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 greeting to those of you who are
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Speaker 1: watching online. Also, those of you who are part of
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Speaker 1: one of our campuses in Fredericksburg or Crown Ridge, North Central,
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Speaker 1: West Side, Alamo Ranch, Natal, Brazil, Journey Fellowship, we send
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Speaker 1: you special, special greetings. By now, you're likely aware, you
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Speaker 1: may not be, that Randy Frazee has since been called
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Speaker 1: to pursue a citywide ministry and has resigned as our
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Speaker 1: senior minister we continue to thank god for the growth
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Speaker 1: that our church experienced under his leadership can you imagine
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Speaker 1: oak hills without campuses in fredericksburg the alamo ranch north
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Speaker 1: central or natal brazil campuses we're so grateful for the
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Speaker 1: time we've had to study through the story and through
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Speaker 1: believe all of these were uh initiatives under randy's leadership
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Speaker 1: and We deeply appreciate him and Roseanne 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, Dinalyn, 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 this weekend
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Speaker 1: alone for us to step away from our study through
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Speaker 1: the story and take just a moment and allow me
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Speaker 1: to share some thoughts with you regarding my heart as
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Speaker 1: senior minister and and what seems right to me that
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Speaker 1: we should focus on as a church. By the way,
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Speaker 1: I'm really glad you came back. I wasn't sure anyone would.
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Speaker 1: So let's pray and then we'll get to work. We
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Speaker 1: welcome you, Holy Spirit. Please forgive our speaker. His sins
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Speaker 1: are many. Grant that we can see just Jesus. Through
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Speaker 1: Christ we pray. Amen. If you knew you had one
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Speaker 1: final conversation with a good friend, what would you talk about?
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Speaker 1: Granted one final meal with some colleagues, what would you
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Speaker 1: want to discuss? given one last opportunity to be with
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Speaker 1: your family, what would you tell them? Jesus had the
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Speaker 1: opportunity to answer this type of question. On the night
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Speaker 1: before his crucifixion, he had a final meal and also
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Speaker 1: a final conversation with his followers. And that evening gave
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Speaker 1: birth to what we could call his final sermon before
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Speaker 1: the crucifixion. Don't you know he shows his words carefully?
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Speaker 1: Maybe that's why we cherish them so. Here's what he said.
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Speaker 1: He said, abide in me as I abide in you.
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Speaker 1: Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless
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Speaker 1: it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you
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Speaker 1: abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
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Speaker 1: Those who abide in me and I in them bear
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Speaker 1: much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing.
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Speaker 1: Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like
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Speaker 1: a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into
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Speaker 1: the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and
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Speaker 1: my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish,
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Speaker 1: and it will be done for you. My Father is
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Speaker 1: glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become
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Speaker 1: my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I
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Speaker 1: have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep
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Speaker 1: my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as
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Speaker 1: I have kept my Father's commandments. And abide in his love.
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Speaker 1: I believe this is a timely message for our church.
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Speaker 1: It's my heart's desire. That we learn to abide in Christ.
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Speaker 1: That we like branches to a vine cling to him.
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Speaker 1: I sense that this is the highest calling of the Christian.
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Speaker 1: That our highest call is not to bear fruit. But
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Speaker 1: our highest call is to stay connected to Christ. And
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Speaker 1: the 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: 1988 to 2008. Here's a picture, a couple of pictures
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Speaker 1: of the day we arrived in 1987 from Brazil in
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Speaker 1: the airport for our first visit to the church. I
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Speaker 1: was a lot younger then. I was a lot smarter then.
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Speaker 1: Over the years, I've conducted many weddings. Your weddings buried
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Speaker 1: many of your loved ones. I love this church. I
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Speaker 1: just love this church. It's far from a perfect church.
