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Bold Steps with Dr. Mark Jobe - What It Means to Restore Our God-Given ID -- Part 2 · WPGM On Demand

• 0:00
  S1: If we want to live a more godly life, Mark
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  S1: Jobe says. It doesn't just take a renewal of our spirit,
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  S1: but also a renewal of our mind.
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  S2: The more your mind is renewed, the more you start
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  S2: to reflect the image of God. Imago dei. He's talking
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  S2: about something old that is being rehabbed and gutted and
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  S2: transformed into something new. How does that happen? By the
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  S2: renewing of your mind.
• 0:40
  S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is founding
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  S1: pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd.
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  S1: You know, so often in Christian circles, we discuss the
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  S1: importance of what it means to be spiritually reborn and
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  S1: to reposition our hearts with God. But a big part
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  S1: of this transformation that sometimes gets overlooked is the need
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  S1: to renew our minds. That's the subject Mark is unpacking
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  S1: in today's message, titled What It Means to Restore Our
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  S1: God given ID. If you missed the first half of
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  S1: our lesson, feel free to catch up online by going
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  S1: to Bold steps.org. But now let's open our Bibles to
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  S1: Colossians chapter three as we join Mark Jobe for today's
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  S1: bold steps.
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  S2: The Apostle Paul is saying, you have a new identity.
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  S2: You've been raised with Christ. Those are old you behaviors.
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  S2: When you engage in old you behaviors, you are reinforcing
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  S2: the fact that you have not changed. You are incongruent
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  S2: with your new identity. You are living a way that is.
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  S2: That has a dissonance with who you really are in God.
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  S2: And so what the Apostle Paul is saying is, if
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  S2: you're going to embrace a new identity, you need to
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  S2: put to death the behaviors of the old self because
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  S2: that is not who you are anymore. Number three, by
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  S2: the way, in Galatians chapter five, it says, those who
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  S2: belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with
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  S2: its passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit,
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  S2: let us walk in the spirit as well. Now I
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  S2: want to say one other word because I think this
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  S2: is important. People say, well, pastor, I'm trying to be
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  S2: a better person. I'm trying to get rid of my
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  S2: old behavior. I'm trying to leave the old way behind.
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  S2: Christianity is not a self-improvement program. You cannot conquer the
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  S2: flesh with the flesh. You cannot dominate your old nature
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  S2: with your old nature. Are you with me here? The
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  S2: way that you overcome the flesh. The way that you
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  S2: put the death to the old behaviors is by allowing
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  S2: the new Spirit of God to empower you in such
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  S2: a way that it changes the desires that you have.
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  S2: You say, well, I'm not understanding. Let me explain it
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  S2: this way. Say that you were dating your boyfriend for
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  S2: three years and he abruptly broke up with you. And
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  S2: you are mad obsessed with your old boyfriend. You don't
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  S2: want to be. But you wake up and you think,
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  S2: I can't believe he left me. When you hear someone's
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  S2: name that sounds like him. Immediately you start thinking about him.
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  S2: And there's a there's a hollowness in the pit of
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  S2: your stomach and you say, I'm trying to get over him,
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  S2: but I just can't. You create a false Instagram account
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  S2: just so you can track him and see what he's
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  S2: doing and follow him and stalk him. But you don't
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  S2: want to know that you stalk him. You don't want
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  S2: others to know that you're spending hours and hours seeing
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  S2: who he's with and what he's doing, and who he's
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  S2: hanging out with. But you are obsessed with them. You
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  S2: want to get over him, but you can't get over him.
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  S2: You want to get him out of your mind. And
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  S2: you tell yourself at night, get out of my mind.
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  S2: Get out of my mind. I'm not going to think
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  S2: about you. I'm not going to think about you. And
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  S2: the more you say it, the more obsessed you become.
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  S2: And then one day, you meet that guy in church.
