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Kason's Pastorial Commission · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is this is a very special service today.
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  Thank you for coming, watching online, listening on Grace FM.
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  This is a turning point in ministry of Calvary Chapel
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  today, as we are in the process of beginning to develop future
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  leadership for the church to continue on long after Pastor
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  Lewis and myself are no longer here.
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  We're not leaving yet. Hopefully we'll have some more
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  time here to be with you guys and to love you guys and to
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  teach you the Word of God. But we also realize that we're
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  not going to be here forever, right?
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  Charlie Kirk, unfortunately, was taken out at 31 years old.
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  No one anticipated that. Fortunately in your organization
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  they had leadership plan to continue that long after he was
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  gone and he was aware of the fact that he's his life could
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  have been taken and unfortunately it was.
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  So we're still grieving that. Pastor Bodie Bachmann, a
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  wonderful pastor, good friends with a lot of us in ministry.
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  He was very close with RC Sprole and John MacArthur.
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  He died at 56 years old. He had a, a minor surgery thing
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  and the Lord took him home. I'm driving up from Charleston,
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  WV on Wednesday, driving like I always do, 100 miles an hour,
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  now 665 miles an hour. And this thing came out like I
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  had no idea, like where it came from, what it was.
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  It sort of looked like a large dog.
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  It could have been, you know, a number of type of animals.
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  But I hit him and fortunately, George says it was good.
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  I didn't swerve because if I would have, I would have flipped
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  the vehicle and who knows where I'd be right now.
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  But anyway, the Lord spared my life.
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  So we're wise enough to know that we need to have depth in
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  every aspect of our ministry here for people to carry on when
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  some of us may no longer be here anymore.
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  So that's really important. And so I just wanted to to share
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  a little bit about the church itself.
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  I realized a couple years ago that it wasn't sustainable for
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  me to continue in the degree that I was 'cause I'm getting
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  older. So I asked Pastor Lewis to
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  consider becoming not an assistant pastor anymore, but a
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  Co pastor with equal responsibility with me.
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  And he took me up on that. And since he's done that, the
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  church has been so much healthier.
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  I've been more calm, less in the way of the Lord.
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  So if he teaches a month and I teach a month.
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  So this is my last Sunday this month.
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  So I'm excited to give it over to you, Lou, you know, for next
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  month. We're always kid each other.
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  Hey, it's your turn now. No, not yet.
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  But anyway, on Wednesday nights we have 5 wonderful men in the
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  church, lay pastors, lay leaders, not ordained formally,
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  but gifted teachers that teach on Wednesday night.
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  And I used to do it all myself, which wasn't again, sustainable.
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  But body life, we believe in team ministry here.
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  So everything we do is as a team, we, we don't have one
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  person making all the decisions, which is good for you and and
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  healthy for the church. And so we believe in body life.
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  And body life means when every part in the church does its
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  share, it makes increase of the body and to the edifying itself
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  together in love. And so not one person, but many
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  people serving the Lord together and serving one another.
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  So for the future of Calvary Chapel, 15 years ago, I met this
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  man named Lewis Harrell and Terry.
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  They attended a church picnic. And soon as I met Lewis, I said,
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  Lord, I'd love to serve you with him.
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  He didn't know that, but I was just hoping he might just choose
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  this church to come here. And he did.
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  And he walked into Calvary Chapel with his wife and his
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  family. Case and I believe was 13 at the
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  time. I first realized as I met Lewis
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  that he had giftings. But more importantly, he had a
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  love for people and a love for God.
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  And that's the kind of people you want to have in the church,
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  serving and leading people who love God and love you.
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  And so I had the same feeling when I met George Prentice and
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  John Morris and their families. And they've been with us forever
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  here in the ministry. And what's caused these long
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  term ministry relationships was their love for Jesus number one,
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  their understanding of the grace of God.
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  Not to judge people or criticize people or put people on guilt
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  trips, but just care for people and build them up and most
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  importantly their love for you is God's people.
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  Cason. When I met him as a young guy, I
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  could tell that there was something special about him.
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  And from the first day I met him, I knew he was a lover of
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  God and a lover of his church. He actually did some teaching
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  way back then. We had some of the young people,
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  Nathan Pace and Josh Susak and Cason and maybe one or two other
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  guys I can't remember now, that taught the youth on Wednesday
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  nights. And I could see even way back
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  then that the Lord had his hand on Cason.
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  I watched him excel in basketball in Hempfield, went to
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  many games and sat there with Lewis and Terry.
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  And also, I got to see him play in college at Indiana, Purdue,
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  and then online at Killister in Ireland.
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  And he was always pointing the fans to Jesus.
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  Every time he'd have a slam dunk or do this crazy 3 pointer, he'd
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  be like, like that man, one way. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus he.
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  He would be on his knees in front of the public praying
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  before games and he impacted the rest of his team as coaches.
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  And he always had a heart to be a servant at Calvary Chapel.
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  And he works with the kids right now.
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  And Pastor Chuck told us years ago that if you want to find
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  someone really called by God to go into ministry, start them in
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  a kids ministry. Most guys are too proud to do
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  that. Kids.
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  I'm I'm I'm supposed to be teaching adults.
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  And Chuck said if you can't teach kids and keep their
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  attention, you're not going to certainly be able to teach
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  adults and a lot of wisdom. So Cason actually be teaching
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  the kids this morning after he shares for a couple moments.
