Latest / Finding God at Work / Episode 8: Priest

Transcript

Episode 8: Priest · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  In our current series, Imagining Work, we're asking
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  the question, what story about work am I
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  living in?
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  Because the story we live in is the
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  story we live out.
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  And we want to live out the story
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  that God is telling about work on the
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  pages of the Bible.
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  So we're looking at key images from scripture
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  that can help us live in that story.
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  And today's image is priest.
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  What does it mean for us to be
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  priests in our daily work?
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  And what does it mean for Jesus to
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  be our priest?
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  In our last episode, we looked at the
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  image of artist.
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  And this image of priest is parallel to
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  that image.
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  Because artists see something about God, about the
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  reality of God reflected in the world in
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  some way.
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  Then they do their work of art.
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  And that ministers that reality of God to
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  those of us who engage with their artwork.
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  Even if it's not sacred art, that reflects
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  even in secular art.
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  And we talked about that last time.
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  On a similar way, priests are also a
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  go between.
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  Priests go between God and the people.
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  The way that priests go between God and
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  the people is by offering sacrifices to God.
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  And this is something that might seem kind
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  of strange for us.
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  Like, what does it mean to offer a
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  sacrifice to God?
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  And this was literally animal sacrifices in the
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  Torah ministry of the priesthood.
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  So there was a whole set of ritual
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  laws that allowed people to bring animals.
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  Those animals would be slaughtered by the priests
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  and then offered to God as a form
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  of worship.
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  Now this might make us ask a question
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  like, why is it being done this way?
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  Like, you know, poor day for the animals,
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  like it's kind of messy, it's gory, and
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  it makes us wonder, why would God set
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  it up like this?
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  It might even make us think like, is
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  this like somehow God must be appeased in
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  his wrath by the offering of these sacrifices?
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  But that's not what's going on here.
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  That's more of a pagan concept of animal
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  sacrifice.
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  This is actually an expression of God's covenantal
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  love for his people.
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  That God has established a covenant with his
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  people, a permanent commitment to them as their
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  God and they as his people.
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  And yet the people continue to break that
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  covenant again and again because of the darkness
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  of their hearts.
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  Just like us, the darkness of the heart,
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  the reality of sin breaks relationship with God
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  and with other people.
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  And so God needs to deal with that
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  sin in some way.
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  And the way that he deals with sin
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  at first is to say, let's have a
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  covering over sin, something that can make it
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  so that we can continue in our covenant
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  relationship even though the sin is there.
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  So it's like an artistic image of you
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  can imagine the stain of sin like on
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  a canvas and then the blood is like
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  being painted over that sin until you can't
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  see it anymore.
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  So this system is an expression of God's
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  mercy.
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  It's an expression of his love for his
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  people.
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  It's a way for relationship to continue despite
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  the evil and the darkness of sin.
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  Okay, so we got to use our cultural
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  imagination here and get our minds around how
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  things were different in a different time and
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  place.
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  Very different than our culture and God was
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  in that and God was using that to
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  bring people to himself.
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  But for us, this image is actually still
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  helpful that there's something that we present to
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  God, we give it to him, we lift
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  it up as an offering to him.
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  But it's a little bit different for us.
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  And we'll come back to why it's different
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  for us.
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  But first I want to look at how
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  it's different for us.
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  What is it that we are offering to
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  God?
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  And the book of Romans can help us
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  with this.
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  As you may know, Romans is kind of
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  the theological magnum opus of the Apostle Paul.
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  And over 11 chapters, he builds this beautiful
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  theology of salvation.
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  How God has saved us in Christ, what
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  he's accomplishing in Christ in the world.
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  And then in chapter 12, he pivots and
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  begins to apply it.
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  So it's like in chapters 1 through 11,
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  here's the story you can live in if
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  you're in Christ.
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  And then in chapter 12, how do you
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  live out that story in the world?
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  And these are the first words he says
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  in chapter 12, verse 1, when he's beginning
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  to move to that application.
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  Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in
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  view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies
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  as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
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  This is your spiritual act of worship.
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  What Paul's saying here is really radical.
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  Just like in the Torah system of sacrifices,
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  he's saying people can make an offering to
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  God.
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  And just like in that system, he's saying
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  that's a spiritual act of worship.
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  But now what he's saying is it's not
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  the body of an animal that's being offered.
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  It's your body.
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  But it's not because you're going to die
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  immediately.
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  It's a living sacrifice.
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  Paul is saying the way you live out
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  your life as a disciple of Jesus in
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  Christ, that life is the offering.