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Speaker 1: In fact, it's quite messy at times. but God's favor
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Speaker 1: for whatever reason has been upon us. I love our
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Speaker 1: elders and staff, our leadership team. Those who serve here
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Speaker 1: on the church staff, they're just top notch. I love
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Speaker 1: where we're headed, building strong campuses, impacting neighborhoods through the
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Speaker 1: kindness of Christ. This can work and we have great
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Speaker 1: days ahead of us I've sensed, however, that it would
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Speaker 1: be good for us before we just keep pressing forward
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Speaker 1: to pause and be quiet and listen. I'd like to
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Speaker 1: kick off 40 days of listening prayer today and invite
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Speaker 1: every person who has any connection with this church to
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Speaker 1: take time and pray every day, Lord, what are you
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Speaker 1: saying to us? What do you want to do? What
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Speaker 1: is your plan? What are you up to? Where are
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Speaker 1: you leading? You're the shepherd of this church. You're the
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Speaker 1: true shepherd. You're the pastor of this church. Where do
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Speaker 1: you want us to go? And as the Lord speaks
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Speaker 1: to you, let us know. Created a special email address,
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Speaker 1: listening at oakhillschurch.com. If the Lord gives you a verse
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Speaker 1: or gives you a word, let us know. How do
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Speaker 1: we listen to God? How does this happen? Well, one
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Speaker 1: way is like Tom Anthony taught us a couple of
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Speaker 1: weeks back is to pray and pause, to pray and
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Speaker 1: then be quiet, just be silent. Another way is to
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Speaker 1: be especially attentive to the messages that come your way.
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Speaker 1: If you've invited the Holy Spirit to speak to you,
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Speaker 1: then be on the alert for a word that comes
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Speaker 1: through a friend or or through a passage of scripture especially.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you could requisition a part of your day that
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Speaker 1: typically is used for something else, like a daily commute,
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Speaker 1: or cutting the grass, or washing the dishes, and use
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Speaker 1: that in addition to the task to say, Lord, I'm listening.
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Speaker 1: I'm listening. I go in with two ears and one
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Speaker 1: mouth and listen more than you speak. Maybe you could
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Speaker 1: gather the kids around at night or have a few
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Speaker 1: quiet moments with your spouse and just say, Lord, is
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Speaker 1: there anything you're telling us as a church? I think
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Speaker 1: the Lord loves his church and he wants to guide us.
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Speaker 1: I sensed his guidance during this transition. It's not been
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Speaker 1: an easy transition. I had to make some, take some
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Speaker 1: time for some serious prayer. during this whole process, I
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Speaker 1: got a pimple. I haven't had a pimple since college.
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Speaker 1: Dillon said it was a stress pimple. I don't know.
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Speaker 1: I don't even remember how to pop those things. 62
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Speaker 1: years old, I'm getting pimples. On the night that Randy
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Speaker 1: shared his resignation with the elders, he and I had
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Speaker 1: agreed to meet in the prayer tower. Afterwards, On the
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Speaker 1: Crown Ridge campus. And so I was already there, got
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Speaker 1: there a good 20 minutes before he. And I was
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Speaker 1: having some doubts. And I was saying, Lord, you sure
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Speaker 1: you don't have somebody else for this? Somebody younger, smarter, faster, quicker. Surely, Lord,
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Speaker 1: there'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 2 Kings 2.15 said, the company
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Speaker 1: of the prophets from Jericho who were watching said, the
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Speaker 1: spirit of a is resting on elisha now i'm not
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Speaker 1: the brightest bulb in the box but i was praying
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Speaker 1: about transition from one leader to the next and here's
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Speaker 1: a verse describing a peaceful transition from elijah to elisha
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Speaker 1: 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 passage. Again,
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Speaker 1: let's read that text from John 15. 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 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 you,
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Speaker 1: as 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 commandments, you will abide
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Speaker 1: in my love, just as I have kept my father's
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Speaker 1: commandments and abide in his love. Again, this was Jesus'
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Speaker 1: final sermon, his final time with his followers. They did
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Speaker 1: not know what was coming, but he did. So he
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Speaker 1: escorted them out of the upper room, 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: They have no idea before the sun sets again, their
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Speaker 1: leader will have been crucified and killed. They have no
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Speaker 1: idea that all of the promises they've made just hours
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Speaker 1: before are about to be broken. All those pledges to
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Speaker 1: never leave, they're about to scatter like scared cats. They
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Speaker 1: have no idea what's about to happen. But Jesus knows
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Speaker 1: exactly what's about to happen. 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? No, he talks to them 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 we do every so often?
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Speaker 1: Raise your hand. I hereby resign as ruler of the universe.
