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Pray for Texas - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hello everyone. In response to Hurricane Harvey, we have changed
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  Speaker 1: our weekend service plans, and for the sake of safety,
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  Speaker 1: we have canceled all our weekend services on all of
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  Speaker 1: the Oak Hills church campuses. We want to heed the
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  Speaker 1: urgings of city officials who are telling us all to
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  Speaker 1: stay home and stay safe. As much as we love
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  Speaker 1: to gather together for worship, we do not think it
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  Speaker 1: is wise to jeopardize the safety of our children, our volunteers,
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  Speaker 1: or our members. So our best response during this season
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of storm is to be prayerful and available. Let's be prayerful.
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  Speaker 1: Let's be prayerful, especially for the residents of the cities
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  Speaker 1: who have felt the full force of Hurricane Harvey. We
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  Speaker 1: want to pray for Victoria, for Rockport, for Port Ranzas,
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  Speaker 1: for Quero and other cities. Pray for our first responders
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  Speaker 1: and our city leaders. Pray for protection as the day's unfold.
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  Speaker 1: Let's be prayerful and let's be available. Let's be available
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  Speaker 1: to check on our neighbors or all for help when possible,
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  Speaker 1: to share encouragement, share supplies, you might even make people
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  Speaker 1: aware of this message. In just a minute, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to share about a ten minute message of encouragement on
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  Speaker 1: the theme of how Christ meets us in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of a storm. Perhaps you can let friends you know
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  Speaker 1: be aware of this message so they can see it
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  Speaker 1: as well. Even more, invite people that you know to
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  Speaker 1: gather with you around the screen. Gather with your family
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  Speaker 1: and friends and neighbors, cup of coffee and a word
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  Speaker 1: from God on this stormy, stormy weekend. Before I begin
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  Speaker 1: this message, can I offer a pragmatic announcement to our
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  Speaker 1: Oak Hills Church members. You know, even though our schedule
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  Speaker 1: has changed, our budgetary needs continue. I would encourage you
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  Speaker 1: to consider making your weekend offering online. In fact, this
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  Speaker 1: is particularly important this weekend because this weekend just happens
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  Speaker 1: to be the last weekend of our fiscal year, and
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  Speaker 1: we will determine the budget of our next fiscal year
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  Speaker 1: based on the giving of this fiscal year, so it's
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  Speaker 1: important for us to finish strong. I would encourage you
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  Speaker 1: to give your weekly gift online if at all possible,
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  Speaker 1: if not, make it available just as soon as possible.
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  Speaker 1: And that's deeply, deeply appreciated. You know, I can't imagine
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  Speaker 1: a more appropriate story for this weekend than this story
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  Speaker 1: from Matthew chapter fourteen. Matthew, chapter fourteen. And if you
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  Speaker 1: have your bibles, go head and open them, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: read the story together. Matthew, Chapter fourteen, beginning in verse
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  Speaker 1: twenty two of Jesus walking on the sea. Immediately Jesus
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  Speaker 1: made his disciples get into the boat and go before
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  Speaker 1: him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
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  Speaker 1: When he had sent the multitudes away, he went up
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  Speaker 1: on the mountain by himself to pray. Now, when evening came,
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  Speaker 1: he was alone there. But the boat was now in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves for
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  Speaker 1: the wind that was contrary. Now in the fourth watch
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  Speaker 1: of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea.
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  Speaker 1: And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea,
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  Speaker 1: they were troubled, saying it is a ghost, and they
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  Speaker 1: cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,
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  Speaker 1: be of good cheer it is I. Do not be afraid.