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  We spoke to him about pastoral ministry many years ago.
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  As we saw in his life God's anointing and calling today,
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  this call is now a new beginning for him and for us as a church.
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  Today he'll begin his training and he covets your prayers and
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  your encouragement as you help him to develop in this this
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  work. After I got done praying in the
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  hallways, we always pray before the service.
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  I came walking out and I saw him and the worship was starting and
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  he just took this deep breath. And I understand, you know,
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  every Sunday I come up here, I'm taking a deep breath like Lord,
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  just have your way and keep me out of the way, right?
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  But it, it's intimidating, right?
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  We can't do this without the Holy Spirit and without his
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  power, because if it isn't him, nothing's going to be good for
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  you guys. So Cason was no more words to
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  me. Come on up and share with the
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  church how this all transpired. When you began to think about
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  this, the the decision you had to make to retire early from
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  professional ball in Ireland and.
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  Good morning. I'll be honest, it's weird being
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  home right now. I'm not used to being home this
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  late in September. I'm usually on a plane right
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  now, so it's nice to be back home with you guys for good now.
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  Yeah. So, yeah, Pastor Clark and my
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  dad brought this to my attention couple years ago.
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  And at the time, like, I just felt like I was really just in
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  the prime of my basketball career and I just wasn't ready
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  to stop. Like, I just felt really good.
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  And I was just, I wanted to keep going.
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  And of course, they didn't put any pressure on me.
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  They just kept, you know, telling me to just keep praying
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  about it, keep praying about it, which I did.
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  So this past year in Ireland, for some reason, I don't know
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  when it when it started, but I just really got very interested
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  in in studying the word a lot more deeper than I had years
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  past. So I started diving into Paul's
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  letters. I started in the Romans.
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  And for some reason I just like felt this like excitement about
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  it. And I'm just like, I want to
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  teach this. And I was just like, it started
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  really tugging in my heart at the time.
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  But again, I was still kind of back and forth to pick, 'cause
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  I'm in the middle of my season and I'm, I'm playing really
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  good. I'm like, I'm not ready to give
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  this up yet. So it was actually after we won
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  our national Cup where the feeling really started to, to
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  hit. And I remember like I wasn't
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  like depressed or something, but there was definitely something
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  on my mind after we won. I wasn't as excited about it as
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  I thought I would be. And I remember talking to my
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  parents because they can, they, they could always tell when
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  something's bothering me or something's like not right.
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  So they were just like, you know, what's going on?
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  I'm like, well, I'm not really sure if I want to keep doing
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  this. And they were just like, you
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  know, what do you mean? Well, I just, I've really been
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  like studying these letters from Paul.
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  And I'm just like, I really have like starting to have a heart to
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  like to teach. And you know, they just said,
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  well, just keep praying about it.
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  Keep praying about, you know, God will make it clear whether
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  something wants you to do so around like the last month of
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  our season, my dad actually brought to my attention about a
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  job that it opened up at, at the Hemfield Park where I used to
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  train all the time. So I told I, I prayed and I told
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  God, I said, God, if if you want me to stop playing, let me get
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  this job, I'll come home, I'll call it for good.
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  Literally last month of the season, I get a call.
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  They offered me the job. So at that point I was like, OK,
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  that's it. I'm done.
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  So I finished that year, came home, and even today I still get
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  a lot of questions like why, like, like, why did you stop?
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  Like you're at the primary career, You could definitely
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  keep playing. And I'm just like, well, you
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  know, God called me to something different.
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  And even when I came home for a little bit, I wasn't 100% sure.
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  And then Pastor Clark took me out to lunch last weekend and we
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  talked and we, you know, we kind of explained kind of what he
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  wanted me to do and just kind of just really just broke it down
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  in a way that that made it, you know, a lot easier to
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  understand. And I just, I felt like, you
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  know, it was time for me to answer this call and I couldn't
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  run from it anymore. And you know, I told, you know,
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  I told my dad my parents this morning, like I, you know, I was
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  nervous and everything. And I remember I saw a quote on
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  Facebook actually yesterday was God doesn't call the qualified,
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  He qualifies the called. And that just gave me a lot of
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  peace 'cause it's like, even if I'm, even if I don't feel like
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  I'm ready, I know that if I just keep my eyes on Jesus and just
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  lock in with him and just pray and just stay in his word and
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  just keep my focus on him, that, you know, when it's, when it's
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  time, I'll be ready. So big thing for me is just
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  prayers from all of you, please. Just that I keep my eyes on
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  Jesus, that I, I really step into this calling with faith and
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  that you know, when the time is right, that you know, God puts
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  me where he wants me to be and that I'm able to lead this
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  church whenever it's time or, or help leave this church the way
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  that God wants me to do it. But I, I thank you all for your
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  support. I thank you all for your
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  prayers. And I'm really excited for what
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  God has for not just me, but for all of us in the future.
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  So thank you. So stay up here for a couple
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  minutes. We're going to have some prayer
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  for you. I wanted to read from Second
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  Timothy chapter 2, and the whole chapter is all about being
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  called into ministry. So you can read a lot of it on
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  your own. I'm not going to read it all
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  today, but you therefore, my son, be strong and the grace
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  that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you have heard from
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  me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will
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  be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure
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  hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
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  No one engaged in warfare and tangles himself with the affairs
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  of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a
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  soldier. And also if anyone competes in
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  athletics and you know about that, right, he is not crowned
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  unless he competes according to the rules, the hard working
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  farmer must first be a partaker of the crops.