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  And you can imagine that same image, lifting
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  up your hands to the Lord, lifting it
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  up to the Lord as a sacrifice, as
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  a gift.
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  That applies to everything you do in your
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  embodied life.
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  This is radical.
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  This is inclusive.
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  This is pervasive.
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  And it's a gift to us because it
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  means we don't have to go like people
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  did back then at a specific time of
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  year with a specific animal to a specific
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  place in order to make that offering to
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  the Lord.
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  We can make the offering to the Lord
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  in every moment of our lives, every moment
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  that we're using our body to do anything
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  or to experience anything.
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  That can be an offering to the Lord.
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  But there's more here, right?
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  Remember, priests were go betweens between God and
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  people.
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  And so if we're the ones making the
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  offering, as Paul says, that puts us in
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  the role of priest because it was priests
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  who lifted up the offering.
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  And so there's this vertical dimension of lifting
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  it up to the Lord.
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  But there's also a horizontal dimension of what
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  comes back to the people.
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  And there's another passage here from the Book
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  of Hebrews that can really help us with
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  this.
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  So we're going to read final chapter of
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  the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 13, verses 15
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  through 16.
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  Listen for the connection between the vertical and
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  the horizontal.
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  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to
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  God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of
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  lips that confess his name.
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  And do not forget to do good and
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  to share with others, for with such sacrifices,
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  God is pleased.
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  You see what the writer to the Hebrews
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  is doing here?
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  They're talking about that vertical dimension just like
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  Paul that we can offer a sacrifice of
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  praise to the Lord.
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  But then they're also saying there's another kind
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  of sacrifice.
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  It's the sacrifice of doing good and sharing
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  with others.
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  In other words, there's a dimension of mission
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  here as well.
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  For us to be priests is to be
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  on mission.
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  It's the way that we love others and
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  we serve others in the name of Christ,
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  in the character of Christ, that also is
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  a sacrifice and an offering to God.
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  With such sacrifices, God is pleased.
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  There's a theologian who was involved with the
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  Lausanne movement, a movement about mission, helping people
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  understand mission, helping people live out mission in
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  the world.
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  They have wonderful resources at lausanne.org.
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  He was a Welsh theologian named Demi Hughes,
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  passed away a few years ago, but he
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  wrote about this in a paper for the
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  Lausanne movement.
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  He was writing about these verses specifically.
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  He says, the church is faithful to its
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  priestly call to the extent to which she
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  combines the sacrifice of praise with the sacrifice
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  of good deeds that alleviate human suffering.
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  The church is faithful to its priestly call
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  to the extent to which she combines those
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  two sacrifices.
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  So we've got to think of it as
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  those intersecting lines.
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  We're connecting with God, we're offering our whole
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  lives to God, and we're serving and loving
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  other people in the name of Christ.
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  We're doing good deeds that, as Demi Hughes
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  says, alleviate human suffering.
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  And so this too is inclusive, it's pervasive,
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  it's not limited to one set of tasks.
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  And sometimes we can get mixed up about
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  that.
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  We can think that, oh, it's only mission
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  if I'm having a spiritual conversation with someone
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  in which I share the good news.
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  Now that is a great thing to do.
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  And I will do future episodes talking about
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  just that and how we do that.
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  If that's something that is nerve wracking for
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  you or scary for you, you can do
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  it.
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  There's ways that you can share your faith
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  with others that are natural and that work.
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  But it's not limited to that.
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  Mission includes everything we do.
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  This verse in Hebrews is not about sharing
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  your faith.
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  When it says to share with others, it
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  means like sharing resources, sharing your food, sharing
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  things that people need, giving in a way
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  that helps others thrive.
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  And so everything we do that blesses other
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  people, if we're doing it in the name
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  of Christ and in the character of Christ,
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  that's mission.
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  That's that horizontal dimension of offering a sacrifice
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  to God.
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  That's priestly work.
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  And this helps us connect it back to
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  our everyday work, the work that we do
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  at our jobs or in our homes, whether
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  it's paid or unpaid, the work that we
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  do each day can also be priestly work.
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  Now, maybe you feel a little bit skeptical
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  about that.
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  Like if you're in a church tradition like
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  my own where certain people have the title
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  of priest and an office of priest that's
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  set apart and it's very special, this is
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  true like in my Anglican context, it's also
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  true for Lutherans, for Orthodox, for Catholics.
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  And you might say like, well, maybe they,
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  maybe their work is priestly work because it's
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  priestly work in a special way, but I
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  don't think my work is priestly work in
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  the exact same way.
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  Or maybe you look at people who, where
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  that horizontal dimension is really clear, like someone
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  who works for a Christian nonprofit.