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Speaker 1: God is in charge. We are not. Any fruit that
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Speaker 1: happens is up to him, not up to us. So
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Speaker 1: Jesus then is the vine. He's the thick part, the stalk,
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Speaker 1: the trunk, if you will, that digs down into the
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Speaker 1: dirt with roots. and draws the necessary nutrients out of
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Speaker 1: the soil and passes them up, cables them, is the
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Speaker 1: conduit for them, and delivers them into the branches. That's us.
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Speaker 1: We're the branches. And as this process works, as God
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Speaker 1: does his cutting and trimming and nurturing and feeding and caregiving,
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Speaker 1: as Christ receives the nutrients and distributes them, then something
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Speaker 1: wonderful happens. Fruit happens. The fruit of the Spirit is
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Speaker 1: love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and
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Speaker 1: goodness and self-control. All of these wonderful things happen. All
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Speaker 1: of us desire to have those fruits, don't we? All
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Speaker 1: of us do. But Jesus says that the secret to
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Speaker 1: being fruitful, to bearing these fruits, is not forcing the fruit,
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Speaker 1: but staying connected to the vine. That the secret to
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Speaker 1: bearing fruit is not forcing the fruit, but staying connected
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Speaker 1: to the vine. It does you no good, nor me,
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Speaker 1: to say, okay, today I'm gonna be happy. Today I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna be joyful if it kills me. Forcing fruit doesn't work.
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Speaker 1: Clinging to the vine does. This is something wonderfully freeing.
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Speaker 1: And of all the things for Christ to tell his
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Speaker 1: disciples on the night before his crucifixion, the one thing
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Speaker 1: he 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 on to the vine. And
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Speaker 1: lest we miss the point, Jesus employs the word abide
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Speaker 1: 10 times in seven verses. Look at this. Abide in
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Speaker 1: me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
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Speaker 1: fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so
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Speaker 1: neither can you unless you abide in me. He who
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Speaker 1: abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit.
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Speaker 1: If anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away
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Speaker 1: as a branch and dries up. If you abide in
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Speaker 1: me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you
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Speaker 1: wish and it will be done for you. Abide in
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Speaker 1: my love, abide in my love, just as I have
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Speaker 1: kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. What's
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Speaker 1: the key verse, a key word in the verse? Abide.
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Speaker 1: Come and live in me, Jesus says. Make me your home.
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Speaker 1: What does it mean to abide somewhere? Most of you,
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Speaker 1: if not all of you, abide somewhere. When you go home,
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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 Be the walls that keep the cold wind out.
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Speaker 1: Let my roof of grace protect you from the hailstorm
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Speaker 1: of guilt. Just make your home in me. You see,
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Speaker 1: I think it comes down to this. That our aim,
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Speaker 1: our only aim, is to be at home in Christ.
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Speaker 1: Now we Christians tend to miss this. And we banter
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Speaker 1: about phrases like I'm going to change the world. I'm
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Speaker 1: going to make a difference. I'm going to solve all
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Speaker 1: the problems. I think those are noble ambitions. But I've
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Speaker 1: come to see that those are fruits. Those are fruits.
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Speaker 1: Our better statement would be today I'm going to connect
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Speaker 1: with Christ. Because he wants to connect with me. So
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Speaker 1: how do we do this? How do we abide in Christ? Well,
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Speaker 1: the answer is, I think, different for every individual because
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Speaker 1: we're all different. We have different learning skills or different aptitudes,
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Speaker 1: different personalities, but it will always include some common denominators
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Speaker 1: like encountering scripture, prayer, worship, finding our unique service, how
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Speaker 1: we can best serve the Heavenly Father, fellowship, The truth
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Speaker 1: of the matter is we're like grapes. We do better
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Speaker 1: in bunches. And we grow together. We're more fruitful when
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Speaker 1: we're together. I think that's why the devil likes to
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Speaker 1: tear us apart. But you find the way in which
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Speaker 1: you connect to Christ the most. But please remember this.
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Speaker 1: It's his invitation. This isn't something you have to follow.
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Speaker 1: You're not trying to convince God to connect with you.
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Speaker 1: He's trying to convince you to connect with Him. What
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Speaker 1: happened in the Garden of Eden, He wants to replicate.