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  Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding and
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  all things. Amen.
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  So Pastor Lewis and Terry, if you could come up, I believe
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  John Morris is here today. I don't know if Lewis is here or
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  not Lewis, but George, but whoever's here, come on up.
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  And we're going to pray for Cason's calling.
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  John, if you could lay hands on Cason and praise the Lord leads
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  you here. Here's thank you.
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  We're going to pray in light of things that have happened in our
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  country in the last few weeks. A man is coming to serve.
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  And my question is, are you willing?
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  We know you're willing to live for Christ.
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  Are you willing to die? I figured that.
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  I figured that. So you know we're going to pray
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  that in his heart he has a heart like Joe, even if he slays me
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  yet will I trust in him no matter what.
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  So this is the kind of man you have standing before you today.
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  So let's pray, Father, you know Kayson's heart, his desire to
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  serve you. He's lived his life to glorify
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  you. And now he's going to endeavour
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  to to move into full time service, which he's always been
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  in full time service, Lord, but he's going to stand before your
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  body as a teacher. And Lord, we ask for your
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  guidance for him, for your wisdom upon his life.
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  Lord, protect him, watch over him, and not under physical
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  trouble, Lord, but spiritual things.
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  Lord, that you would guard his heart and you would make him
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  strong in you, then nothing would sway him, nothing would
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  move him. Lord, that he would be fearless,
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  kind and loving, but fearless, Lord, not fearing any man.
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  Our message, Your message goes against the world, the culture
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  of the world, and he needs to stand true to what you've given
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  us through your word. And Lord, I just pray that you
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  would strengthen him, that he would rely on his brothers in
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  the church to, to sharpen his iron against Lord and your word,
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  and that he would have unity with the brothers in the church,
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  Lord. And again, that you would guide
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  him and bless him as he, as he serves you in this body.
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  Lord, he's, he'll be the pastor of the church, which means he's
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  the servant of all. He's your servant, Lord.
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  So Lord, strengthen him and bless him in what he does in
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  Jesus name, Amen. And all God's people said, Amen.
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  So one of your one of your first duties is to dismiss the kids
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  and pray the Lords blessing on what you're going to teach them
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  today. Go ahead.
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  Lord, just thank you for all these kids.
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  I just thank you for the privilege it is to be able to
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  administer to these kids today. And Lord, I just pray that you
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  would just watch over them Lord, keep them Lord, against the the
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  darkness of this world. And I pray that they will just
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  keep their eyes on you and just keep their childlike heart for
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  you God and just continue to grow in the things of you.
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  In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Amen.
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  Thank you. Good job, Pastor.
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  Pastor, do you want to say any? You got to say something.
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  This is like a one time deal, right?
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  You have one son. I have none.
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  I have two daughters. Now, if they were sons, they
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  would have been doing this, you know, maybe my grandson someday,
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  but I. Have no greater joy.
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  Didn't see my children walking the truth.
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  Amen, Amen. Amen, brother.
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  OK, we're in First Corinthians 13 this morning.
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  If you have your Bibles, turn there and it won't be a long
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  message because I covered half of this book last week and that
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  we'll we'll complete it today. So First Corinthians 13 is not a
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  chapter just to read and hear words.
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  I'm thinking as I was studying it today that this teaching in
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  First Corinthians 13 about what love is, you could put your name
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  in all these little definitions of of what it is and find that
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  you have struggles with it. You have challenges of doing it
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  or living it out, and this isn't something you can do in your own
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  strength. This has to be done by the Holy
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  Spirit and when you find that you're a flawed and you're not
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  able to love this way, don't beat yourself up to say Lord, I
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  want you to do this in me because I can't do this apart
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  from you, from you. It's as though I speak with the
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  tongues of men and of angels, but have not love.
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  I've become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
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  And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all
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  mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faiths that I
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  could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
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  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
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  give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me
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  nothing. Love suffers long, so you can
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  put your name in there. Just quietly say to yourself and
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  to the Lord, I suffer long. Love is kind.
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  Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is
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  not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
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  is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity,
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  but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things,
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  hopes all things, and endures all things.
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  Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies, they will
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  fail. Whether there are tongues, they
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  will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it
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  will vanish away. For we know in part, and we
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  prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect
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  is come, then that which is in part will be done away.
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  When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child,
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  I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put
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  away childish things. For now we see in a mere dimly
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  but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I
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  shall know just as also I am known and now abide Faith, hope,
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  love these three. But the greatest of these is
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  love. Father, we read this chapter
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  understanding it's about your love, your agape, your
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  unconditional undeserved love that you give to each of us.
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  And Father, I pray that you would help us to read this
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  periodically just to see how much we are either not becoming
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  more like you in our daily life, or we are encouraged,
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  understanding that you are causing us to begin to to live
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  our lives out this way, that we actually do these things by the
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  power of Your Holy Spirit. That we're not uptight.
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  That we're patient. That we're kind.