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  S2: He's nice. You talk, he's friendly. You start to develop
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  S2: a relationship. You start to date him. Your heart starts
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  S2: to change. You start to think about him. Now you
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  S2: start to call him up. You start to go on dates.
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  S2: You're three months into your dating relationship. You fall madly
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  S2: in love with him, and then you wake up one
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  S2: day and think, man, I have not thought of my
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  S2: old boyfriend in two months. What has happened? You didn't
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  S2: force yourself to get rid of him. You found something
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  S2: that you love more than your old boyfriend and it sabotages.
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  S2: It takes away the desire for the old. Listen to me.
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  S2: That's the way it is with Jesus. You don't come
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  S2: to church saying, I'm going to try to be better.
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  S2: I'm going to try to be better. I'm going to
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  S2: try not to swear. I'm going to try not to
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  S2: sleep with my girlfriend. I'm going to try not to
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  S2: do this. I'm not going to try to do this.
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  S2: That's not the way it is. You'll never win. You'll
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  S2: fail every time. What happens is when you start living
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  S2: by the spirit, the fullness of God. When you start
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  S2: loving God, God changes your desires. He changes who you
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  S2: are because now you have something bigger than your old desires.
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  S2: You have a new desire and it's the fullness of God,
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  S2: the life of God. The Spirit of God starts to
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  S2: put to death the flesh, but it's the spirit putting
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  S2: death to flesh, not the flesh trying to put to
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  S2: death the flesh. Number three. To embrace the new identity,
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  S2: you must rid yourself of the old attitudes. Verse eight
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  S2: but now you must rid yourself. He says, of all
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  S2: such things, of these things. Paul tells us to rid
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  S2: ourselves of our old identity. We have to rid ourselves
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  S2: of our old behavior. Now, he says, we have to
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  S2: rid ourselves of our old attitudes, anger, which has to
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  S2: do with resentment. It could be translated that way rage,
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  S2: which has to do with fury, malice, which has to
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  S2: do with spite and cruelty, slander, which has to do
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  S2: with vilifying someone else behind their back and filthy language.
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  S2: All these have to do with a negative attitude. Notice.
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  S2: But now you must rid yourself of all these things anger, rage, malice, slander,
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  S2: filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each
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  S2: other since you've taken off the old self with its practices.
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  S2: God is not just concerned about your behavior. He's concerned
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  S2: about your attitudes. How many of you know? Some of
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  S2: you have stopped doing all the outside obvious things, but
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  S2: you still have a rotten attitude. Pastor, I'm not sleeping
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  S2: with my girlfriend and popping mollies on the weekends. But.
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  S2: But you still have a nasty attitude. Seriously, how many
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  S2: of you know people that are keeping all the rules
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  S2: but just have a angry, resentful, nasty attitude? Don't get too.
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  S2: Don't point. Come on. Don't. Some of you are like. Yeah. No.
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  S2: Settle down now. Settle down now. Do you know that
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  S2: you can try to keep all the rules of Christianity,
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  S2: but have a terrible attitude. You're full of resentment, full
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  S2: of anger. It's almost like you drink lemon juice in
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  S2: the morning. And you tell me that you're being persecuted
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  S2: at work. You say, pastor, I'm a Christian. People don't
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  S2: like me. No, they don't like you because you're just nasty.
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  S2: It has nothing to do with being a Christian. Don't
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  S2: blame it on Jesus. You just have a rotten attitude.
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  S2: Don't blame it on Christianity. You just have a negative, resentful,
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  S2: rotten attitude. It has nothing to do with being a Christian.
