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Fearless Living with Pastor Rick Warren · Voice of Rick warren

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You know, at the very first Easter, the first resurrection
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, the very first thing
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: that the angel said when the people showed up that
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  Speaker 1: Easter morning and discovered that there was no body there,
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  Speaker 1: the angel said to them, don't be afraid. First words
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: after the resurrection, don't be afraid by the angel. Then,
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  Speaker 1: A little bit later, Jesus appears to a group of
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  Speaker 1: women who were going there to anoint his body. And
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says to them, first words of Jesus after the resurrection,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: don't be afraid. A little bit later in the day,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus goes and he visits his disciples who are hidden
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  Speaker 1: in a room locked for fear. And Jesus says to them,
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  Speaker 1: first thing he says to the disciples after the resurrection,
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  Speaker 1: don't be afraid. The most common command in the entire
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  Speaker 1: Bible that God gives, that God says to you is this,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: don't be afraid. It's said 365 times in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: That's a fear not for every day of the year.
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  Speaker 1: God is saying to you, I don't want you to
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  Speaker 1: be afraid. Now, fear is humanity's most common problem. It's universal.
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  Speaker 1: It's also, by the way, our oldest problem. Do you
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  Speaker 1: know the first recorded words of mankind? In the Garden
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  Speaker 1: of Eden, the first recorded words of Adam, he says
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  Speaker 1: this in Genesis 1 verse 10, I was afraid and
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  Speaker 1: I hid. And human beings have been fearing each other
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  Speaker 1: and fearing God and hiding from each other and hiding
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  Speaker 1: in relationships and wearing masks ever since. So it's a
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  Speaker 1: common problem. Now, I know you're probably thinking, well, I'm
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: not really a very fearful person. Of course you think that.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Because we rarely are aware of how many decisions we
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  Speaker 1: unconsciously make based on hidden fears. You make decisions every
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  Speaker 1: single day of your life based on hidden fears. It
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  Speaker 1: could be something as simple as what am I going
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  Speaker 1: to wear today? I don't want to look like a goofball.
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to stand out. I don't want to
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  Speaker 1: be rejected. I want to fit in. Those are fearful thoughts. Now,
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  Speaker 1: just in case you don't think you have ever had
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  Speaker 1: a problem with fear. Let me give you some of
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  Speaker 1: the alternative words, some of the other terms, expressions, or
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  Speaker 1: flavors of fear. Do you ever feel anxious? Do you
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  Speaker 1: ever feel worried? Do you ever feel sleepless? Hello. Do
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  Speaker 1: you ever feel troubled, concerned, or cautious? These are synonyms
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  Speaker 1: for fear. Do you ever feel tense, nervous? fretful, uneasy?
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Do you ever feel upset or angry? You say, wait
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  Speaker 1: a minute, anger? I thought we were talking about fear.
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  Speaker 1: Do you realize that about half the time you get
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  Speaker 1: angry is because you're afraid? Somebody has poked a fear
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  Speaker 1: in your life. You're afraid you're not being heard, so
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  Speaker 1: you get angry. You're afraid you're not being valued, so
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  Speaker 1: you get angry. You're afraid you're not being treated with respect,
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  Speaker 1: so you get angry. About half of the fear in
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  Speaker 1: your own life and in the world. You know, we
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  Speaker 1: live in a very angry world right now. Why? Because
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  Speaker 1: we're in a very fearful world. The world is filled
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  Speaker 1: right now with all kinds of fear. You know, I
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  Speaker 1: wonder if we could do this, if we could put
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  Speaker 1: all of our collective fears, my hidden fears and your
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  Speaker 1: hidden fears, if we could put them all up here
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  Speaker 1: on this big screen And just look at the list.
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  Speaker 1: What would be on that list? Let me make a
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  Speaker 1: few guesses. The fear of being out of control. The
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  Speaker 1: fear of losing control. That's a huge fear in a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people's life. The fear of rejection. The fear
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  Speaker 1: of loneliness. The fear of failure or feeling like a failure.
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  Speaker 1: The fear of inadequacy. The fear of being manipulated. The
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  Speaker 1: fear of being found out. I could go on. I
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  Speaker 1: could give you hundreds of fears. The fear of losing
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  Speaker 1: your job. The fear of losing your marriage. The fear
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  Speaker 1: of losing your mind is a fear among many people. Alzheimer's. Cancer.