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Speaker 1: Before the fall, Adam and Eve walked with God in
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Speaker 1: the cool of the evening. No shame, no fear. When
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Speaker 1: you wake up in the morning, before you climb out
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Speaker 1: of bed, Just incline an ear to heaven and listen
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Speaker 1: and you will hear God say, why don't we live
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Speaker 1: this day together? Don't go out by yourself. Let's just
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Speaker 1: go together. I know what's coming. You keep an ear
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Speaker 1: inclined to me and I'll keep an eye on you.
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Speaker 1: I have a dream that someday I will live a
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Speaker 1: day in which my thoughts about God outnumber my thoughts
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Speaker 1: about anything else. I'm so far from that. But you
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Speaker 1: know there's a scripture in the Bible that says that
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Speaker 1: God's thoughts about me, God's thoughts about you outnumber the
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Speaker 1: number of grains of sand on the seashore. He can't
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Speaker 1: quit thinking about you. You're on his mind all the time.
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Speaker 1: And so he issues that invitation. Now if you decline,
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Speaker 1: he'll be sad, but he won't abandon you. He'll come
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Speaker 1: back throughout the day and say, hey, we can walk
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Speaker 1: through this together. Let's just stay connected. Connected, connected. So
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Speaker 1: I hereby issue my first edict as senior minister. Stay
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Speaker 1: connected to Christ. You just connect to him. Just connect
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Speaker 1: to him. You know the best thing you can do
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Speaker 1: for your marriage? Be connected to Christ. The best thing
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Speaker 1: you can do as a parent? Be connected to Christ.
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Speaker 1: Be connected to Christ. The best thing you can do
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Speaker 1: at your workplace, you be connected to Christ. The best
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Speaker 1: thing you can do in your neighborhood, be connected to Christ.
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Speaker 1: The best thing you can do in this church, be
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Speaker 1: connected to Christ. He won't let you down. He won't
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Speaker 1: walk away. You connect to him. And fruit, in the
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Speaker 1: right way, at the right time, is going to happen.
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Speaker 1: It's not up to you to force fruit. It is
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Speaker 1: up to you and me to connect to Christ. This
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Speaker 1: is a slightly different emphasis than the one I had
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Speaker 1: when I inaugurated my first term as senior minister. It's
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Speaker 1: an interesting symmetry here. My first time to preach at
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Speaker 1: this church when Dean Lynn and I came and visited
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Speaker 1: from Brazil, I was 32. And here I am starting
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Speaker 1: this again at 62. Somebody said that's kind of like
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Speaker 1: a Brett Favre of preaching. My first go around, my
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Speaker 1: first message was from the life of Caleb in the
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Speaker 1: Old Testament. And the theme of the message was, give
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Speaker 1: me my mountain. That's what he said to Joshua when
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Speaker 1: they were taking the promised land. Give me my mountain.
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Speaker 1: So I said to the church, let's all go get
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Speaker 1: our mountain. It was all rolling up your sleeve and
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Speaker 1: getting to work and tearing them up. It was a rah, rah, rah, go, go,
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Speaker 1: go message. I think my emphasis is a little different
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Speaker 1: these days. It seems to me that I might have
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Speaker 1: been skipping a step. That before we go out, it's
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Speaker 1: important to look up. And before we march, it's important
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Speaker 1: to rest. And before we take off, we have to receive.
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Speaker 1: And that really the highest call of the Christian is
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Speaker 1: to make Christ our home. To the degree we do that,
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Speaker 1: I think we're happier. More joyful, would you agree? I
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Speaker 1: think the best advertisement for Christianity is a happy Christian.
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Speaker 2: I do.
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Speaker 1: I think the worst advertisement for Christianity is the other.
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Speaker 1: A miserable Christian. I used to ride bikes. I mean, seriously. Seriously.
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Speaker 1: I was one of these guys that you don't like
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Speaker 1: on the road. Wore the tight shorts, tight shirt, clip-in, pedals,
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Speaker 1: taking up too much room. But I thought it was
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Speaker 1: so much fun. I got into it because I always
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Speaker 1: rode bikes as a kid. And so when I found
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Speaker 1: out you can ride bikes as a grown-up, I got excited.