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  That we're loving, that we esteem others more highly, and
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  we do ourselves all the things that are all about you and how
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  you lived your life when you were on the earth and how you
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  taught your apostles and your followers.
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  And so, Lord, please bless your people today.
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  Encourage us. Do in US, Lord, what we're not
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  capable of doing in ourselves. For Lord, we want to.
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  Be these kind of people and we just ask these things in your
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  name, Jesus Amen. So some thoughts on this
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  chapter. Cindy and I read this when we
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  first got married because it meant a lot to us.
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  We were just young kids 20 and 18 coming out of the world.
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  I had long hair, former hippie got my hair cut off 1/2 an inch
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  to please my father-in-law. My wife had a mini skirt on.
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  It was surrealistic. As I look the pictures by my
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  bedside, I look at it and I think about all the years God's
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  taken us through hard times, challenging times, times we
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  regret, times that we look back and smile and this thank God for
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  the experiences. But learning to live.
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  And be in. Love with God is a process and a
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  journey. Proverbs 817 says I love those
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  who love me and those who seek me diligently will find me.
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  I thought about that verse this morning.
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  The Lord loves us, but He really loves us when He knows we love
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  Him back. The Bible says we love Him
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  because He first loved us. So the love relationship with
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  God begins with Him loving you and me.
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  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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  And so I was thinking about how much do I seek Him diligently?
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  I try to every day to start my day to seek Him.
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  But some days are crazy, right? You get up and you're so busy
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  and you got so much stuff to do that you find yourself taking
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  off in your life without seeking Him, without asking him for
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  direction, without asking him for help.
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  Maybe on the fly you do it. But it's it's, it's a difference
• 23:40
  between diligently and superficially seeking him.
• 23:46
  And sometimes we find ourselves not sensing God's presence in
• 23:49
  our lives because we haven't been taking time to spend
• 23:55
  seeking him. And he said if we spend time
• 23:59
  seeking him, we will find him. And there's nothing better than
• 24:03
  having the presence of God in your life and experiencing that.
• 24:08
  The thing you come to church for isn't to just get information.
• 24:12
  You're praying. And I'm praying to God help us
• 24:15
  find you today and the challenges of life in the midst
• 24:18
  of the adversity and the struggles and the things we all
• 24:22
  find challenging, the temptations, the setbacks, the
• 24:26
  failings, whatever it might be, that we might come here and find
• 24:30
  hope again and be reminded that God is with us and He'll never
• 24:33
  leave us or forsake us. He's not like an earthly father
• 24:38
  who can easily be disappointed. He's never disappointed because
• 24:42
  he knows the way we are and and he expects our failings, but he
• 24:49
  doesn't leave us in our feelings.
• 24:51
  He comes to our rescue to bring us out of the feelings and out
• 24:55
  of the mistakes and out of the mock at times we find ourselves
• 24:59
  in to restore us into that relationship with Him of love.
• 25:06
  The Apostle John tells us in the 14th chapter about what the key
• 25:15
  is in regard to this love relationship.
• 25:19
  And these are the words in your Bible, the red letter.
• 25:22
  This is actually Jesus actually speaking.
• 25:25
  He says, if you love me, keep my commandments.
• 25:29
  And I used to read that. And I think this responsibility
• 25:33
  I have to keep and do work harder.
• 25:37
  And lots of times like I didn't want to like keep his
• 25:40
  commandments. I didn't want to obey him.
• 25:45
  I wanted to do what I wanted to do, I wanted to keep my plans in
• 25:50
  place and at times in my journey is learning to be a follower of
• 25:56
  Jesus Christ. I found that I was disobedient
• 26:01
  and yet He still loved me and He still loves you.
• 26:07
  But that deep relationship that can be established and developed
• 26:11
  with God is this internal desire that, Lord, I really want to
• 26:17
  follow you because I love you, not because I have to.
• 26:22
  I want to follow you because I'm learning how much you love me.
• 26:28
  And if you love someone, you don't want to intentionally hurt
• 26:31
  them or betray them, he says. Then knowing when He tells us,
• 26:40
  we have to endeavor to keep His commandments, He says, and I
• 26:43
  will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper,
• 26:47
  that He may abide with you forever.
• 26:49
  The spirit of truth. And the world can't receive,
• 26:52
  because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
• 26:56
  But you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
• 27:00
  I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
• 27:03
  Isn't that cool how God does that?
• 27:05
  He tells us like this heavy thing.
• 27:06
  If you love me, keep my commandments.
• 27:09
  And then right away he realizes that we're not going to do it
• 27:12
  without a helper, right? The Holy Spirit, that's his
• 27:17
  grace. And he gives us the Holy Spirit
• 27:20
  to do this work of obedience in our lives.
• 27:23
  Give us a desire to be obedient. So the whole Bible is full of
• 27:31
  teachings on this love relationship that the Father
• 27:35
  desires to have with us. And my wife tells me, and we've
• 27:40
  been married a long time. The thing she cherishes most are
• 27:45
  the times that we can just talk together and pray together.
• 27:50
  It's not the stuff that I can get her do for her.
• 27:53
  Whatever it's, it's deeper. It's heart to heart, right?