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  S2: You do disservice to Jesus by telling people you're. Please
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  S2: don't tell people you're a Christian if you're going to
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  S2: have a nasty attitude. And what the Apostle Paul is
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  S2: saying is you need to get rid of all the
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  S2: attitudes that were a part of the old self. It's
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  S2: not just the external behaviors, it's the internal behaviors that
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  S2: affect you as well. Number four, and lastly, I'm talking
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  S2: about I'm talking about identity. So not only do you
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  S2: need to change your perspective, eliminate the old identity behaviors,
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  S2: rid yourself of old attitudes. Finally, you need to put
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  S2: on the new self by renewing your thinking. Notice what
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  S2: it says in verse ten and have put on the
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  S2: new self. Put on the new self. It's not just
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  S2: about taking off the old self. It's about putting on
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  S2: the new self. Listen. Which is being renewed in knowledge
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  S2: in the image of its creator. Imago dei. You are
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  S2: made in the image of God. A giraffe can't say that.
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  S2: An elephant can't say that. A dog can't say that
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  S2: a fish can't say that there's nothing in all creation
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  S2: that is imago dei, the image of God. When God
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  S2: created man and woman, he created them in his image
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  S2: and likeness. And that's not just physically speaking. It's talking
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  S2: about the inherent qualities of our nature are made in
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  S2: the image of God. It is God's desire that you
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  S2: reflect his image, his love, his mercy, his compassion. And
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  S2: the more your mind is renewed, the more you start
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  S2: to reflect the image of God. Imago dei. He says,
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  S2: being renewed by the word. That word renewed is the
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  S2: word that we use for renovation. Uh, he's not talking
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  S2: about something that's built brand new from the ground up.
• 10:40
  S2: He's talking about something old that is being rehabbed and
• 10:44
  S2: gutted and transformed into something new. How does that happen?
• 10:48
  S2: By the renewing of your mind, he says. So put
• 10:52
  S2: on the new self, which is being renewed in the
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  S2: knowledge of its creator. Verse 11 here there is no
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  S2: Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian, slave
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  S2: or free, because Christ is all in all. Now, that
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  S2: doesn't mean much to us because we don't live in
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  S2: the Jewish culture. Let me bring it to Chicago, southwest side. 2022.
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  S2: This is what he's saying. Because in Christ there is
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  S2: no southsider northsider. There is no man or woman. There's
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  S2: no black and white. There's no Mexican or Puerto Rican,
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  S2: there's no Asian or Caucasian. We are, first of all,
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  S2: followers of Jesus and family of God.
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  S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, a message
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  S1: titled what It Means to Restore our God given ID,
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  S1: and we'll get to the final part in just a moment.
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  S1: But right now, we want to make sure you've signed
• 12:04
  S1: up to receive Mark's weekly email devotional, which goes out
• 12:07
  S1: every Monday morning. Mark. We call it the Bold Stepper weekly.
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  S3: That's right, Wayne. And our goal is really to help
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  S3: you turn your attention to Jesus early on in the week.
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  S3: The program is called Bold Steps because our desire is
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  S3: that every week and every day, you're taking steps in
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  S3: your walk with God. Hard steps, which means bold steps.
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  S3: And the bold step are weekly is just a reminder
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  S3: to devotional. We give you updates about the ministry, but
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  S3: every week we try to draw your attention to something
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  S3: from the Word of God to encourage you.
• 12:42
  S1: Yeah, it's really good. It's really kind of an insider.
• 12:44
  S1: Look at bold steps here too. So if you haven't
• 12:47
  S1: already signed up, go ahead and do so for the
• 12:49
  S1: Bold Step Weekly. Join our family by visiting bold steps.org.
• 12:54
  S1: And while you're there, you can also revisit some of
• 12:56
  S1: Mark's previous devotionals by checking out the growing archive we
• 12:59
  S1: have online. Again, you'll find it all at bold steps.org.
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  S1: Now with more about restoring our God given identities, here
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  S1: once again is Mark with today's bold steps.
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  S2: Now you can be a woman, but you are first
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  S2: of all a Christian. You're not a woman that happens
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  S2: to be a Christian. You're a Christian that happens to
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  S2: be a woman. Listen, you're not a Mexican that happens
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  S2: to be a Christian. You're a Christian first. That happens
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  S2: to have Mexican ethnicity. Are we tracking with that? Listen
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  S2: to me very well. Oh, let me. You're not a Republican.
