Speaker 1: and I came and visited from Brazil, I was thirty two,
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Speaker 1: and here I am starting this again at sixty two,
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Speaker 1: and somebody said, that's kind of like a Brett Farv
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Speaker 1: of preaching my first go around. My first message was
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Speaker 1: from the life of Caleb in the Old Testament, and
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Speaker 1: the theme of the message was give me my mountain.
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Speaker 1: That's what he said to Joshua when they were taking
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Speaker 1: to Promised Land, give me my mountain. So I said
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Speaker 1: to the church, let's all go get our mountain. It
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Speaker 1: was all rolling up your sleeve and getting to work
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Speaker 1: and tearing them up. It was a raw, raw, raw,
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Speaker 1: go go go message. I think my emphasis is a
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Speaker 1: little different these days. It seems to me that I
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Speaker 1: might have been skipping a step. That before we go out,
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Speaker 1: it's important to look up, and before we march, it's
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Speaker 1: important to rest, and before we take off, we have
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Speaker 1: to receive. And that really the highest call of the
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Speaker 1: Christian is to make Christ our home. To the degree
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Speaker 1: we do that, I think we're happier, more joyful. Would
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Speaker 1: you agree. I think the best advertisement for Christianity is
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Speaker 1: a happy Christian. I do. I think the worst advertisement
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Speaker 1: for Christianity is the other a miserable Christian. I used
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Speaker 1: to ride bikes. I mean seriously, I was one of
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Speaker 1: these guys that you don't like on the road. Wore
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Speaker 1: the tight shorts, tight shirt, clip in pedals, taking up
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Speaker 1: too much room. But I thought it was so much fun.
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Speaker 1: I got into it because I always rode bikes as
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Speaker 1: a kid, and so I found out you can ride
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Speaker 1: bikes as a grown up. I got excited, and so
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Speaker 1: I'd go on these long rides all through the hill country.
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Speaker 1: Oh that is so much fun. I met some other bikers,
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Speaker 1: and as I began to meet other bikers, I came
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Speaker 1: to find out that I was riding a wimpy bike.
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Speaker 1: They told me you needed a faster bike. And also
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Speaker 1: they told me about bike rallies and bike races, and
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Speaker 1: if I wanted to be a part of those, I
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Speaker 1: needed a better bike. So I went and bought a
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Speaker 1: better bike. And this bike we equipped with lots of
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Speaker 1: bells and whistles, all kinds of things that measure everything,
24:58
Speaker 1: not just how fast you're going, but how far you'll
25:02
Speaker 1: go if you keep up at this speed, and also
25:05
Speaker 1: how fast you went last time, and how far you
25:07
Speaker 1: went yesterday, and if you've reached your goal or not.
25:11
Speaker 1: And it had a little GPS, so I always knew
25:15
Speaker 1: where I was. And as if that wasn't enough, I
25:17
Speaker 1: bought another gauge to help me know my heart rates,
25:22
Speaker 1: an or a strap around my chest, and it told
25:25
Speaker 1: me my heart rate. I have no idea why I
25:27
Speaker 1: needed to know my heart rate, but everybody else knew
25:31
Speaker 1: their heart rate, and so I wanted to know mine.
25:34
Speaker 1: And so pretty soon I was biking looking at the
25:37
Speaker 1: gauges a whole lot, not much at the road, but
25:39
Speaker 1: always looking at the gauges. And then somebody said, oh,
25:43
Speaker 1: you got to listen to a certain kind of music
25:44
Speaker 1: to really bike well. And he told me about this
25:47
Speaker 1: kind of pound pound pound pound pound pound music, kind
25:50
Speaker 1: of a led Zeppelin type of thing, or you just
25:53
Speaker 1: boom boom boom. So I got that going. I got
25:56
Speaker 1: it in my ears, I got gauges in my eyes,
25:58
Speaker 1: and so I'm pedaling and pedaling and pedaling. You know,
26:00
Speaker 1: I got to be a pretty good monster out there
26:02
Speaker 1: on the road. Well, one day that bike broke and
26:06
Speaker 1: I had to take it in to be repaired and
26:09
Speaker 1: leave it at the shop. In the meantime, I had
26:11
Speaker 1: to go back to my wimpy bike. Didn't have any
26:15
Speaker 1: gauges on, it, had no clue how fast I was going.
26:20
Speaker 1: I wasn't listening to music that day for some reason.