• 27:59
  It's communicating your heart to your lover's heart, your bride's
• 28:04
  heart. If you're married, and then the
• 28:09
  same kind of love relationship to God is tender and precious to
• 28:15
  Him. When you pour your heart out to
• 28:18
  Him and want to talk to Him and share your dreams and your
• 28:22
  desires and the longings you have and the vision that He's
• 28:26
  given you as a family, for your marriage, for your home, for
• 28:32
  your kids, your grandkids, everyone that enters into your
• 28:36
  life, your workers, your coworkers.
• 28:38
  This this love relationship. And the fun part for me in life
• 28:42
  is to watch the people I know and I care most about initially
• 28:47
  my family and then you guys. Watching how God uses you to
• 28:52
  love people unconditionally. Seeing you forgive people for
• 28:57
  things that most people would never even consider forgiving
• 29:01
  anybody for. I watched Erica Kirk last Sunday
• 29:06
  in her short eulogy on what her husband meant to her and this
• 29:14
  woman was so empty of herself and so full of the grace of God
• 29:22
  that she was able just to be a. Vessel of this love for
• 29:26
  everyone, but also the person who killed her husband.
• 29:33
  She forgave him. Now, maybe some of us would come
• 29:37
  to that kind of place or conclusion down the road in our
• 29:41
  life, but this is just a few days after her husband was taken
• 29:48
  from her through that violent, senseless killing.
• 29:55
  I listened to testimonies of people that serve in government.
• 29:58
  Not all of them, but a lot of them that spoke from their heart
• 30:03
  about their love for Jesus Christ and their love for their
• 30:07
  country and their love for their fellow man.
• 30:12
  That's rare, isn't it? You don't hear that in media,
• 30:18
  you don't hear that in Hollywood, and usually you don't
• 30:22
  hear it in everyday life and the people you run with or you work
• 30:27
  with in Galatians and Ephesians. We learned these things when we
• 30:36
  went to Bible college many years ago, and we're still trying to,
• 30:42
  you know, submit and yield to the reality of these verses.
• 30:49
  Ephesians 518. It uses the illustration of
• 30:54
  alcohol and spiritual life, and there's nothing wrong with
• 30:57
  someone having a drink, but there's something wrong when
• 31:00
  someone has too much to drink. Because when they have too much
• 31:02
  to drink, what are they controlled by?
• 31:05
  The alcohol, right? And the alcohol then causes
• 31:09
  problems in homes and drunk driving and abuse and all kind
• 31:15
  of terrible things when it's not managed properly and maturely.
• 31:21
  But Paul used an illustration that all the people could
• 31:24
  understand because most people at one time or another have been
• 31:27
  drunk and they knew what they would act like if they were
• 31:30
  drunk. She says don't be drunk with
• 31:34
  wine, where is an excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.
• 31:40
  And if we're believers, we know the difference between 2
• 31:43
  extremes. When we're filled with the Holy
• 31:46
  Spirit, it's all about God first and everyone else 2nd.
• 31:52
  It's no longer about me or you. It's about this self selfless
• 32:01
  kind of love that impacts the rest of the world.
• 32:07
  Someone once said people don't care how much you know until
• 32:12
  they see how much you care. And if there's no mention of
• 32:17
  caring or loving others or illustration of laying your life
• 32:21
  down for the sake of someone else.
• 32:23
  And everything in the Bible is this words and messages, and we
• 32:28
  come to worship and we just leave empty if we haven't
• 32:32
  allowed these words to penetrate our lives and to change us.
• 32:39
  Whenever we seek God with this depth of diligence, we begin to
• 32:50
  cultivate a deep love for God. We're actively and earnestly
• 32:57
  seeking God's wisdom and presence in our lives.
• 33:02
  And we trust then that this diligently search will be
• 33:07
  rewarded with God's presence and blessing.
• 33:11
  And it's a fact that if we seek the Lord and love him this way
• 33:17
  and seek him diligently will find him.
• 33:21
  Like the U2 song says, you know, I still haven't found what I'm
• 33:24
  looking for. You won't find what you're
• 33:27
  looking for until you find your searches made complete in the
• 33:33
  one that you were created to follow and to know, and that's
• 33:36
  Jesus Christ. And then the book of Galatians
• 33:45
  talks about the the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the
• 33:52
  flesh. And when we were young
• 33:56
  Christians, we memorize these things, these chapters, Cindy
• 34:01
  and I. And it says in verse 16 of
• 34:06
  chapter 5, I say, then walk in the Spirit, and you shall not
• 34:09
  fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's a command.
• 34:13
  The, the, the Greek tense in that statement is that this is
• 34:17
  what you're to do, not a suggestion, but a commandment.
• 34:23
  And why? He says the flesh lusts against
• 34:25
  the spirit. So there's this battle between
• 34:28
  our fallen nature and the new nature that we have that we've
• 34:32
  been given when we got saved or born again.
• 34:35
  They're contrary to one another. So you can't do the things that
• 34:38
  you want to do, and Paul talked about that in Romans 7.
• 34:43
  Why do I do what I know I shouldn't do?
• 34:47
  And why don't I do what I know that I really want to do?
• 34:50
  That that conflict, that power of the flesh and the Spirit, but
• 34:55
  it only can be overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 34:58
  You can try and make promises and journal and hold, have
• 35:04
  accountability partners, all that kind of stuff.
• 35:06
  Nothing's going to work until you're under the power of the
• 35:10
  Holy Spirit. And he says, if you're led by
• 35:13
  the Spirit, you're no under the law.