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  S2: That happens to be a Christian. You're not a Democrat.
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  S2: That happens to be a Christian. You are a Christian
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  S2: that happens to have a political affiliation. But when your
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  S2: political affiliation becomes more than your Christianity, We have a
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  S2: problem when the color of your skin becomes more than Christianity.
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  S2: We have a problem when your ethnicity becomes more than
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  S2: your Christianity. Then you have allowed something to identify you
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  S2: above your Christianity. In Christ we are first of all, Christians. Listen,
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  S2: I am sick of the of a divided church because
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  S2: we identify ourselves sometimes by our politics more than by
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  S2: our Christianity. And I believe that God is calling a
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  S2: church that, first of all, is Christian above and beyond
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  S2: everything else, and that unites us in Jesus. And yeah,
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  S2: we happen to be male and female and Hispanic and
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  S2: Asian and black and white and Caucasian and Democrats and
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  S2: Republicans and Southsiders and Northsiders and Cubs fans and Sox fans.
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  S2: And everybody's a bears fan. But what unites us is
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  S2: not the bears. What reminds us is Jesus Christ, the
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  S2: blood of the Lamb of the living God. That is
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  S2: our identity. Let me tell you what your homework is
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  S2: your identity. So every morning, here's what I want you
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  S2: to do. Every morning I want you to get up.
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  S2: And I want you as you look in the mirror
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  S2: and put your makeup on as you get your makeup on,
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  S2: as you comb your hair, as you as you get ready.
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  S2: I want you to look in that mirror. I want
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  S2: you to say, I'm a child of God. Now you're
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  S2: only a child of God. If you've given your life
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  S2: to Jesus and been born again, if not your creation
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  S2: of God. But I'm a child of God. I want
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  S2: you to look at yourself, and I want you to say,
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  S2: I'm an ambassador. An ambassador is someone that represents Christ.
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  S2: Go ahead, say it out loud. Listen, I want you
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  S2: to look at yourself in the mirror. I want you
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  S2: to take a real close look. And I want you
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  S2: to say to yourself in the mirror, I am loved.
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  S2: Listen to me. Listen to me. I know some of
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  S2: you think I am not love, pastor. There's no one
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  S2: that loves me. I feel alone in my. You are not.
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  S2: That's a lie. From the pit of hell you are
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  S2: love more than what you could ever imagine or fathom.
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  S2: You are valued. You are loved. You are loved beyond whatever.
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  S2: What any man could love you. Every woman could love you.
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  S2: You are loved by God Himself, who has deposited his love,
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  S2: paid the highest price to love you. You are loved
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  S2: more than what you could ever even begin to grasp
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  S2: in life. You are valued and loved by your heavenly father.
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  S2: I want you to look yourself in the mirror, and
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  S2: I want you to say I'm a part of God's family.
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  S2: You know, there's a lot of people that feel like
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  S2: I don't belong. I want you to tell you, tell
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  S2: you something. You may feel isolated, lonely, but you belong.
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  S2: You're part of a family. It's diverse. It's different, but
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  S2: it's powerful. You belong. You are a part of a family.
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  S2: I want you to look yourself in the mirror. And
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  S2: I want you to say I am made new. It's
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  S2: God who makes you new. The Bible says, if any man,
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  S2: if any person is in Christ, he's a new creation.
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  S2: The old has gone and the new has come. I
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  S2: want you to look yourself in the mirror and say,
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  S2: I am redeemed. You know what redeemed means? Redeemed means
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  S2: you've been bought with a price. God has paid the
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  S2: highest price. Purchase you with the blood of his son,
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  S2: the perfect Lamb of God. Why? Because you are valuable
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  S2: to God and he's bought you with the highest price.
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  S2: He sealed you with his love. He said, you are mine,
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  S2: I love you. You're part of my family. I've adopted
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  S2: you into my family. I love you beyond what you
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  S2: could ever imagine or fathom. I put my Holy Spirit
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  S2: inside of you. I want you to say this. I
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  S2: am made for a purpose. You know what that means?