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  Speaker 1: The fear of being unloved. Now, I'm setting this all
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  Speaker 1: up to say this. There's good news this Easter. Because
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  Speaker 1: the good news of Easter is that because of the
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  Speaker 1: resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is now a way to
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  Speaker 1: live without fear. Hello? There is now a way to
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  Speaker 1: live without fear if you understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: So everybody pull out your message notes, okay? These outline,
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  Speaker 1: it's inside your little program or inside your little bag.
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  Speaker 1: It's called Fearless Living, Building... A better life. And I
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  Speaker 1: want us this Easter to look at how do you
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  Speaker 1: learn to live fearlessly and why can we learn to
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  Speaker 1: live fearlessly? Now the Bible says in second Corinthians chapter five,
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  Speaker 1: right there on the top of your outline, Jesus included
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  Speaker 1: everyone in his death so that everyone could also be
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  Speaker 1: included in his life. Okay. So we're talking about the
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  Speaker 1: cross and the resurrection. Everybody could be included in his death.
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  Speaker 1: So everybody could be included in his life a far
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  Speaker 1: better life Than people ever lived on their own now
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  Speaker 1: note living based on the resurrection Based on what we
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  Speaker 1: know about the resurrection living based on the resurrection is
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  Speaker 1: called in the Bible a better life What is the
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  Speaker 1: better life? It's the step up above the good life
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  Speaker 1: There's the good life But then there's the better life.
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  Speaker 1: You're already living the good life. All right, you're already
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  Speaker 1: living the good life. What is the good life? Looking good,
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  Speaker 1: feeling good, having the goods. Compared to the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the world, you're living the good life. The only problem
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  Speaker 1: with the good life is the good life's not good enough.
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  Speaker 1: You were made for far more. You were made for
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  Speaker 1: more than the good life. You were made for what
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  Speaker 1: the Bible calls the better life. And that's why last
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  Speaker 1: week we started this new series, Building a Better Life.
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  Speaker 1: And I hope you'll be with me each week. But
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  Speaker 1: it's all based on the resurrection life, which gives us
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  Speaker 1: a far better life than people could ever live on
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  Speaker 1: their own. Now, the next verse tells us an important
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  Speaker 1: aspect of this better life. Romans 8, 15. The resurrection
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  Speaker 1: life that you receive from God's spirit is not, is not,
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  Speaker 1: is not A fearful life. You're no longer a slave
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  Speaker 1: to fear anymore. Instead, God's spirit makes you his child
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  Speaker 1: and you now relate to God as your loving father.
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  Speaker 1: We sing a song about this verse. I'm no longer
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  Speaker 1: a slave to fear. I am a child of God.
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  Speaker 1: Why is that possible? Because of Easter. Because of the resurrection. Now,
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  Speaker 1: how in the world does what Jesus did 2,000 years
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  Speaker 1: ago help me to be able to live today? fearlessly
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  Speaker 1: today how can I live fear free today and why
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  Speaker 1: why can I now live fearlessly well the answer is
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  Speaker 1: because of what we know since the resurrection fear is
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  Speaker 1: based on ignorance fear is based on lies that's why
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said when you know the truth the truth will
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  Speaker 1: set you free when you know the truth it sets
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  Speaker 1: you free from fears fears f-e-a-r false evidence appearing real
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  Speaker 1: I want to give you quickly five truths, five facts
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  Speaker 1: of the resurrection that when you understand and you feel
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  Speaker 1: these things and you know them, the fear factor in
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  Speaker 1: your life is going to go down dramatically. Why can
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  Speaker 1: we live fearlessly? Why can we live this better life today?
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  Speaker 1: Because of what we know. And what do we know
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  Speaker 1: because of the resurrection? We know five things. You might
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  Speaker 1: write these down. Number one, we know that Jesus tells
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  Speaker 1: us the truth. We know that Jesus tells us the truth.
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  Speaker 1: I don't have to spend a lot of time on this.
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  Speaker 1: But essentially, here's the point. Throughout history, a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people have claimed to be God. A lot of people
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  Speaker 1: have claimed to be the Messiah. A lot of people
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  Speaker 1: claim to be the son of God, sent from God.