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Speaker 1: And so I'd go on these long rides all through
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Speaker 1: the hill country. Oh, that's so 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 rate.
25:22
Speaker 1: And I wore a strap around my chest and it
25:24
Speaker 1: told me my heart rate. I have no idea why
25:27
Speaker 1: I needed to know my heart rate, but everybody else
25:30
Speaker 1: knew 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,
25:42
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 thing where you just boom, boom, boom.
25:54
Speaker 1: So I got that going. I got it in my ears.
25:56
Speaker 1: I got gauges in my eyes. And so I'm pedaling
25:58
Speaker 1: and pedaling and pedaling and pedaling. You know, I got
26:01
Speaker 1: to be a pretty good monster out there on the road. Well,
26:04
Speaker 1: one day that bike broke and I had to take
26:07
Speaker 1: it in to be repaired and leave it at the shop.
26:11
Speaker 1: In the meantime, I had to go back to my
26:12
Speaker 1: wimpy bike. Didn't have any gauges on it. Had no
26:17
Speaker 1: clue how fast I was going. I wasn't listening to
26:21
Speaker 1: music that day for some reason. And after a few
26:25
Speaker 1: minutes with no gauges and no music, I thought to myself,
26:30
Speaker 1: you know, this is fun. This is fun. This is
26:34
Speaker 1: why I got in this to begin with. As a church,
26:40
Speaker 1: we've been peddling pretty hard. Been growing. Been building buildings.
26:53
Speaker 1: Adding staff. Been peddling pretty hard. And God's grace has
26:59
Speaker 1: been upon us. I'm wondering if we wouldn't be well
27:05
Speaker 1: served with the time of saying now, why did we
27:08
Speaker 1: get into this in the first place? And going back
27:13
Speaker 1: to the final sermon of Christ, which is really the
27:17
Speaker 1: first call of the Christian. And that is connect. Connect.
27:23
Speaker 1: Are we connecting with Christ? Are we connecting with Christ?
27:28
Speaker 1: Are we connecting with the living, loving presence of the
27:33
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ? Each one of us, not connecting through
27:38
Speaker 1: a pastor or through a leader, but each one of
27:42
Speaker 1: us having our own connection with the Lord Jesus Christ
27:46
Speaker 1: and that that is our focus and trusting that he
27:49
Speaker 1: will bring fruit at the right time in the right
27:52
Speaker 1: way That's what I'm thinking. I'd love to know what
27:57
Speaker 1: you're thinking. And over these next 40 days, if you
28:00
Speaker 1: sense anything, remember that email address, listening at oakhillschurch.com. I'm
28:06
Speaker 1: really honored to be your senior minister again. But you
28:10
Speaker 1: need to know I have not forgotten from whence I came.
28:14
Speaker 1: The Lord called me first when I sat in a
28:16
Speaker 1: pickup truck at the age of 18 in a piggly,
28:21
Speaker 1: wiggly parking lot in a small West Texas town with
28:25
Speaker 1: six beers in my belly and several more seated, resting
28:30
Speaker 1: on the seat between me and my best friend James.
28:33
Speaker 1: And I turned to him and I said, James, there's
28:35
Speaker 1: got to be more to life than this. It was
28:39
Speaker 1: two years before I found Christ, but that's when the
28:42
Speaker 1: journey began. And so your preacher is a converted drunk.
28:48
Speaker 1: That's who I am. Nothing more. I'm not real sophisticated
28:57
Speaker 1: I know this because one of the members toward the
29:02
Speaker 1: end of my first term said to me, you know, Locato,
29:05
Speaker 1: I've been listening to you now every weekend for 20 years.
29:09
Speaker 1: And I've got you figured out. He said, you say
29:12
Speaker 1: the 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
29:24
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 wife,
29:41
Speaker 1: Dean Lynn, 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
29:57
Speaker 1: that indeed.
30:10
Speaker 2: Let's pray. The Lord says, for it is the wellspring
30:40
Speaker 2: of life. Lord Jesus, thank you for interceding on our behalf.
30:49
Speaker 2: Thank you, Father God, for directing the affairs of the world,
30:54
Speaker 2: of the universe, of our neighborhoods, of our homes, of
30:59
Speaker 2: our hearts. Holy Spirit, what can we do except for you?