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  Speaker 1: And Peter answered him. He said, Lord, if it is you,
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  Speaker 1: command me to come to you on the water. So
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  Speaker 1: he said come. When Peter had come down out of
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  Speaker 1: the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: But when he saw that the wind was boisterous. He
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  Speaker 1: was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out, saying, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and
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  Speaker 1: caught him and said to him, oh, you of little faith,
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  Speaker 1: why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat,
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  Speaker 1: the wind ceased, and then those who were in the
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  Speaker 1: boat came and worshiped him, saying, truly you are the
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  Speaker 1: son of God. So this account begins at nightfall. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is on the mountain in prayer, and the disciples or
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  Speaker 1: in the boat in fear. And the scripture says they
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  Speaker 1: are far away from the land and they are fighting
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  Speaker 1: heavy waves. That's one translation. Maybe that describes your life.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you don't have to go outside to find a hurricane.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you don't have to step out onto the patio
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  Speaker 1: to feel the force of winds. Maybe you, like the Disciples,
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  Speaker 1: find yourself in the midst of a storm. Maybe you
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  Speaker 1: know what it's like to be far away from the
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  Speaker 1: land and fighting heavy waves, or far away from answers
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  Speaker 1: and fighting hard questions, or far away from friends and
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  Speaker 1: fighting deep loneliness, or far away from God and fighting
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  Speaker 1: the doubts and struggles of faith. Hurricanes blast around us
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  Speaker 1: all the time, not just during hurricane season. In this
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  Speaker 1: particular storm, the storm really began for the disciples around
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  Speaker 1: six PM. That's when they were told by Jesus to
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  Speaker 1: get into the boat. And then the storm came down
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  Speaker 1: upon the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had gone upon a mountain,
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  Speaker 1: so they themselves out in the middle of the storm,
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the sea, in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the storm tossed waves without Jesus. The scriptures careful to
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  Speaker 1: give us a timeline. Jesus came to them at the
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  Speaker 1: third watch of the night, that would be three am,
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  Speaker 1: So we can safely say that the disciples were out
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  Speaker 1: on the sea for eight or nine hours without Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: and for most of those hours they found themselves far
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  Speaker 1: away from land, fighting heavy waves. That's a long time,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it? Long enough to grow weary, long enough to
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  Speaker 1: grow discouraged, and long enough for more than one disciple
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  Speaker 1: to ask the question, now, where's Jesus. We're only out
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  Speaker 1: here on the sea because he told us to get
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  Speaker 1: into the boat. Where is he? And from within the
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  Speaker 1: storm came that unmistakable voice and that extraordinary answer, I
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  Speaker 1: am I wonder if they could see him through the
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  Speaker 1: rain drops. I wonder if they could see him between
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  Speaker 1: the roller coaster waves. They would have seen Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: his wet robe, his soaked air, the waves slapping against
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  Speaker 1: his waist, the rain stinging his face. And Jesus said,
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  Speaker 1: courage I am, don't be afraid. Now that's the literal
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  Speaker 1: translation of the Greek words that appear in the Gospel
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  Speaker 1: of Matthew. You don't read those translations in the King
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  Speaker 1: James version or the New International version. You read translations
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  Speaker 1: like take courage it is I, or take courage I
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  Speaker 1: am here, or take courage it is me. No Bible
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  Speaker 1: translates or the phrase that I read doesn't appear in
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  Speaker 1: any translations, but I think perhaps it should. Hear it again.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, courage I am, don't be afraid. Courage I am,
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  Speaker 1: don't be afraid. Translators kind of tinker with that because
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  Speaker 1: that phrase I am sounds incomplete or truncated, like Jesus
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  Speaker 1: needs to say I am here or I am with you,
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  Speaker 1: but he really doesn't say that. He just says I
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  Speaker 1: am I am. But we've heard God say that before,
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  Speaker 1: right through the burning bush, speaking to that knee knocking Moses.
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  Speaker 1: God said to Moses, I am who I am, one
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  Speaker 1: time double dog, daring his enemies to prove him wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, before Abraham was born, I am I am.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, when you look at the teachings of Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: you see him saying this often. I am the Bread
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  Speaker 1: of life. I am the lot of the world. I
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  Speaker 1: am the Gate, I am the good Shepherd. I am
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  Speaker 1: God's Son. I am the Resurrection in the life. I
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  Speaker 1: am the Way, the truth in the life. I am
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  Speaker 1: the true vine. You see, Jesus is the present tense Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't need to say I was or I will be.
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  Speaker 1: God is a present tense God. He doesn't change. We
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  Speaker 1: tend to be past tense people or future tense people
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  Speaker 1: I used to be, or when I was younger, or
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  Speaker 1: back in the good old days, and we look in
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  Speaker 1: the back. We look in the past tense. We look
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  Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror. Heaven has no rear view mirror.
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  Speaker 1: Because God is active in the present. He doesn't change.
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  Speaker 1: He's not different than he was in the past, and
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't need to improve to be able to face
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  Speaker 1: the future. We think we do. When I have more money,
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  Speaker 1: when I get stronger, when I grow up. Those are
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  Speaker 1: phrases we use. God doesn't use those, because he is
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  Speaker 1: the I Am God. He can stand tall in the storm,
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  Speaker 1: tall in the Galilean waves. He can walk confidently into
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  Speaker 1: the storms of our lives, the ICU, the boardroom, the
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  Speaker 1: prison cell, the maternity ward, whatever hurricane you may be
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  Speaker 1: Facingjesus walks right into the middle of it, and he says,
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  Speaker 1: I Am. One of my favorite commentaries on the Gospel
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  Speaker 1: of Matthew is written by a professor by the name
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  Speaker 1: of F. D. Brunner. He does an interesting thing with
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  Speaker 1: this passage. He points out that this passage is really
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  Speaker 1: made up of two acts, and these acts are each
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  Speaker 1: six verses long. The first act, verses twenty two through
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven, centers on the power walk of Jesus. The
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  Speaker 1: second act, verses twenty eight through thirty three, center on
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  Speaker 1: the faith walk of Peter. He goes on to point
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  Speaker 1: out that in the first act, Jesus comes astride the
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  Speaker 1: waves and he declares, courage, I Am, don't be afraid.