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  Speaker 1: But only one in all of history offered to prove
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  Speaker 1: it and then did. And it was Jesus. He said,
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  Speaker 1: I am the son of God. I am God. He said,
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  Speaker 1: if you've seen me, you've seen God. I created, Jesus said,
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  Speaker 1: I created the entire universe. I'm the only way to heaven.
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  Speaker 1: I'm the savior of the world. He made ridiculous statements.
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  Speaker 1: If they weren't true, then we should all just close
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  Speaker 1: up and go home. But then he said, and I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna prove that all the things I'm saying is true
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  Speaker 1: by letting them kill me, be buried in the ground
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  Speaker 1: for three days, And then I'm going to raise myself
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  Speaker 1: back to life. That's called a resurrection. Not a resuscitation.
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  Speaker 1: We have resuscitations all the time. Resuscitation, somebody dies for
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  Speaker 1: 15 minutes and they resuscitate them. Somebody dies for 20 minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Somebody dies for an hour. And resuscitations happen all the time.
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  Speaker 1: Resurrection means you've been dead. and buried for three days.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody else does that. Jesus split history into A.D. and B.C.
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  Speaker 1: because of that. And he tells us the truth. Romans
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1, verse 4. Jesus Christ was shown to be
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  Speaker 1: the Son of God... when God powerfully raised him from
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  Speaker 1: the dead. What does that mean? It simply means that
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  Speaker 1: whatever Jesus says, I can trust because he's telling the truth.
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  Speaker 1: If Jesus had not resurrected from the dead, then we
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  Speaker 1: couldn't trust anything else, he says. Everything you know about heaven,
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  Speaker 1: you learned from Jesus Christ. Everything we know about heaven,
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  Speaker 1: we learn from Jesus Christ. Now, if Jesus Christ is
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  Speaker 1: a liar, then nothing he said about heaven can be trusted.
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  Speaker 1: So we know Because he proved it with his life.
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  Speaker 1: Coming back to life, he was who he claimed to be.
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  Speaker 1: Number two, second thing we know that lowers the fear
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  Speaker 1: factor in your life. We know because of the resurrection,
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  Speaker 1: death is not the end. We know because of the
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  Speaker 1: resurrection that death is not the end. We now know
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  Speaker 1: there's life after death. Until Jesus resurrected himself, nobody knew that.
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  Speaker 1: There was no proof that there was life after death.
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  Speaker 1: before Jesus' resurrection. You could guess at it, you could pretend,
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  Speaker 1: but nobody knew it. But Jesus' resurrection proved life after death.
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews chapter two, Jesus died and resurrected in order to
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  Speaker 1: break Satan's power of death. And by the way, he said,
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  Speaker 1: to free all who've lived enslaved to the fear of dying.
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  Speaker 1: The number one fear in the world is the fear
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  Speaker 1: of dying. Why? Why? Because only a fool would go
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  Speaker 1: through life unprepared for what you know is inevitable. We're
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  Speaker 1: born to die. So we know it's going to happen.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the greatest fear people have is the fear
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  Speaker 1: of death. But we now know death is not the end.
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  Speaker 1: Look at this next verse from the Bible, 2 Corinthians
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4. We know that the same God who raised
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  Speaker 1: Jesus from death will also raise us He's gonna raise
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  Speaker 1: us with Jesus. This is why we never give up.
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  Speaker 1: Even though our physical bodies are becoming older and weaker,
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  Speaker 1: don't look at anybody right now. Even though our physical
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  Speaker 1: bodies are becoming older and weaker, our spirit inside of
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  Speaker 1: us is made new every single day and our present
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  Speaker 1: troubles that we're going through right now, they're quite small
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  Speaker 1: compared to eternity and they won't last very long. but
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  Speaker 1: they are producing in us an eternal glory that is
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  Speaker 1: going to last forever. What does this have to do
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  Speaker 1: with your fears? Yes, I'm gonna have problems in the future. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I'm gonna have pain in the future. Yes, I'm gonna
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  Speaker 1: have pressure in the future, but I don't have to
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  Speaker 1: have fear in the future because we're not afraid because
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  Speaker 1: we know that death is not the end of the story.
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  Speaker 1: It's just a transition. In fact, you're gonna spend more
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  Speaker 1: of your life on the other side of death than
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  Speaker 1: this side. You're only getting 100 years on this planet
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  Speaker 1: at the most. That's not very much. You're gonna have
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  Speaker 1: trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of years in eternity.
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  Speaker 1: So that side is far longer, far longer in your
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  Speaker 1: life than this side. This is not the end of
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  Speaker 1: the story. Number three, third fact we know because of
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  Speaker 1: the resurrection. Jesus tells us truth. We know death is
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  Speaker 1: not the end. Number three, we know that God loves
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  Speaker 1: us extravagantly. We know because of the resurrection that God
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  Speaker 1: loves us extravagantly, unconditionally, over the top. You can't even
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  Speaker 1: imagine it. Now the Bible has this to say, Romans
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  Speaker 1: chapter five, God demonstrated his great love for us In
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  Speaker 1: other words, he didn't say he loved us. He demonstrated.
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  Speaker 1: He put it into action. He demonstrated his great love
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  Speaker 1: for us by sending Jesus to die for us while
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  Speaker 1: we were still sinning against him. God didn't just say,
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  Speaker 1: I love you and send a postcard. He cared enough
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  Speaker 1: to send the very best. He sent himself. He came himself.
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  Speaker 1: God came in human form. And when Jesus is dying
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  Speaker 1: on the cross, he's saying with his arms outstretched, I
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  Speaker 1: love you. I love you this much. I love you
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  Speaker 1: so much it hurts. I love you so much I'd
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  Speaker 1: rather die than live without you. God demonstrated his love
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  Speaker 1: for us by coming to earth to die for us.
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  Speaker 1: This is why we know it's not a fairy tale.
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  Speaker 1: In the fairy tales, all the servants die for the king.
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  Speaker 1: But in the gospel, the king dies for us. It's
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  Speaker 1: the exact opposite. He dies for us. We know his
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  Speaker 1: love is extravagant. He proved it. He said, I love
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  Speaker 1: you so much it hurts. Next verse, Ephesians 3, 18
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  Speaker 1: and 19 says this. May you be able, God says,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to be able to feel and really
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  Speaker 1: understand how long and wide and deep and how high
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  Speaker 1: God's love really is. And may you experience this love
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  Speaker 1: for yourselves Even though it is so great, you'll never
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  Speaker 1: fully understand it. Now notice that verse says that God's
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  Speaker 1: love has four dimensions. It's four dimensional, okay? God's love
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  Speaker 1: for you is long and wide and deep and high,
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  Speaker 1: all right? God's love for you is long. How long
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  Speaker 1: is God's love for you? Long enough to last forever.
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  Speaker 1: It's never gonna wear out. You know human love wears out.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we have a thing called divorce. Human love
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  Speaker 1: wears out. God's love never wears out. He will never
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  Speaker 1: love you anymore or any less than he does right now.
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  Speaker 1: He will never stop loving you. You can't make God
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  Speaker 1: stop loving you because God is love. So it's long
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  Speaker 1: enough to last forever. It says it's wide. I want
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  Speaker 1: you to know how wide God's, how wide is God's
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  Speaker 1: love for me? Wide enough to be everywhere. Now that
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  Speaker 1: should relieve your fears because that means there will be
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  Speaker 1: no place you go in the future where God's love
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  Speaker 1: isn't already. You may feel alone at times in your life,
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  Speaker 1: but you're not alone. You're never really alone. You may
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  Speaker 1: feel alone, but you're not alone because you cannot go
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  Speaker 1: anywhere in the world, in the universe, where God's love
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  Speaker 1: is not. His love is wide enough to be everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: Then it says it's deep. How deep is God's love
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  Speaker 1: for you? Deep enough to handle anything. I don't care
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  Speaker 1: what problem you're in. You say, Rick, I'm... I'm hurting
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  Speaker 1: really bad. I'm in the pits. God is there. You say,
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  Speaker 1: I'm in the pit of hell. God is there. Betsy
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  Speaker 1: Ten Boom, who gave her life saving Jews during the
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  Speaker 1: Holocaust and World War II, she was a Christian. She
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  Speaker 1: hid Jews. Her family hid Jews in their family. And
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  Speaker 1: then she got caught, and she was sent to Auschwitz.