26:24
Speaker 1: And after a few minutes with no gauges and no music,
26:28
Speaker 1: I thought to myself, you know, this is fun. This
26:33
Speaker 1: is fun. This is why I got in this to
26:36
Speaker 1: begin with. As a church, we've been peddling pretty hard,
26:46
Speaker 1: been growing, been building buildings, adding staff, been peddling pretty hard,
26:57
Speaker 1: and God's grace has been upon us. I'm wondering if
27:03
Speaker 1: we wouldn't be well served with the time of saying now,
27:08
Speaker 1: why did we get into this in the first place,
27:12
Speaker 1: And going back to the final sermon of Christ, which
27:16
Speaker 1: is really the first call of the Christian and that
27:22
Speaker 1: is connect Are we connecting with Christ? Are we connecting
27:26
Speaker 1: with Christ? Are we connecting with the living, loving presence
27:33
Speaker 1: of the Lord Jesus Christ, Each one of us not
27:37
Speaker 1: connecting through a pastor or through a leader, but each
27:41
Speaker 1: one of us having our own connection with the Lord
27:44
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And that that is our focus and trusting
27:49
Speaker 1: that He will bring fruit at the right time, in
27:52
Speaker 1: the right way. That's what I'm thinking. I'd love to
27:57
Speaker 1: know what you're thinking and over these next forty days.
28:00
Speaker 1: If you since anything, remember that email address listening at
28:04
Speaker 1: Oak Hills Church dot com. I'm really honored to be
28:08
Speaker 1: your senior minister again, but you need to know I
28:11
Speaker 1: have not forgotten from whence I came. The Lord called
28:15
Speaker 1: me first when I sat in a pickup truck at
28:18
Speaker 1: the age of eighteen in a piggly wiggly parking lot
28:23
Speaker 1: in a small West Texas town with six beers in
28:26
Speaker 1: my belly and several more seated resting on the seat
28:30
Speaker 1: between me and my best friend James, and I turned
28:34
Speaker 1: to him and I said, James, There's got to be
28:35
Speaker 1: more to life than this. It was two years before
28:41
Speaker 1: I found Christ. But that's when the journey began. And
28:44
Speaker 1: so your preacher is a converted drunk. That's who I am,
28:50
Speaker 1: nothing more. I'm not real sophisticated. I know this because
28:59
Speaker 1: one of the members, toward the end of my first
29:02
Speaker 1: term said to me, you know, look, Kato, I've been
29:05
Speaker 1: listening to you now every weekend for twenty years, and
29:09
Speaker 1: I've got you figured out. He said, you say the
29:12
Speaker 1: same thing every week, just with different rapping. I said, well,
29:16
Speaker 1: what do you mean? He said, every week you say
29:19
Speaker 1: God loves you. It's going to be okay. So if
29:25
Speaker 1: that message speaks to your heart, that's probably what you're
29:28
Speaker 1: going to get. I do think we have some great
29:32
Speaker 1: days ahead of us. I do, but only to the
29:36
Speaker 1: degree that we stay connected to Christ. I've invited my
29:40
Speaker 1: wife's Denlon to come and lead a prayer that will
29:43
Speaker 1: serve as maybe a dedicatory prayer for this season of ministry,
29:48
Speaker 1: and I'd like to invite you to join with us
29:52
Speaker 1: as we pray together. If you've never met my wife,
29:54
Speaker 1: you've never met one of God's angels, for she is that.
29:57
Speaker 2: Indeed, let's pray, the Lord says, sons and daughters pay
30:17
Speaker 2: attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words.
30:22
Speaker 2: Do not let them out of your sight, keep them
30:26
Speaker 2: within your heart, for they are a life to those
30:30
Speaker 2: who find them, and health to a man's whole body.