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  S2: That you're not living life randomly. You have been designed
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  S2: and called by God for a unique purpose. You're not
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  S2: just wandering through life. You have giftings. You have a call.
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  S2: You have a purpose. You have a mission. You have
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  S2: a God given destiny. It's yours. It's not like anybody else.
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  S2: It's uniquely yours. But God is the one that calls
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  S2: you into. You have a purpose in life that is
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  S2: given by God. So live it out. Then say. I
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  S2: am one with hope. You have a hope. Hope is
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  S2: the expectation of a better future. It's building on the
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  S2: promises of God. Hope is knowing that my destiny belongs
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  S2: to God and I'm positive about the future, not because
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  S2: I have this naive positivity about the future. And don't worry,
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  S2: let's be happy song. This is about trusting the promises
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  S2: of God. Because God is good and sovereign, he holds
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  S2: the future. And so I'm a person full of hope.
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  S2: And lastly, I'm talking to someone here. You need to
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  S2: look yourself in the mirror and say, I am never
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  S2: given up on. Can I tell you something? God hasn't
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  S2: given up on you. Pastor, you don't know how many
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  S2: times I've failed. I don't. Pastor, you don't know where
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  S2: I've been. I don't pastor, you don't know what I've done.
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  S2: I don't. And I'm really not a priest. I don't
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  S2: come and confess all your things to me. I really
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  S2: don't want to hear it. I mean, if I if
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  S2: I need to pray for you, I will. But. I
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  S2: know this, though God has not given up on you.
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  S2: So that's your homework every day until it sinks in.
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  S2: There's some of you that need to get on your
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  S2: knees before God and say, God, I've been believing a
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  S2: lie about who I am. But today, Lord, I'm choosing
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  S2: to believe what you say about me, not what others
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  S2: say about me, not what my head says about me.
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  S2: Not what my shameful heart says about me. Not what
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  S2: I've been raised to think about myself. But I'm going
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  S2: to start proclaiming what you say about me, God, because
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  S2: I want to embrace what you say. I want to
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  S2: start to live out my own identity. And some of
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  S2: you need to get on your knees and say, Lord,
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  S2: help me shed my old identity and help me embrace
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  S2: my new identity in you. If you are here today
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  S2: and you say, pastor, I've never given my life to Christ.
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  S2: I've never surrendered to God. But I know that God
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  S2: is calling me. And here's what it means to surrender
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  S2: your life to God. You come to God through Jesus
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  S2: and you simply say, God, I know that Jesus. I
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  S2: can't save myself. You're the only one that can save me.
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  S2: But I need to take a step today to surrender
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  S2: my life to you, God, and to give you the
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  S2: lordship of my life so that you can make me
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  S2: a new person. Change me from the inside out. I
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  S2: need that, I want that, I'm ready for that.
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  S1: Back in the studio now, Mark, I know there's a
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  S1: listener who has heard this message, and the Holy Spirit's
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  S1: knocking on their heart, and they want to respond right now.
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  S3: Yeah. So if you've heard this message and you say,
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  S3: pastor Mark, I have never made a clear commitment decision
• 21:34
  S3: to follow Jesus. Maybe you've been raised in the church,
• 21:38
  S3: but never have clearly understood the call of God to say, yes,
• 21:44
  S3: I need to be what the Bible calls born again.
