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Transcript

Haunted Heart · Fostering Faith

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  And welcome back to Fostering Faith. We're in season 2, episode 7. And so welcome back.
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  And so we are fostering faith. We are walking with you on a journey of getting closer to
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  God and just strengthening our faith. Do we have everything figured out? No, we do not.
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  But as we walk and as we grow and as we study scripture and as we do life together, I think
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  it's important to share your experiences with people and to walk better because we are better
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  together. We have a community. We want to thank you so much for tuning in and listening to
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  it. We do encourage you to subscribe. Hit the subscribe button and share. And that will
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  just bring more people into this community and so we can grow as new podcasts.
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  Dia, do you feel like you have grown in your faith as we've done this podcast? Yeah, I feel like I have.
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  Why do you feel like you've grown in your faith just by listening to a podcast? What can that do for people?
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  I feel like listening to a podcast will influence your life more. And you keep on listening
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  to it and they keep on giving advice and advice. Maybe I should take that.
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  We were even at a benefit the other day and I had someone walk up to me and say, are you Tracy Foster?
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  From that fostering faith podcast, not in a million years did I ever think that someone would literally
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  walk up to me and know us from our podcast. And they just congratulated us on doing a great job
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  and just to spread the word. And I think that is and can be encouraging to other youth as they see
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  you, a 13 year old, wanting to be a kingdom worker and just to spread the word all over the world.
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  I think that is super encouraging that you stepped out of your comfort zone and wanted to do
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  something that we have absolutely no idea what we're doing, but we're just kind of walking in faith
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  and doing what we can in our busy times and schedules and just making time to spread the word of God.
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  What do you have going on this week? I have four basketball games. No, five. I have five basketball games.
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  Tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Right? No, because we're going to win the championship
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  on Thursday. So we're going to be off on Friday because we have a game on, we have a shootout on Saturday.
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  Oh yeah, shootout on Saturday. And you also have your tribal volleyball team on Saturday.
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  And I also have trick or treat on Friday. Yes. And so as we are ending into October, we are going into
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  the holiday season. And so we kind of wanted to have fun with this as we had our lesson in class.
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  It's called the Haunted Heart. And so talking about just the things that can haunt our hearts and not
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  necessarily talking about Halloween. And we're not here to debate whether you guys go trick or treating
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  or not go trick or treating, whether you celebrate Halloween and how that can really divide people.
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  We want to meet people where they're at. And so even at our church, we have a themed giving because that just
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  brings us together. And so we are not here to debate whether we do trick or treat or not do trick or treat.
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  At City Hope, we do trick or treat for the youth because it's a chance for them to come and see inside of a
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  church. It's a chance for us to love on people because they're going to be trick or treating anyway.
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  And having a safe space where kids can be like, oh, my gosh, this is an actual church. This is, you know,
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  people that want to love on us. And so we on average see about 1500 kids during trick or treat.
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  And that's just we feel as a safe place for kids to go because they're going to be out anyway.
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  Just like Jesus met the lady at the well where she was trying to hide and behind a mask, behind just being
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  not loved by society, we were able to meet her and meet the kids where they're at.
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  And so this haunted heart season, how did you like class the other day?
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  It was really fun. I liked it.
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  Can you tell the listeners what it was about?
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  It was about like how a little boy died. And everyone was giving their stories about how he's been a good person.
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  But he didn't believe in God. He was like, well, I would always have a way to believe in God.
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  And he always did. But he died and he never got to accept Jesus into his life, even though a friend kept him trying to push him to follow him.
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  And it is about that because we always feel like we always have tomorrow.
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  Oh, I'm always going to have time to call that one person. I'm always going to have this.
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  And it is about we are never promised tomorrow, are we?
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  And in that reference to scripture, we were talking about Romans and how your heart and how you
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  always think that you have tomorrow. But for those that are listening, are they promised even are we promised even to see this go live?
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  No, I mean, we are not promised anything. What were some takeaways that you got that you guys got from class?
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  That even though you're a good person, you don't have to believe in God.
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  But I also have some questions that probably the listeners are thinking of, like now that they say that.
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  So my first question is, do babies when they die, do they go to heaven?
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  And so and we will also remind our listeners that we're not theologians.
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  We are again walking through this. And so for those that have not heard about Christ, so babies and so they've not heard about Christ and their hearts are pure.
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  They've not sinned. They've not done anything wrong. And so they go to heaven.