• 35:16
  The law would be like, do this, don't do this.
• 35:18
  And, and all the 10 commandments and, and you find that if you've
• 35:22
  tried to live the commandments, you've broken them.
• 35:26
  That's why we needed a savior. That's why we needed Jesus
• 35:29
  because he's the only one that could fulfill the law 100% and
• 35:34
  give us his forgiveness and righteousness because he knows
• 35:38
  we couldn't do it ourselves. And so he, he tells us then that
• 35:47
  the works of the flesh, like if I'm under the compulsions of my
• 35:52
  human fallen nature, they're going to be very clear.
• 35:56
  And they could run into all kind of different sins.
• 35:58
  Adultery, sex outside of marriage, fornication,
• 36:02
  uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
• 36:07
  jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,
• 36:11
  heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the
• 36:15
  like. Of which I tell you beforehand,
• 36:17
  just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such
• 36:20
  things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
• 36:22
  So you read that and you say, well, you know, in my life I did
• 36:26
  this, I did that, I did this. Well, that's why the cross is
• 36:29
  there to forgive us, right? And to give us new life and,
• 36:32
  and, and Jesus, he cleanses us from our sin through his blood.
• 36:37
  And God says he chooses to remember our sins no more.
• 36:41
  Isn't that awesome? I remember mine, but he says,
• 36:45
  Clark, I'm not remembering him. So why are you remembering?
• 36:47
  I don't know. I'm a knucklehead.
• 36:49
  Lord, help me to think on the positive things that you've
• 36:53
  done, not the negative things that I've done.
• 36:56
  Mercy, forgiveness, freedom, grace.
• 37:02
  But we we find ourselves at times maybe not deep in the dive
• 37:06
  at a flesh anymore of doing like the big bad ones, we think, but
• 37:11
  like you're flipping out an outbursts of wrath, yelling at
• 37:15
  someone just flipping out right. You ever do that?
• 37:17
  Anybody ever flip out and yell at someone?
• 37:19
  Raise your hand, every one of us.
• 37:22
  We still don't Thanks, Dan. Dan's helping Jessica admit it,
• 37:25
  right? So he raises their hand for her.
• 37:28
  But you know, we, we, we just do that, right?
• 37:31
  We do it. But then what do we do?
• 37:32
  Don't condemn. Just say, Lord, forgive me and
• 37:35
  fill me with your spirits. And next time I'm going to be
• 37:38
  cool and I may be calm and I may be collected and I'm going to be
• 37:42
  under your control. So you still sin and that's why
• 37:48
  there's repentance and confession before the Lord to
• 37:52
  keep short accounts, get things right.
• 37:56
  But if we are doing this habitually and we could care
• 38:00
  less, it's obvious we're not saved.
• 38:02
  We need a Savior. We need to get born again so
• 38:05
  that our nature then begins to change into God's plan and not
• 38:09
  our own. And then he says the fruit of
• 38:12
  the Spirit and this correlates this First Corinthians 13 If
• 38:16
  you're under the control of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the
• 38:18
  Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering.
• 38:25
  That's patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
• 38:29
  gentleness and self-control. If you're, if you're honest and
• 38:36
  you're a clear thinker, who wouldn't want to have that kind
• 38:39
  of life, right, to be that way as much as possible in our
• 38:46
  lives? I mean, that's like the
• 38:49
  ultimate, that's like the the goal of of human existence to
• 38:54
  have that kind of demeanor and temperament.
• 38:56
  So you can live that way and and be that way in business and
• 39:00
  neighbors and families and marriage of kids and craziness
• 39:03
  stuff. And this have that gentleness
• 39:07
  and that self-control. Against such there is no law.
• 39:14
  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its
• 39:17
  passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us
• 39:21
  also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,
• 39:25
  provoking one another and envying one another.
• 39:29
  So we go back to first Corinthians 13 and all the
• 39:33
  things there. Love suffering long, that's
• 39:36
  long-suffering, that's a fruit of the Spirit kind.
• 39:39
  Doesn't envy. Love doesn't act like a big
• 39:42
  shot. It's not all about you or me.
• 39:44
  It's not puffed up and braggadocious, Does not behave
• 39:48
  rudely, does not seek its own, has not provoked, Thinks no
• 39:53
  evil, does not rejoice in sin but rejoices in the truth.
• 39:57
  Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
• 39:59
  endures all things. So what happens is someone has a
• 40:03
  failing or someone. Stumbles if someone falls and
• 40:07
  the human nature is, did you hear what happened to such and
• 40:10
  such, right. And then we begin to tell
• 40:15
  everybody about something that we have no business spreading
• 40:19
  around about someone. If we really love someone.
• 40:23
  The Bible says love covers a multitude of sins.
• 40:27
  You want to cover the person's sins.
• 40:29
  You want to protect their reputation.
• 40:31
  You don't want to destroy them publicly.
• 40:35
  Now you might have to talk to them and help them figure out
• 40:38
  how to get out of the mess they got themselves in.
• 40:40
  But love isn't like telling anybody else about someone
• 40:43
  else's dirty laundry or problems or failings.
• 40:52
  I loved how Jesus dealt with that woman caught in the act of
• 40:56
  adultery. Everybody knew about it because
• 41:01
  of how people would talk about things and they wanted to accuse
• 41:06
  her and they wanted to throw stones at her.