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  Speaker 1: And in the middle of Auschwitz, she wrote in her
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  Speaker 1: journal that There is no pit so deep that God's
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  Speaker 1: love is not deeper still. How high is God's love
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  Speaker 1: for you? High enough to overlook your faults. High enough
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  Speaker 1: to overlook your mistakes. High enough to overlook your sins,
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  Speaker 1: your faux pas, your bloopers, your stupid decisions, my stupid decisions.
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  Speaker 1: High enough to overlook all that. Regardless of what you've
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  Speaker 1: done in your life, God offers forgiveness. Why? Because he
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  Speaker 1: is a God whose love is high. and wide and
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  Speaker 1: mighty and deep. Let me show you a verse from
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  Speaker 1: the Bible that really ought to take your fear factor down,
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  Speaker 1: ought to lower your fear about the future. It's Romans
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  Speaker 1: chapter eight. And in Romans chapter eight, verse 38 and 39,
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  Speaker 1: it says this. Nothing will ever separate us from God's love.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I looked up that word nothing in Greek.
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  Speaker 1: It means nothing. Nothing. It means zero, zip, nothing. There
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  Speaker 1: is nothing that will ever be able to separate you
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  Speaker 1: from God's love. This is the Bible talking here. Death can't.
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  Speaker 1: Life can't. The angels can't. The demons can't. They can't
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  Speaker 1: take you away from God's love. Our fears for today,
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  Speaker 1: our worries for tomorrow, and even the powers of hell
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  Speaker 1: can't keep God's love away. Nothing in all creation will
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  Speaker 1: ever be able to separate us from the love of
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  Speaker 1: God that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. That ought
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  Speaker 1: to take the fear factor way, way down in your life.
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  Speaker 1: I may lose all kind, I might even lose my mind,
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  Speaker 1: but I can't lose God's love for me. There is
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  Speaker 1: nothing that can happen in my future that will make
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  Speaker 1: God love me any less than he does right now.
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  Speaker 1: Because his love is based on what Jesus did for
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  Speaker 1: you and did for me. Now here's the question. Have
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  Speaker 1: you accepted that love? Have you accepted God's outrageous, unconditional love?
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  Speaker 1: Because if you haven't accepted it for you, the love
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  Speaker 1: of God that I just explained is worthless. It has
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  Speaker 1: no value to you. is worthless. If you have not
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  Speaker 1: accepted and invited it into your life, God's love for
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  Speaker 1: you is worthless. He may as well not love you
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  Speaker 1: because there makes no difference in your life. God wants
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  Speaker 1: you to feel his love he wants you to understand
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  Speaker 1: his love he wants you to live in his love
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  Speaker 1: he wants you to depend on his love and when
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  Speaker 1: you do that your fear factor is going to go
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  Speaker 1: way way down I have had so many people over
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  Speaker 1: the years say to me in different ways you know
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  Speaker 1: Rick I think I know what my problem is. My
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  Speaker 1: problem is I don't love God enough. Because if I
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  Speaker 1: did love God enough, I would break these bad habits.
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  Speaker 1: I would change these ways. I would do all these.
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  Speaker 1: My problem is I just don't love God enough. And
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  Speaker 1: my response is always say, no, that's not it. You're wrong.
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  Speaker 1: You're dead wrong. Your problem is not that you don't
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  Speaker 1: love God enough. Your problem is You don't realize how
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  Speaker 1: much he loves you. You don't understand. You don't feel.
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  Speaker 1: You don't experience how much he really loves you. Because
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  Speaker 1: if you did really fully grasp how outrageously God loves you,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: he never in his life stops thinking about you. Why?
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: He's the God of creation. He has no problem thinking
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: about all of us at the same time. And if
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: you understood how much God loved you, you couldn't help
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: but love him back. So if you don't love God
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: right now, it just means one thing. You don't know him.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: That's all it means. You don't know him. Because when
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: you get to know God, the God who really made you,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: created you, has a purpose for your life, has a
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: plan for your life, you can't help but love him.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: They say, Rick... Why is understanding God's love so critical
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: to defeating fear? I don't get the connection here. Okay,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: listen very closely. The antidote to fear in your life
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: is not faith. Most people think it is. I just
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: need more faith. No, that's not it. The antidote to
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: fear in your life is not faith. It is love.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Because the more you feel God's love, the more safe
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: you're gonna feel, the more secure you're gonna feel, the
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: more good you're gonna feel about yourself, the more you're
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: gonna be able to take risks because you're not afraid
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: because you know you are completely and totally accepted in
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the beloved of Christ. The more, fear and love can't
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: exist in the same place. Here, let me show you
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: a couple verses. First John. 4.18, wherever God's love is,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: there is no fear because God's perfect love drives out
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: all fear. You got fear in your marriage? Then guess what?