31:05
Speaker 2: We can't take one step or breath without you leading us,
31:09
Speaker 2: teaching us, comforting us, reminding us of what is true.
31:15
Speaker 2: Lord Jesus, you said that you are the way, that
31:19
Speaker 2: you are the truth, and that you are life. And
31:22
Speaker 2: so we cling to you today. We cleave to you.
31:26
Speaker 2: We cleave to your goodness today. to your grace, to
31:30
Speaker 2: your forgiveness. We remember that your love is an everlasting love,
31:37
Speaker 2: that you, almighty God, creator of the ends of the earth,
31:41
Speaker 2: that you never grow tired or weary of hearing from us,
31:46
Speaker 2: of giving us strength, of giving us power, that you
31:50
Speaker 2: know our weakness, you know our needs, and every person
31:54
Speaker 2: in this building today, you know us. intimately, deeply. So
32:00
Speaker 2: thank you for inviting us to abide in you, to
32:05
Speaker 2: rest in you, to dwell in the shelter of the
32:09
Speaker 2: Most High so we can abide in the shadow of
32:13
Speaker 2: the Almighty. Thank you for every promise that you are
32:17
Speaker 2: our strong tower, that you are our refuge, that you
32:21
Speaker 2: are the shield about us, the lifter of our head,
32:24
Speaker 2: that you are our glory, God. Nothing else is our
32:28
Speaker 2: glory but you. Thank you for all these promises. Thank
32:32
Speaker 2: you for your word that is alive and active all
32:36
Speaker 2: by itself. And when it comes to our mind, when
32:40
Speaker 2: it rises up in our hearts, we receive more life
32:44
Speaker 2: and we become more active and we have things. And
32:48
Speaker 2: it's mysterious how it happens, God, but it's all at
32:51
Speaker 2: your commanding. all at your directing, all because of your
32:58
Speaker 2: great love for us. So Jesus, we just want to
33:02
Speaker 2: thank you for saying that we can come to you
33:05
Speaker 2: when we are weary and heavy laden and you will
33:08
Speaker 2: give us rest, that you invite us to learn from
33:12
Speaker 2: you because you are gentle and humble in heart and
33:16
Speaker 2: your yoke is easy and your burden is light. And
33:21
Speaker 2: you promise rest for our souls. Thank you that you
33:25
Speaker 2: care about our souls. We commit all these things to
33:29
Speaker 2: you and to your sweet care. In the name of Jesus, amen.
33:52
Speaker 3: Thank you.
35:02
Speaker 4: Thank you.
36:42
Speaker 5: You don't have to be mean.
36:47
Speaker 3: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
36:54
Speaker 3: somewhere out there That's enough for me.
37:04
Speaker 1: I don't need to hold you near me.
37:07
Speaker 4: Don't need promises to keep. Just the thought that you
37:12
Speaker 4: are breathing somewhere.
37:14
Speaker 3: In this world I see.
37:17
Speaker 4: Even if I'm not beside you. Even if you never know.
37:24
Speaker 3: There's a quiet kind of comfort just in knowing you
37:28
Speaker 3: still glow I don't need forever I just need you
37:39
Speaker 3: to exist.
37:42
Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
37:46
Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
37:51
Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
37:56
Speaker 5: to look my way You don't have to be my
38:01
Speaker 5: home It's.
38:03
Speaker 4: Enough to know you're living In a world I'm not
38:08
Speaker 4: alone I won't chase you through the distance. Won't disturb
38:17
Speaker 4: your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my silence
38:22
Speaker 4: like a star that shines at night. Through the dark
38:27
Speaker 4: and through the blue. I still think of you. You
38:41
Speaker 4: don't have to be my home.
38:44
Speaker 5: It's enough to know you're living in a.
38:48
Speaker 4: World I'm not alone.
39:20
Speaker 3: I don't need to be your light. I don't need
39:24
Speaker 3: to cross your mind.
39:25
Speaker 4: All I need is just the truth that you're somewhere
39:20
Speaker 4: Still alive.
39:35
Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
39:39
Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
39:44
Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
39:49
Speaker 5: to look my way.
39:52
Speaker 1: You don't have to.
39:53
Speaker 4: Be my home It's enough to.
39:57
Speaker 1: Know you're living
40:01
Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone