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Transcript

Remembering God’s Story About Money · Faith at Work

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today, we are beginning a new series.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a four-week series called Our Money Story.
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  SPEAKER_00: And you are going to find that we are going to be fairly direct about
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  the topic of money,
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  and the stories that we bring to it and from it throughout this
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  series.
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  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to skirt around the topic,
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  and we're not going to skirt around it because it is a topic
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  that Jesus spoke of
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  SPEAKER_00: and used as a metaphor many,
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  SPEAKER_00: many times in His ministry.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus spoke a lot about money.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: Because the way that we handle money is never just about math.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is about discipleship.
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  It's about the stories we carry and the stories that God longs
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  for us to live into
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  SPEAKER_00: and write in us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our money story is a spiritual story.
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  Over the next four weeks,
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  we will remember,
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  release,
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  reimagine,
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  and restore.
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  We will ask God to reshape our narratives so that we can live
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  into the story that
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  SPEAKER_00: God is begging us to live into.
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  SPEAKER_00: And today, we start with remember.
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  Sarah Eyre,
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  who is one of the authors of the series that we are using this
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  time,
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  tells a story.
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  SPEAKER_00: Every single day,
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  SPEAKER_00: her great-grandfather would come into the kitchen and come up around her
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  SPEAKER_00: great-grandmother...
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  his wife and he would hug her and he would kiss her on the
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  cheek and he would ask
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  have i told you that i love you today and every day that she'd
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  answer she would say
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  SPEAKER_00: you haven't told me too many times
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  some truths have to be told again and again and again so that
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  love has time to sink
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  into us we are a forgetful people we remember the melody and
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  forget the words we
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  SPEAKER_00: remember the face and forget the name that's why jesus gave us a meal
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  SPEAKER_00: and said, do this in remembrance of me.
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  Some things we just can't not say,
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  and we can't not say them too many times.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our worship this morning echoes the same plea, tell us again.
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  Because our anxiety and our scarcity and our fears,
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  they get loud in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us again of the manna in the wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us again of the disciples around the table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us again of love that changed the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: So church, let's remember.
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  SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 22,
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  verses 1 through 23 retells a hard story that fear and power
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  and money can conspire
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  SPEAKER_00: together to do terrible,
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  SPEAKER_00: evil things in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the story,
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  SPEAKER_00: we see religious leaders scared of the crowds that are around them,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they enlist Judas,
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  SPEAKER_00: and money changes hands,
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  SPEAKER_00: and betrayal is set in motion.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is an ugly money story.
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  SPEAKER_00: Monetizing fear is
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  SPEAKER_00: and weaponizing silver.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yet,
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  SPEAKER_00: in the same chapter,
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus gathers His friends,
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  SPEAKER_00: including Judas,
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  SPEAKER_00: and shares the bread and the cup with them.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the beginning of the scene, money fuels corruption in the world.
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  But by the end,
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  love sets a table where there is enough for everyone,
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  including Judas.
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  SPEAKER_00: That contrast is the gospel's critique, and it is the gospel's promise.
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  SPEAKER_00: With Jesus, all are invited to the table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Even the Judases.
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  SPEAKER_00: He handed a piece of bread.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is always enough grace to go around.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need to remember that.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then we need to build tables like that in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: truth be told,
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  those of us in the church many times carry memories of
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  offerings or designated
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  SPEAKER_00: giving used to control,
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  SPEAKER_00: budgets that have been used to shame,
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  SPEAKER_00: and appeals that are drenched in anxiety and shadow.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need to bring those stories to light throughout this series.
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  SPEAKER_00: And let's remember Jesus' new economy at the table while we do it,
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  SPEAKER_00: where resources are divided and given freely to all.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, from Exodus 16, verses 1 through 18, we hear of a similar story.
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  We learn that Israel stumbles into the desert with Pharaoh's
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  slavery and scarcity
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  SPEAKER_00: still rattling in their lives.
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  And God answers their fear and complaining,
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  again,
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  with bread from heaven.
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  SPEAKER_00: Enough for each day, not more and not less.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the command to the people of Israel is take what you need,
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  SPEAKER_00: trust God for tomorrow,
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  SPEAKER_00: and keep the Sabbath so no one has to hoard.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the wilderness,
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  God moves a people from an economy of depravity and scarcity to
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  an economy of
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  SPEAKER_00: enough.
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  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Weber Johnson notes that this text shifts a community's money,
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  SPEAKER_00: narrative,
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  and story from what Walter Brueggemann calls the endless rat
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  race for sufficiency
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  SPEAKER_00: to a life anchored in God's enough.
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  The wilderness becomes a classroom in contentment,
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  trust,
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  and shared provision."
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you have ever stared at the ceiling at 3 a.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: doing anxious math, you know this kind of wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: God's word for you is still the same.
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  SPEAKER_00: Enough.
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  SPEAKER_00: There will be enough for today.
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  SPEAKER_00: There will be enough when we stop hoarding.
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  SPEAKER_00: There will be enough when we keep the Sabbath.
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  SPEAKER_00: There will be enough when we share.
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  This series insists that we tell the truth about the stories
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  that have formed us about money.
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  SPEAKER_00: Family scripts,
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  SPEAKER_00: cultural assumptions,
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  SPEAKER_00: church habits,
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  SPEAKER_00: because those narratives,
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  SPEAKER_00: they quietly steer our giving,
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  SPEAKER_00: our saving,
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  SPEAKER_00: our spending,
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  SPEAKER_00: and our fears.
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  remembering lets us see those scripts and then hold them up to
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  God's story.
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  SPEAKER_00: God's story of liberation and invitation and transformation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we do that,
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  behaviors change because the story that we relive and live
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  inside changes as well
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  so here's a little homework for you this week yes there will be
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  homework least for
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  SPEAKER_00: the next four weeks name your first memory of money what did you learn
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  SPEAKER_00: How does it still show up in your life?
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  SPEAKER_00: And then name your first memory of money in the church.
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  SPEAKER_00: What messages did you absorb in that experience?
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  SPEAKER_00: There are study journals in the narthex on the table here to my right.
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  I printed out 40 because I just didn't know how many people
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  would be interested.
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  If you take them all,
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  there will be enough because I'll just print some more.
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  SPEAKER_00: Got a great printer in the office.
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  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't take us very long.
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  SPEAKER_00: So if they run out, don't worry, there will be enough, I promise.
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  SPEAKER_00: And you can do all of the little exercises.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the first exercises in that study journal.
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  And then you can talk about them with your family and your
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  friends and maybe in your life group.
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  SPEAKER_00: Next, in your homework, I want you to notice manna moments in your life.
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  SPEAKER_00: Where did provision show up just when you needed it in your life?
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  SPEAKER_00: And where did the community become your safety net in life?
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  SPEAKER_00: And you're going to jot those down.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't have one?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're going to fix that this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have a manna moment for all of you this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to experience a manna moment, a reverse offering.
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  SPEAKER_00: In these plates...
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  SPEAKER_00: are $10 bills, real $10 bills, not fake money, like it's real $10 bills.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the ushers are going to pass them out and you are to take one.
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  So everybody that's here today gets a $10 bill,
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  everybody with a hand,
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  okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't take more than one.
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  Because if you do,
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  just like the man in the desert,
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  it's going to shrivel up tomorrow.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not going to be worth anything.
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  SPEAKER_00: But just take one, all right?
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is not just a symbol, but an actual grace gift, all right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Take it as a gift from God and from the church.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is a surprise manna moment in your life.
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  SPEAKER_00: And you can do whatever you want with it.
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  SPEAKER_00: I did this in a church years ago, and people did all kinds of things.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some people...
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  SPEAKER_00: They thought,
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  SPEAKER_00: oh,
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  SPEAKER_00: well,
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  SPEAKER_00: there's somebody I've always wanted to take out for coffee or for lunch,
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  SPEAKER_00: and this is just enough to do that,
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  SPEAKER_00: and it won't affect my budget.