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: God's love isn't there the way it ought to be.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: You got fear in your career? Guess what? God's love
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: isn't there where it ought to be. Wherever God's love is,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: there is no fear because perfect love, God's perfect love
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: drives out all fear. The second part of the verse,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I love this in the message, says, Since fear is crippling,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: a fearful life is a life not yet fully formed
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: in God's love. You got fears in your life? It
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: means one thing. God's love is not yet fully formed
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: in your life. I have fears in my life, means
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in those areas, God's love is not yet fully formed
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: in my life. And for the rest of your life,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: God wants to replace more and more of your fears
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: with more and more of his love. And when you
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: invite the love of Christ in the front door of
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: your heart, fear goes out the back door because they
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: can't exist together. The opposite is also true. When you
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: invite fear in the front door of your heart and
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: your mind, guess what? Love goes out the back door.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: They cannot coexist. You want to be fearless? You want
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: to move from the good life? Pretty good. Good life's
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: certainly better than the bad life. But it's not good enough.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: You were made for more than the good life. You
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: were made for the better life. And it's a level
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of living you probably have never even thought of. And
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: you certainly probably haven't ever experienced it. And one of
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: the factors in the better life is fearlessness. Why? Because
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I know Jesus is always going to tell me the truth. Okay?
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: And because I know that death is not the end.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: So I'm not worried about that. This is not the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: end of the story. And I know that God loves
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: me extraordinarily and extravagantly and just, you know, erratically. The
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: more you understand God's overwhelming love, the more fearless you're
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: going to be. Number four. Fourth thing we know. Because
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Jesus resurrected, split history into A.D. and B.C., Fourth thing
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: we know is we know God has a good plan
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: for our lives. We know that God has a good
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: plan for our lives. Here's what the Bible says in
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the book of 1 Peter chapter one. I love this
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: verse three and four. Because Jesus was raised from the dead,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: that's Easter, that's what we're celebrating. Because Jesus was raised
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: from the dead, we have been given a brand new
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: life and we have everything to live for including a
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: future in heaven. And the future starts now. How many
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: times have you heard me say that when you open
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: your life to the love of God and you open
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: your life to the reign of Christ, you get your
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: past forgiven, you get a purpose for living, you get
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: a home in heaven. Past, present, future, all taken care of.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Past forgiven, completely forgiven. Purpose for living, home in heaven.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Where else are you gonna get that? Anybody wanna stand
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: up and tell us? Because if you know another place
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: where you can get your past forgiven, a purpose for living,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: and a home in heaven, I invite you to tell
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: us right now. Because I decided a long time ago
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: I wasn't going to waste my life, and I haven't.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I haven't wasted my life. Romans 8, 28. And it says,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: not only that, we know that in all things, God
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: works for the good of those who love him and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: have been called according to his purpose. How do you
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: lose with a promise like that? It says, we know
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: that God will use everything in my life. The good,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the bad, not everything's good. The good, the bad, the ugly.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: He'll use it all for my good because of the resurrection.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: How do you lose in that kind of situation? What
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: is there to be afraid of? God says, even if
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I screw up, I mess up royally, I really do
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: a humdinger, I just make the stupidest decision. God says,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I can still work with that. I can bring good
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: out of that. My purpose for your life is bigger
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: than your problems and even your decisions. God can use
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: even my mistakes for good. That gives me hope. That
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: gives me confidence. That makes me Fearless. There's one other
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: thing that we know because of the resurrection that take
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: away of our fears. And it's this. We know that
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: God will take care of all of our needs. We
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: know that God will take care of all of our needs.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: How do we know that? Because God solved your biggest
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: need when he came and died for you on the cross.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Your biggest need was salvation. Everything else is minor by comparison. Bills. problems, difficulties, relationships,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. And God says that the same power
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: that I used to raise Jesus from the dead, guess what?