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  And so they've not done anything that Jesus has said not to do. And they have not done any of the Ten Commandments that they say to follow.
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  And they've not heard about Christ. They've not had a chance to reject him.
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  And so, yes, and that was I knew that question was going to be asked in class, which is a very good question.
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  And so what I believe is that, yes, they do go to heaven.
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  Okay. My second question is, why do people who are good, like just don't go to heaven if they don't believe?
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  Because what does scripture say?
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  Go all the way to heaven if you believe in Christ.
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  Really? Yeah.
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  Okay. My third question is, what if people believe that they don't really follow him?
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  And so, again, we're going to go back to scripture. And so in, I believe it's Matthew, there is a chapter where he says, I have prophesied in your name.
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  And, you know, like, I, Lord, Lord, I turned right to it. Look at that.
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  And so not everyone that calls me out says, Lord, Lord. And this is Matthew 721.
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  It says, not everyone who calls me out, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my father in heaven will enter on judgment day.
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  Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name.
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  And I performed miracles in your name. But I will apply.
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  I never knew you get away from me.
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  You who break God's law.
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  And so as that is such an astonishing verse, it just makes me so sad because there's a lot of people that are going to be in pews.
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  And they're going to be like, oh, I did this and I did this. But they didn't have a relationship with God.
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  They didn't have that. They haven't. They you can call you can you can call yourself a card. I mean that you are, you know what I'm saying?
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  And so like you can call yourself a Christian.
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  But does that truly mean that you are? And so that is strictly between you and God.
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  It is a personal relationship that that you have with God.
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  And anyone who listens to my teachings and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock.
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  And so he is our foundation. He is our firm foundation.
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  And so we have to build our life and trust on him.
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  And again, he will be the ultimate judge.
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  And so whether I think that you're like a Christian versus what you think is the Christian, who's the ultimate decider?
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  God.
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  Jesus.
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  Yeah. And so I it is not for us to decide who's you know, like who's a Christian.
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  That's a relationship between, you know, them and God.
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  And then my fourth question is what if I have never heard of God like ever and like they died?
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  And so we are. And so like if you think of it, I kind of kind of crazy scenario to me is like a wild bushmen in Africa and a very distant tribe.
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  You know, we are all created by God.
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  And so I really feel like we all have a sense of what is right and what is is wrong.
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  And they can look up into the stars and think about and ponder about, man, like how did they get up there?
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  And and we don't know their conversations. I mean, we don't know what they're thinking.
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  We don't know. And do we all have it figured out?
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  No.
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  Do we have to have every answer?
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  No.
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  No, we don't. And so a lot of people have questions and we may not have answers. And is that OK?
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  Yes. Yeah. It's completely OK not to have every answer.
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  And you come to me and I do I know every answer.
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  No.
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  Am I ever going to?
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  No.
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  No.
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  Do I want to?
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  I mean, it'd be cool if I did, but it's not going to happen.
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  What do you feel is a tool that you could that you could do to implement in their lives to help their friends?
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  I mean, so that you talk about this little boy and he had a friend in science class that kept talking to him about eternity.
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  What? And he died. He died in a car crash or whatever have you.
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  What could you guys do as youth? Because you guys are so impactful.
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  You guys are so powerful. And spreading the word.
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  What happens if you have a friend that is like, I got I got plenty of time.
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  What could you tell them?
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  That you're not promised tomorrow.
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  Like you always say that you only have a certain amount of time.
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  You said in class that everyone is supposed to die whenever like they can just die whenever.
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  And like you're not always promised like another minute or anything like that.
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  No, and I mean, and I'm a nurse practitioner and I've been in the health care field for 20 plus years.
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  And the only thing that's 100 percent in medicine is that you will die.
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  I can tell you 100 percent of the time you're going to die eventually.
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  And that's the only thing that we can promise.
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  And so whether it's going to be on a Tuesday on a Sunday, the only person to know is him.
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  And it is it's a mystery on when it's going to happen and who it's going to happen to.
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  And so it is about we can't waste a time, a minute, a day.
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  And so by spreading that word, by spreading that gospel to people and just making sure that they realize how important that decision is and how if we deny Christ here, what is he going to deny us?
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  In heaven.
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  Yeah.
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  And so if we're going to believe cover to cover, you know, if you don't accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you don't believe that he, you know, God had sent him, he was his son, that he paid for our sin, that he died on the cross, that he rose.
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  What happens to you?