30:35
Speaker 2: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the
30:39
Speaker 2: well spring of life. Oh Lord Jesus, Thank you for
30:46
Speaker 2: interceding on our behalf. Thank you, Father God, for directing
30:51
Speaker 2: the affairs of the world, of the universe, of our neighborhoods,
30:57
Speaker 2: of our homes, of our hearts. Holy Spirit. What can
31:02
Speaker 2: we do except for you. We can't take one step
31:06
Speaker 2: or breath without you leading us, teaching us, comforting us,
31:12
Speaker 2: reminding us of what is true. Lord Jesus, you said
31:17
Speaker 2: that you are the Way, that you are the truth,
31:20
Speaker 2: and that you are life. And so we cling to
31:24
Speaker 2: you today. We cleave to you. We cleave to your goodness,
31:29
Speaker 2: to your grace, to your forgiveness. We remember that your
31:34
Speaker 2: love is an everlasting love. That you, Almighty God, creator
31:39
Speaker 2: of the ends of the earth, that you never grow
31:43
Speaker 2: tired or weary of hearing from us, of giving us strength,
31:48
Speaker 2: of giving us power. That you know our weakness, you
31:52
Speaker 2: know our needs, And every person in this building today
31:57
Speaker 2: you know intimately deeply, So thank you for inviting us
32:02
Speaker 2: to abide in you, to rest in you, to dwell
32:08
Speaker 2: in the shelter of the most High, so we can
32:11
Speaker 2: abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Thank you for
32:15
Speaker 2: every promise. That you are our strong tower, that you
32:19
Speaker 2: are our refuge, that you are the shield about us,
32:22
Speaker 2: the lifter of our head. That you are our glory. God.
32:27
Speaker 2: Nothing else is our glory but you. Thank you for
32:31
Speaker 2: all these promises. Thank you for your word that is
32:34
Speaker 2: alive and active all by itself, and when it comes
32:39
Speaker 2: to our mind, when it rises up in our hearts,
32:42
Speaker 2: we receive more life, and we become more active, and
32:46
Speaker 2: we have things, and it's mysterious how it happens. God,
32:50
Speaker 2: but it's all at your commanding, all at your directing,
32:54
Speaker 2: all at all because of your great love for us.
33:00
Speaker 2: So Jesus, we just want to thank you for saying
33:03
Speaker 2: that we can come to you when we are weary
33:06
Speaker 2: and heavy laden, and you will give us rest. That
33:10
Speaker 2: you invite us to learn from you because you are
33:13
Speaker 2: gentle and humble in heart, and your yoke is easy
33:18
Speaker 2: and your burden is light, and you promise rest for
33:23
Speaker 2: our souls. Thank you that you care about our souls.
33:27
Speaker 2: We commit all these things to you and to your
33:30
Speaker 2: sweet care in the name of Jesus Amena.
36:42
Speaker 3: No, you don't have the steak cloves. As long as
36:54
Speaker 3: you're somewhere out there, that's.
36:59
Speaker 1: Enough for me.
37:04
Speaker 4: I don't need to hold you near me, don't need
37:08
Speaker 4: promises to keep just the thought that you are breathing
37:13
Speaker 4: somewhere in this world.
37:15
Speaker 1: I see.
37:17
Speaker 4: Even if I'm not beside you, even if you never know,
37:24
Speaker 4: there's a quiet kind of comfort just.
37:27
Speaker 5: In knowing you still glow. I don't need to forever.
37:38
Speaker 5: I just need you to exist.
37:42
Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me.
37:46
Speaker 5: You don't have to feel a say. Just as long as.
37:50
Speaker 4: You're still out there, calling softly.
37:54
Speaker 1: Through my days.
37:56
Speaker 6: You don't have to look my way.
37:59
Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
38:04
Speaker 5: know where you're living in the world.
38:07
Speaker 6: I'm not alone.
38:13
Speaker 5: I won't chase it through the distance.
38:16
Speaker 4: You won't disturb your chosen life.
38:19
Speaker 5: I'll just keep you in my silence, like a star
38:23
Speaker 5: that shines at night.
38:26
Speaker 1: Through the darkened, through the booth.
38:33
Speaker 6: I still think of you. You don't have to stay
38:40
Speaker 6: with me, you don't have.
38:42
Speaker 1: To feel the same.
38:44
Speaker 6: It's Just as long as you're still out.
38:47
Speaker 4: There, calling softly through my days, you don't.
38:52
Speaker 6: Have to look my way.
38:55
Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home.
38:58
Speaker 4: It's enough to know you're living in a world.
39:03
Speaker 6: I'm not alone.
39:20
Speaker 5: I don't need to be your late. I don't need
39:24
Speaker 5: to cross your mind.
39:25
Speaker 4: All I need is just.
39:27
Speaker 5: The truth that you're somewhere, still alive.
39:35
Speaker 6: You don't have to stay with me, you don't have
39:39
Speaker 6: to feel the same. Just as long as you're still
39:44
Speaker 6: up there, calling softly through my days, you don't have
39:50
Speaker 6: to my way.
39:52
Speaker 1: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
39:57
Speaker 1: know you're living.
40:01
Speaker 2: In a world.
40:02
Speaker 1: I'm not alone.