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  Speaker 1: And then in the second act, a desperate disciple takes
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  Speaker 1: a step of faith and for a moment does the impossible.
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  Speaker 1: But then he takes his eyes away from Christ that
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  Speaker 1: he does what many of us do. He begins to
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  Speaker 1: sink two acts, each with six verses, and then he
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  Speaker 1: points out that each set of six verses contains ninety
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  Speaker 1: Greek words, and then write in between the two acts,
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  Speaker 1: the two sets of verses, and the one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: eighty words. Is this declaration, I am. I can't help
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  Speaker 1: but think that Matthew, the tax collector, who was good
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  Speaker 1: with numbers, did this on purpose. That he put the
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  Speaker 1: im right in the middle of the story, as if
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  Speaker 1: to say, if you want to face your storms, put
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  Speaker 1: the im right in the middle of your life. I am.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says, would you take a minute and let Jesus
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  Speaker 1: say this, as you're surrounded by a very physical storm,
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  Speaker 1: would you let Jesus say this? Dealing with perhaps an
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  Speaker 1: emotional storm, a physical storm, a financial storm, a relationship storm,
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  Speaker 1: would you let Jesus say this. If the story teaches
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  Speaker 1: us anything, it teaches us that Jesus will walk right
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  Speaker 1: into the middle of the hurricanes of our life, and
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  Speaker 1: he will meet us, and he will declare, in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of the storm, I am he is. You see,
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  Speaker 1: God gets into things. He gets into storms, he gets
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  Speaker 1: into lions dens, he gets into furnaces, he gets into
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  Speaker 1: bankrupt businesses, he gets into jail cells, he gets into
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  Speaker 1: our world. You listen carefully, my friend, and you will
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  Speaker 1: hear Jesus say again what he said. Then, I am trusting, believing.
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  Speaker 1: Turn to him and know that he will meet you
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the storm. And at the right time,
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  Speaker 1: he will speak the word, and the storm will be
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  Speaker 1: still and so Heavenly Father, we offer a prayer now
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  Speaker 1: for all who are feeling the force of Hurricane Harvey,
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  Speaker 1: wherever they may be. We pray for peace. We pray
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  Speaker 1: for those first responders, those making decisions, those who find
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  Speaker 1: themselves in harm's way trying to help others. Please Father
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  Speaker 1: comfort them. And Father, as we look around at the
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  Speaker 1: storm outside, may we find courage to face the storms within,
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  Speaker 1: and be reminded that you, and you alone, will meet
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  Speaker 1: us in the middle of the storm. Because you are
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  Speaker 1: the Great. I am through Christ.
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  Speaker 2: We pray, Amen, that's who is endless, so whid so far,
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  Speaker 2: but someone.
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  Speaker 3: I'm still lost. The streets are.
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  Speaker 4: Full of moving shadows, countless place as I could go,
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  Speaker 4: city shining people passing.
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  Speaker 3: Yet I still feel so long.
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  Speaker 5: Every or old keeps leading nowhere. Every sky feels cold
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  Speaker 5: and blue. In this world so fast and open, I'm
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  Speaker 5: still lost.
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  Speaker 3: In missing you.
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  Speaker 6: The world is wild, so wid before me, but I
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  Speaker 6: keebles in my.
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  Speaker 7: Way somewhere indeed, lest distance.
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  Speaker 3: Your memory makes mistake.
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  Speaker 7: Who won moves without us, But my heart remains unshoe
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  Speaker 7: final matter where these feet may.
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  Speaker 3: Wonder, I'm still lost in seeing you.
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  Speaker 4: I have tried to outgrown silent, try to leave your
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  Speaker 4: ghost behind, but your name still echo softly through the
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  Speaker 4: corners of my mind.
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  Speaker 3: The world is wide, so maybe before me, but.
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  Speaker 7: I keep losing my way somewhere lestes us, your memory
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  Speaker 7: makes me.
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  Speaker 8: Stay, the world loser without us, but my heart.
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  Speaker 3: Remain is unshrewd form no medal.
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  Speaker 7: Where these people may wonder.
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  Speaker 3: I'm still lost in the same.
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  Speaker 9: Maybe some day I stop searching for your face in
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  Speaker 9: every crowd, But until that day, this broken heart will keep.
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  Speaker 7: Calling your name out.
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  Speaker 10: The world is wise, so I before me, but I
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  Speaker 10: keep losing.
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  Speaker 3: My way.
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  Speaker 7: Somewhere in the blest us. Your memory thanks me. The
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  Speaker 7: world moves on without us, but my heart remains some
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  Speaker 7: true go.
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  Speaker 3: No matter when these feet may you wonder I am
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  Speaker 3: still lost in missing you