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  You go to heaven.
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  You go to if you don't believe.
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  Oh, I don't believe.
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  Yeah.
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  And I mean, if you were given the opportunity to to know him, and I mean, just like the guy that died with Jesus on the cross, what did he say to him?
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  I'll see you in paradise.
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  And so, I mean, it's never too late.
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  You know, you could a lot of people accept Jesus on their deathbed, and a lot of people accept Christ, if you did in the middle of their teenage years, and it's not about works.
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  That gets us there, is it?
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  No.
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  And so having that that a haunted, you know, that haunted heart, and looking into Romans 830 through 39, I think it was that we studied in class.
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  Do you want to read it?
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  Yeah, sure.
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  Romans what?
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  We studied 830 through 39.
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  30 through 39.
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  Okay, here it is.
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  And having chosen chosen them, he called them to come to him, and having to call them, he gave them the right of standing with himself, and having to give them the right for standing.
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  And he said, in his glory, what shall we say about such wonderful things as this?
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  If God is for us, he can ever be against us, since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for all of us all.
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  Won't he also give us everything else?
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  And so the others accused us whom God has chosen for his own. No one for God himself has given us the right of standing with himself.
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  And then will not come come in as no one for Christ Jesus, God for us and was right and raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor and God's right hand, pleading for us.
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  If anything ever separate us from Christ's love, does it mean he no longer loves us if we are terrible trouble or come commenting or persecuted or hungry or this this dude or in danger or threatened with death?
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  As the scriptures for safe or safe.
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  We are called every day we are being slaughtered like sheep. No one despite all of these things overwhelming victory is our story Christ who loves us.
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  And I can convince that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears from today nor our worries about tomorrow night even the powers of hell can't separate us from God's love.
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  The power in the sky above or in the earth below indeed nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus.
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  Isn't that so just so powerful. I you know you just Christ who died more than that who raised to life and as at the right hand and he's also interceding for us.
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  You literally have Jesus in heaven interceding for you. I mean can you imagine like Jesus up there in heaven just saying God you know like Dia is just like just like let's give her another chance like she's such a good kid.
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  She said you know she believes in you like you have Jesus fighting your battles for you. You have the one and only true God fighting your battles.
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  I mean and like has he ever lost a battle. No. Is he ever going to know is he ever going to stop loving you. No no.
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  And what what's so what is the one thing that we should do whenever we commit a sin. What's the one thing that we should do.
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  Repentance. Repentance.
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  Until as we studied in class what is for me because we threw the axe and so what is it. It's it's an axe and so it's it's you're missing the mark and so a sin is this the bullseye remember.
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  And so as we threw the axes at the bullseye we missed the mark and so we missed the market every day and so we sin every day and we ask the only thing we have to do is ask for repentance and so we repent.
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  We ask for forgiveness. We turn a hundred and eighty degrees away from that since we're completely walking away from that sin and we hang our faith on Jesus and we accept him as a sacrifice to our victory.
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  He asked him to bury our sins and he paid for our sin and so that that our heart is clean and pure because of him.
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  You don't go to hell because you are good or bad or you know because you don't have you go because you don't have Jesus.
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  And so we need to ask you know if there's any listeners out there that have never accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
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  I mean ask asking them to come to you know a salvation call asking them to you know accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and and walking in the in the light and not being afraid and not know not having to know and understand everything to do about.
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  This this this walk with faith how could you encourage you to to accept Jesus.
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  Just like something into your life because like not cause like you don't want to go to hell because you want to follow him and they following him I feel like is the best way to go because you always have someone by your side at all times and it just feels really good when you follow him.
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  And and there's practical ways of just saying like you don't know much about God and just having that conversation with him and just saying you know what I don't know much about you but I'm tired of doing life by myself and on my own.
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  I need help I'm struggling. I need a better way to live. I need you to help me. I you know and just walking into a church on Sunday morning asking for help asking for them to guide you and just following a Bible based church is I think you know.
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  Is I think I just a great way to kind of end and encourage people to their their heart is not wanted for eternity because hell is literally living without price and so and never getting him back and that is an opportunity that no one wants to miss because it is.
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  You're never promised tomorrow and so how about you pray it out.
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  Thank you for everything.
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  Amen. And so as we go into this holiday season be safe out there and have a great weekend. We will see you next week as we go into season two episode.
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  Hey, can you believe that we're almost through season two.
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  All right. Have a great week guys. Bye.