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: I will use it in your life to help you
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: handle the problems of the future, meet your needs. So
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: what are you afraid of? Ephesians chapter one, verse 19
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and 20 says this. I pray that you'll begin to understand. See,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: it's what we need to know. That you'll begin to
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: understand the incredibly great power available to us. That's you
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: and me. Available to you. Available to us who trust God.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: It is the same mighty power that God used to
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: raise Jesus from death. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. The
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: power that God used to raise Jesus, the resurrection, is
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: available to me for my problem? That's what it says.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: That's what it says. Have you ever wondered what Jesus
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: is doing right now? Like in heaven? Is he watching TV?
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, what is Jesus been doing for the last 2,000 years?
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: He went back to heaven. Well, the Bible tells us.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: You know what the Bible tells us? The Bible says
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: that in heaven for 2,000 years, Jesus has been praying
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: for you. Huh? Yeah. Jesus has been talking to God
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: the Father about you. Why? Because of that outrageous love.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Several times in scripture, the Bible says, Jesus is praying,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: is talking to God the Father about you. You say,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: wait a minute, I don't get this. It's kind of weird.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Isn't Jesus God? Yeah, I thought he was God. He is. Well,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: then like God is talking to himself. Oh, you never
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: do that? You talk to yourself all the time. You
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: know why you talk to yourself all the time? Because
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: God made you in his image. As a human being,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: you have the ability to talk to yourself while I'm
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: talking to you right now. You're made in the image.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Squirrels don't talk to themselves. Ants don't talk to themselves.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Birds don't talk to them. Only human beings talk to
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: themselves because you're made in the image of God. And
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: the Bible says that God, the Father, is having a
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: conversation with himself. God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, talking about
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: you and how much they love you. In fact... The
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Bible says this, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Jesus, the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: son of God, has gone on to heaven where he
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: is now our high priest who helps us. In other words,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: what's a priest do? Represent between God and man. Well,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: we don't need a priest anymore because Jesus is the
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: high priest. You don't have to pray through a priest.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: You can pray directly to God in Jesus' name. He says,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: so let us hold on to our faith in him, Jesus.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Never stop trusting him. Why? He sympathizes with our weaknesses. Why?
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Because he faced all of the same tests that we
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: did here on earth without sinning. So then, here's the
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: key part. Knowing that Jesus is praying for you right
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: now in heaven, talking to himself, God, about you because
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: he loves you. So then let us have no fear.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Be fearless. Let's have no fear. in approaching God's throne
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: of grace. That means come to God when you have
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: a prayer request, when you have a need. Approaching God's
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: throne of grace to receive his mercy and find his
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: grace to help us when we need it the most.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: When my kids were little, sometimes I would be in
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: a meeting in my office and they would come up
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: to see me. They would not knock. They would just
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: barge in, open the door, come in, run over to daddy,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: jump up in my lap and start talking to me.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter who I was talking to. They could
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: be important or unimportant, didn't really matter. Why? Because my
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: kids had access nobody else has. My kids did not
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: need an appointment with Pastor Rick. They did not need
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: a protocol. They did not need an introduction. They did
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: not need any kind of appointment to see me. Why?