• 21:47
  S3: Or maybe you've been listening and you have no church background,
• 21:51
  S3: and you have no Bible in your house. But you say,
• 21:54
  S3: I feel the call of God. I know that I
• 21:57
  S3: need change and I want to say it's your heavenly
• 22:00
  S3: father calling you to himself. And so I like to
• 22:04
  S3: lead people in a prayer. Now, a prayer cannot save you,
• 22:09
  S3: but a prayer is the expression of your heart. It's
• 22:13
  S3: you surrendering yourself and expressing that surrender to God. So
• 22:19
  S3: if you're here right now and you have never made
• 22:23
  S3: that decision, you have never taken that step. You have
• 22:26
  S3: never vocally, verbally expressed your desire to surrender your life
• 22:33
  S3: to God and become born again. Then I would like
• 22:35
  S3: to lead you in that prayer of repentance and that
• 22:39
  S3: prayer of salvation. So would you say, wherever you're at,
• 22:43
  S3: if you're driving your car, if you're in a kitchen
• 22:45
  S3: right now, if you're listening in your room, wherever you're listening,
• 22:49
  S3: if you're ready to do that, would you pause and say,
• 22:51
  S3: Dear God, I know that I'm far from you. I
• 22:58
  S3: know that I've sinned against you. I know that I
• 23:03
  S3: cannot save myself. Today I turn to Jesus. I accept
• 23:10
  S3: what he has done for me on the cross. I repent.
• 23:15
  S3: I turn around from the way that I've been living
• 23:18
  S3: from my sin, and I ask that you would come
• 23:22
  S3: inside and transform me from the inside out. Come Holy Spirit.
• 23:27
  S3: Today I choose to be a follower of Jesus. I
• 23:31
  S3: pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
• 23:35
  S1: Amen. That's Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. If you
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  S1: just invited Christ into your life and you want to
• 23:41
  S1: learn more or talk to someone about this life changing choice,
• 23:45
  S1: please visit our website, Bold steps.org and click on the
• 23:49
  S1: more tab. Then the link that says My Next Step
• 23:51
  S1: in Faith. Mark has prepared a special video for you,
• 23:54
  S1: and there's an invitation to connect with us and talk
• 23:57
  S1: to someone about your next steps. This month, we also
• 24:00
  S1: want to remind you about a resource that pairs perfectly
• 24:03
  S1: with today's message. It's our bold step gift, a book
• 24:06
  S1: called The Church in Babylon Heeding the Call to Be
• 24:09
  S1: a light in the Darkness, by Doctor Erwin Lutzer. As
• 24:12
  S1: we take hold of our God given identity and start
• 24:15
  S1: making changes in our day to day lives, the truth
• 24:18
  S1: is we're going to face some pushback. The culture won't
• 24:20
  S1: always celebrate the choices God calls us to make. In fact,
• 24:23
  S1: it may push back hard. Doctor Lutzer takes us back
• 24:27
  S1: to a time when God's people faced that same kind
• 24:29
  S1: of resistance, living as exiles in a pagan culture that
• 24:33
  S1: didn't share their values. And he shows us how they
• 24:36
  S1: remained faithful anyway. It's a book that will equip and
• 24:39
  S1: encourage you to stand firm in your God given identity
• 24:42
  S1: and shine like light, even when the culture around you
• 24:45
  S1: pulls the other way. To request your copy, the church
• 24:48
  S1: in Babylon, just make a donation of any amount and
• 24:51
  S1: ask for the book by going online to bold steps.org/give.
• 24:55
  S1: Or simply pick up the phone and call us at
• 24:58
  S1: 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. Now, if you'd rather send
• 25:05
  S1: a check in the mail along with your request for
• 25:07
  S1: the church in Babylon, let me give you that mailing address.
• 25:10
  S1: It's bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 606 ten.
• 25:18
  S1: And if you'd like to connect with our Bold Steps
• 25:19
  S1: community online and get engaged with other believers who embrace
• 25:22
  S1: their God given identity, be sure to join us on
• 25:25
  S1: social media by liking and following our pages on Facebook
• 25:28
  S1: or Instagram. Search for Bold Steps Radio. I'm Wayne Shepherd,
• 25:33
  S1: looking forward to having you join us tomorrow for the
• 25:35
  S1: start of a new message called Living Open Handed and
• 25:38
  S1: Generous in an Unpredictable World that begins Friday on Bold
• 25:42
  S1: Steps with Mark Joe, bold Steps is a production of
• 25:47
  S1: Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.