• 41:10
  And the way Jesus responded to this crisis was with his typical
• 41:18
  long-suffering and love. He always behaved this way.
• 41:22
  He always acted this way. He said you who are without sin,
• 41:28
  let him cast the first stone. Guess what they did?
• 41:36
  They put their stones down and they walked away because who
• 41:41
  were they to condemn someone else?
• 41:48
  Love never fails. No matter what happens in your
• 41:53
  life or mine, God will never stop loving you.
• 41:57
  Everybody else might turn away from you, reject you, badmouth
• 42:01
  you, slander you, but at the end of the day, Jesus is always
• 42:05
  there with His arms. Come to me, all you labour and
• 42:10
  are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
• 42:16
  Learn from me for I am meek and lowly of heart.
• 42:19
  You will find rest for your souls when you feel everybody's
• 42:23
  betrayed you, abandoned you, There's no one that depends on
• 42:27
  you, no one trusts you anymore. No one believes in you anymore.
• 42:30
  The Lord never stops believing in you.
• 42:32
  Isn't that awesome? That's the God we serve.
• 42:36
  That's the Jesus who saved us. And He's the one that wants us
• 42:41
  to tell everyone about who he really is, not who they might
• 42:46
  think he is because of hypocrisy and self righteousness and
• 42:52
  legalism and judgmentalism. That's not the gospel he talks
• 42:59
  about the giftings. And the giftings are still here
• 43:03
  today. But guess what?
• 43:05
  One day when he comes, they won't be needed anymore.
• 43:11
  You won't have to put up with inferior preaching from men like
• 43:16
  me or anybody else. We try to do the best we can
• 43:19
  with whatever God's given us a gift and that's it.
• 43:23
  Like, you know, that's all, that's all I got right.
• 43:28
  But Jesus, he has it all. And when he comes and preaches,
• 43:32
  it's going to be awesome. Whether there's prophecies, they
• 43:41
  will fail. Whether there are tongues, they
• 43:43
  will cease. Whether is knowledge, it will
• 43:46
  vanish away. For we know in part and we
• 43:49
  prophecy in part right now we're doing the best we can with the
• 43:54
  light that we have been given by God to teach the Word of God and
• 43:59
  to follow the Word of God. But when that is which is
• 44:03
  perfect has come, and that's Jesus, when he comes second
• 44:07
  coming, then that which is in part will be done away.
• 44:10
  Then won't need, there won't be any need for anything else but
• 44:15
  Him. When I was a child, I spoke as a
• 44:19
  child, remember? I had like this nostalgic thing
• 44:23
  couple days ago. I was working, I'm driving back,
• 44:26
  and the way the sun was setting that day just reminded me of
• 44:30
  what it was like when I was a kid.
• 44:32
  So I grew up in Irwin. So I drove down through the
• 44:35
  streets of Irwin and remembered things the way they were when I
• 44:38
  was a kid. Isley's was there, Murphy's 5
• 44:41
  and 10 was there. I remember going down into the
• 44:45
  five and 10 and when The Beatles came out, I they had those 40
• 44:48
  fives and and they had those little paper sleeves.
• 44:51
  If you remember, and I want to hold your hand was the, the,
• 44:54
  the, the big song that was on Ed Sullivan.
• 44:57
  It started The Beatles career. And I forget the other one.
• 45:00
  She loves me or something is on it.
• 45:01
  Well, I looked around and I put two of those in one one thing
• 45:05
  that was the kind of kid I was, you know, So I got 2 for the
• 45:08
  price of 1 I stole, right? I remembered that.
• 45:12
  I remembered walking down an Irwin and acting like a big
• 45:16
  shot, smoking my first cigarette.
• 45:18
  I remember going to the dance at the Methodist Church and I, like
• 45:22
  all these flashbacks, came back. I remember going down to the
• 45:26
  Irwin playground and it used to be packed on there.
• 45:29
  Kids playing basketball, tennis. I don't know where the kids are
• 45:32
  anymore. They're playing video games or
• 45:34
  something. I don't know.
• 45:35
  But we were down there playing until it got dark.
• 45:38
  And I remember as a kid, vaguely 3 years old, for whenever I was
• 45:43
  old enough to begin to walk around, I had this like
• 45:46
  adventurous spirit. So when my mom put me in for the
• 45:49
  nap, I didn't want to take the nap.
• 45:51
  So I figured out a way to lift the bedroom window up, climb out
• 45:55
  and get on the railing. And I had these pajamas on.
• 45:57
  I had these feet in, you know, didn't have any shoes.
• 46:00
  And I'd walk. I saw this alley going down to
• 46:03
  the Irwin playground and it just drew me.
• 46:05
  It was sun was on. It looked like the yellow brick
• 46:08
  road, right? And I just walked down there and
• 46:11
  I went down there. My poor Mama came out.
• 46:13
  Oh my gosh, where is he? And she would come down and she
• 46:16
  knew I was down there and she'd have a hair brush and she'd be
• 46:18
  beating my beat my butt the whole way up with me on her
• 46:22
  shoulder beating me. And I don't you ever do that
• 46:25
  again. Well, I, I still have that
• 46:26
  wanderlust kind of. That's why I like sails.