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Because they're my kids. I'm their daddy. And in the
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: same way, you don't ever have to be shy or
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: anxious or fearful or worried in approaching God Almighty. If
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: you have accepted his son and you are in his family,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: then guess what? You're his child. Right? And as his child,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: you have child rights. It means you can jump up
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: in your daddy's lap at any time. And without any
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: fear and without any presumption, without any protocol, any appointment,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: you can come to God anytime and say, God, this
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: is what I need. Daddy, father, I need your help.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: And he says, I will give you whatever you need
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: because I am your father. heavenly father. I am your
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: loving father. Now let me end this message on living
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: fearless with what Jesus himself said. Jesus' most famous sermon
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: is called the Sermon on the Mount. It's Matthew chapter 5,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: chapter 6, and chapter 7. And right in the middle
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: of the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 6, he
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: gives us this long period about a section on why
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: you should never be afraid and why you should never
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: be anxious and why you should never be tense or
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: worried or are upset and he says in that passage
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: he says worry is unnatural he said human beings are
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: the only thing that I've created that worry nothing else
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: in all creation worries only human beings and he says
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: it's unnatural you're you're not doing something natural when you
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: worry and he says uh it's unhealthy it's not good
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: for your health And then down in verses 25 and
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: on following, he says this. There on your outline, Matthew 6.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, don't worry about everyday life. Well, then what
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: is there left to worry about? Because almost everything you
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: worry about is everyday life. He says, don't worry about
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: everyday life. He says, can all your worries add a
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: single moment to your life? No. What's he saying? Worry
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: is unhelpful. Worry is worthless. It never changes the future.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: It never changes the past. All it does is mess
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: up today. Worry is worthless. He said it can't change anything.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: If you prayed as much as you worry, you wouldn't
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: have a lot to worry about. And then he says,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: so don't act like unbelievers. Worry is practical atheism. God says,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: you're making me look bad. I'm your heavenly father. I
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: promise to meet all your needs. You're acting like an
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: orphan every time you worry. You're acting like it's all
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: up to you. Have you forgotten all these promises I've said?
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Have you forgotten what I did on the cross for you?
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Have you forgotten the resurrection? You're acting like you're an orphan.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: You're acting like you're not in my family. You're making
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: me look bad. He said, worry is unchristian. It's unspiritual.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: And he says, your heavenly father already knows what you need.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: What's he saying there? Worry is unnecessary. God already knows
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: what you need even before you ask. And he'll give
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: it to you if you make his kingdom your primary concern.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: And he says, oh, by the way, don't worry about
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: tomorrow because each day has enough trouble, you know, on
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: its own. In other words, worry is irrational. Worry is illogical.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Worry is unreasonable. Don't borrow trouble. You know, you're not
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: just worried about today. You're worried about next week, next year,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: and when your spouse is gonna die someday. He says
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: that's unreasonable. It's irrational. Now let's just review. The reason
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: I don't have to be afraid is I know Jesus
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: tells me the truth. And so all of those promises
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: that are in the Bible, I can count on them.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: And all the things that he says about heaven and life,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: I can count on it. Number two, death is not
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: the end. This is not the end of the story.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: There is life after death. I'm not worried about dying.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: I've been ready to die for many, many years. God
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: loves us extravagantly. He will never stop loving you. He
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: will never love you anymore or any less than he
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: does this moment. But it's worthless to you. It's worthless
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: to you if you don't accept it. God has a
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: good plan. But again, that plan is worthless to you
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: if you don't accept it. God has a good plan
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: to even use the bad stuff in your life. Listen,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: everything doesn't work for good if you're not in the plan.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: If you're going by your plan in life, everything is
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: not working for good. It's working for bad in your life.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: But if you're saying, I want God's plan for my life,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: mine didn't work out too well, then it's less fear.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Fear factor goes down. And then God will take care
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: of all my needs. So what's left to fear? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Let's bow our heads. Now on Easter, I like to
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: pray a prayer that we can all pray together And
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: so I want to ask you to pray this Easter
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: prayer in your heart, whether you've ever prayed or never
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: prayed your entire life. And it's just a prayer to
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: open your life to the love of God. And as
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: we recommit ourselves to Christ, or maybe for the very
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: first time you're doing this, just say something like this
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: in your heart. God knows your thoughts. Just say, dear God,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: I need you. Just say that in your heart. Dear God,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I need you. I can't do this on my own.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: And I humbly admit that you're God and I'm not.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you for loving me even when I didn't recognize it.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you that you tell me the truth. Thank you
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: that death is not the end. Thank you that you
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: love me extravagantly. Thank you that you have a good
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: plan for my life. And you can even use the
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: bad stuff for good if I'll give you all the pieces.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: And thank you that you've promised to take care of
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: all my needs. Lord, I want you to drain the
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: fears out of my life and fill my life with
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: your love. And may every day of my life be
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: filled more with your love and less of my fears.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: As best I know how, I'm asking you, Jesus Christ,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: to put your spirit of love inside me. I'm asking
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: you to save me. I'm asking you to change me.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: I'm asking you to help me become the person I
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: was always intended to be. I don't want to just
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: live the good life. I want to live the better
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: life at the higher level, the fearless life. And I
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: pray this as humbly as I know how. In your name. Amen.