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  I think of my friend Rachel, who's an
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  employment specialist with World Relief, a wonderful agency
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  that serves refugees and immigrants.
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  It's like, yeah, when she goes to work
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  every day, she's like helping refugees and immigrants
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  find jobs.
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  That seems like that might be mission.
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  But what about my job?
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  Like what if you're just doing the dishes
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  at home or taking care of your kids?
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  Or what if you're an accountant at a
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  company that doesn't have a super altruistic mission
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  in the world?
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  How can your work be priestly?
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  Well, it's fair to say that different jobs
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  are different, right?
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  Like you're not doing priestly work in the
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  exact same way that a priest at your
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  church is doing priestly work or that a
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  pastor is.
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  You're not necessarily doing mission in the exact
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  same way that somebody working at a Christian
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  nonprofit is doing mission.
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  But you're still doing mission.
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  Any time that you love another human being
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  in the character of Christ, reflecting the way
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  that his name is on you, that's that
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  horizontal dimension.
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  And God receives that as a sacrifice.
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  It's a sacrifice with which he is pleased.
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  And so even if we don't wanna exaggerate
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  the way that the little details of our
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  lives advance or build up God's mission in
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  some way, we can still be honest about
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  how pervasive it is.
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  If our bodies are the living sacrifice, everything
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  we do with our bodies, if we're doing
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  it in the character of Christ, to love
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  God and to love other people is priestly
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  work.
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  So I hope that gives a sense of
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  dignity and of purpose and of God's presence
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  in the work you're doing every day, regardless
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  of what it is.
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  You can be that go between God and
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  others as you make that offering, that sacrifice
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  of praise and that sacrifice of good works
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  in the work you're doing every day.
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  But that makes us ask the question, why
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  is all of this possible?
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  How did this change happen where instead of
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  having to rely on these animals, sacrifices for
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  the covering of sin, that now everything is
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  different?
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  Well, it's because of that story of Jesus's
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  work.
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  He's the one who came and accomplished something
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  through his death and resurrection that changed everything.
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  And so we'll stay in the letter to
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  the Hebrews here and just read one more
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  verse that talks about how Jesus is the
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  priest who changes everything.
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  This is from Hebrews chapter seven, verse 27.
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  The writer says, unlike the other high priests,
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  Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day
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  after day, first for his own sins and
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  then for the sins of the people.
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  He sacrificed for their sins once for all
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  when he offered himself.
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  Jesus offered the sacrifice of his own body
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  on the cross.
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  And that sacrifice, unlike the sacrifices from before,
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  which could only cover sin like with a
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  layer of paint, his sacrifice washes sin away.
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  His sacrifice does away with it entirely.
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  His sacrifice brings us into full reconciliation and
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  fellowship with God.
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  And that sacrifice never has to be repeated.
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  We all get to inhabit and participate in
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  that sacrifice when we place our faith in
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  Christ, when we're baptized in the name of
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  the Father and the Son and the Holy
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  Spirit, we enter into fellowship with him, we're
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  in him, and that sacrifice applies to us
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  so that our sin is done away with
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  forever.
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  Praise the Lord, we're saved through his sacrifice,
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  through his priestly ministry.
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  He's the one that made the offering for
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  sin once and for all.
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  And that means that our priestly ministry is
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  rooted in his priestly ministry.
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  The sacrifices that we offer, that sacrifice of
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  praise and sacrifice of good works, those are
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  not sacrifices to take away sins.
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  Those are not even sacrifices to cover over
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  sins.
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  Those are sacrifices rooted in the work he's
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  already accomplished as priest to express our praise
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  to God and our love for others.
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  The same love that drove Jesus to the
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  cross in obedience to his Father for the
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  sake of the world now drives us to
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  love other people freely, not to cover over
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  sins, but to announce that Jesus has already
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  done that work and to live out his
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  love in every aspect of our lives.
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  Lord Jesus, you are our great high priest.
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  Make our hearts so grateful for your love
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  for us, for the way you stood in
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  the gap between us and God, the way
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  your sacrifice has purchased redemption forever.
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  And we do not have to do that
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  for ourselves, that our sin is not just
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  covered over, but washed away.
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  And show us how we following you can
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  exercise the priestly ministry you've given us to
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  go between you and others to extend your
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  love and your life in the work that
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  we're doing every single day, that we would
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  offer that sacrifice of praise and that sacrifice
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  of good works as an offering to you.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Finding God at Work is a production of
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  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 14:57
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 15:00
  life.
• 15:01
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  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 15:05
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  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
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  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
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