• 46:29
  I can be in different places at different times whenever I'm
• 46:32
  meeting new people, meeting new things, different experiences.
• 46:35
  That's that's what floats my boat.
• 46:37
  But when I was a child, though, I thought about all those things
• 46:42
  that I did as a child. I thought as a child, but when I
• 46:46
  became a man, I put away childish things.
• 46:49
  And I'm still trying to put away some of the childish things
• 46:51
  because I'm still a kid at heart in a lot of ways.
• 46:54
  And I know, like, I like to have a good time and have fun too,
• 46:57
  you know? But there's certain things that,
• 46:59
  you know, I do differently now, I think differently.
• 47:02
  And maturity begins to develop in our lives as God grows us in
• 47:05
  his grace. But he says, for now, we seen a
• 47:08
  mirror dimly. So back then they had these
• 47:11
  bronze mirrors. They didn't have these like
• 47:13
  clear crystal mirrors like we have now.
• 47:16
  Maybe they would be better, especially as you get older.
• 47:18
  If you had a bronze mirror, you couldn't see the wrinkles,
• 47:20
  right? And say, well, I still look
• 47:22
  pretty good at whatever age, but that's the type of mirrors they
• 47:26
  had. So when they, when he said this,
• 47:28
  Paul, he, he talked about the, the ability or the lack of
• 47:34
  ability to be able to see clearly.
• 47:37
  But then he said one day we'll be able to see face to face.
• 47:43
  Now I know in part. So we know a little bit about a
• 47:46
  lot of things and not a lot of things about little things, but
• 47:51
  we know some things. And he says, I know in part, but
• 47:53
  then I shall know just as I'm also known.
• 47:58
  So one day we'll see Jesus face to face and he's not going to
• 48:03
  bring up a bunch of junk that's already been died for and
• 48:08
  cleansed and forgiven. He'll talk to us about our
• 48:14
  effectiveness or lack of it, maybe in regard to his calling
• 48:18
  on our lives that I really live fully for what He created me
• 48:21
  for. And that's the purpose of
• 48:25
  church, to help us all like sort of get on track to be reminded
• 48:29
  of what the big picture is because it's really about him
• 48:32
  and becoming more like him and living for him.
• 48:36
  Career success, all these things are all fine, but the most
• 48:39
  important thing is that one day when all that stuff's behind us,
• 48:43
  it'll just be us and him. And if we live as fully as we
• 48:48
  could by his grace for him, we'll hear those wonderful
• 48:52
  words. Well done, good and faithful
• 48:53
  servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.
• 48:57
  And may we help each other stay on track and keep pressing in
• 49:01
  deeper and deeper to Jesus is like Cason said this morning, he
• 49:07
  has this desire to press deeper into Jesus.
• 49:12
  May that all be our desires to and now abide faith, hope and
• 49:19
  love these three. But the greatest of these is
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  love. The worship team can come
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  forward. Love is what makes life worth
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  living. To be loved by someone, there's
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  nothing like it. To be loved by God is far
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  superior than any human. Love can be given to us.
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  Love sets us free. I think stings lyrics.
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  One of my favorite musicians. He still doesn't know the Lord
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  before he can write good music. If you love someone, set them
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  free. Jesus proved us to us, He loves
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  us, He set us free. He said you shall know the truth
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  and the truth shall make you free.
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  Amen. Nothing better than being free,
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  is it? When I got saved, the night I
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  got saved, I didn't know all the theology, I didn't know all the
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  verses, but I knew I met Jesus and on my way to the Community
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  College, I had a Volkswagen, a pale powder blue Volkswagen with
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  a sunroof, and I had The Who on full blast.
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  I am free. I am free, and my hair and
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  freedom is thus a taste of reality.
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  Jesus has set us free, and whom the sun is set free is free
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  indeed. Let's prepare our hearts for the
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  supper. Lord, we are grateful for this
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  special day you've given us for your servant case and Harold,
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  who will now begin to take the steps into the path that his
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  Father has walked now for eight years and I've worked, walked in
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  for 30 years. Lord, we do pray for him today
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  and other men, young men that will be raised up in this church
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  in days ahead to help lead it. You would protect him, keep his
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  heart free, keep it joyful, keep it full of your Holy Spirit.
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  And if you do, he will one day finish well as his dad and I
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  desire to do. And along with George and John,
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  thank you for everybody you brought here today.
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  Thank you for those on the YouTube and the Facebook and
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  Grace FM Lord, who are tuned in. We pray, O God, your blessing of
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  First Corinthians 13 upon all our lives, that we would love
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  others like you have loved us for You said by this people will
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  know we're your followers, your disciples, by the love we have
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  for one another. Thank you for the love in this
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  church and the lives of these people, and may we just grow
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  deeper in it. Now we celebrate once again,
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  Lord, as we do every week, and remembering what you've done for
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  us. On the night to Jesus, it's
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  betrayed. He took the bread in his hands
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  and he broke it, and he gave thanks and he said, Take, eat,
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  this is my body which is given for you.
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  Eat this in remembrance of me. The same manner, in the evening
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  he took the cup, and he said, This cup is a new covenant, My
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  blood which was shed for the forgiveness of sins of many.
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  Drink this in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
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  bread and you drink this cup. He show forth the Lord's death
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  till he comes again. Amen.
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  God bless you guys, love you, have a great week.