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  SPEAKER_00: So they loved on somebody with a cup of coffee.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some of them were very aggressive with it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they thought,
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  SPEAKER_00: oh,
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  SPEAKER_00: my goodness,
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  SPEAKER_00: I can invest this in a kingdom activity.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so they created some sort of kingdom activity.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was an 8-year-old kid.
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  SPEAKER_00: We gave $5 at that time.
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  SPEAKER_00: The economy was different.
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  SPEAKER_00: But...
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  He took that eight-year-old kid,
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  took that $5,
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  and I can't remember exactly.
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  SPEAKER_00: I ragged my brain all week long.
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  SPEAKER_00: What did he do?
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  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember.
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  But what I do remember is he came back with $500 and donated it
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  to a ministry in the church.
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  SPEAKER_00: So maybe you want to use it for some sort of ministry endeavor.
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  Maybe this is the $10 that you needed to pay your rent or your
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  electric bill.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really matter,
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  SPEAKER_00: but what matters is that you receive it as a man a moment,
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  SPEAKER_00: and you prayerfully reflect on this gift of God that you now have,
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  SPEAKER_00: and how you want to be a good steward of that gift.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, go ahead and pass those out.
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  SPEAKER_00: Everybody can take one.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: I knew that there was going to be a question,
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  SPEAKER_00: at least in someone's mind,
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  SPEAKER_00: if not just mine,
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  SPEAKER_00: what about the people?
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  SPEAKER_00: What about them?
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not fair that we get to $10 and they don't get $10.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, give them yours.
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  SPEAKER_00: Make a man a moment for them, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: You can do whatever you want with this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do whatever the Spirit of God leads you to do.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because those things happen in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some have some, some don't have some.
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  But when we share and we create matter moments in our lives
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  with others,
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  there is what?
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  SPEAKER_00: Enough.
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  SPEAKER_00: I invite you to hold those stories together.
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  SPEAKER_00: what has been and what now is and what is promised,
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  SPEAKER_00: and ask ourselves throughout this week,
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  how is my money story changing as I reflect on the past and
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  remember what God is
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  SPEAKER_00: saying?
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  SPEAKER_00: What am I learning about God's money story?
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  So as I conclude,
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  I want you to just walk away with these two images in your
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  mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: One, a kitchen sink.
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  SPEAKER_00: Someone you love asks, have I told you today that I love you?
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  SPEAKER_00: And you answer, you just haven't told me too many times.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and tell me again.
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  Let that refrain,
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  those words shape your days and shape your stewardship this
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  week.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then remember a table in an upper room.
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  SPEAKER_00: And one of the chairs belongs to a betrayer,
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  SPEAKER_00: but Jesus still breaks bread and passes the cup to them.
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  SPEAKER_00: A reminder that no one earns a seat.
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  SPEAKER_00: Grace is not ever rationed.
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  SPEAKER_00: The feast is given, not earned or bought.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let that image heal your money,
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  SPEAKER_00: shame,
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  and soften any hard places in your life where you withhold the
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  bread and cup from
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  SPEAKER_00: others.
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  SPEAKER_00: At home, try these things.
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  SPEAKER_00: A remembering prayer at your table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Each day, before a meal, pray simply, "'Tell us again, Lord.'"
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  SPEAKER_00: And then add a line that you might need to hear.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us of the manna.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us of the table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us of your love.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell us that there is enough.
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  SPEAKER_00: Do one Sabbath kind of thing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Choose one small practice of Sabbath that resists hoarding.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe don't buy anything for 24 hours.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or pause comparison shopping and scrolling.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's an activity if you didn't know.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we got one over here.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or share something you have in surplus.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm very fortunate, so excited I don't have to wear a suit here.
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul told me that.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I got a lot of suits.
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  The last church I was at,
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  they said,
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  oh,
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  and by the way,
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  you have to wear a suit.
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  SPEAKER_00: I said, every Sunday?
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  SPEAKER_00: No, every day.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I had to go out and buy six suits.
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  SPEAKER_00: I had no clue what I was doing.
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  SPEAKER_00: I went to S&K.
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  I said,
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  I need six suits,
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  and I need you to tell me how to put them all together.
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  SPEAKER_00: Literally.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give those away, because I don't need them anymore.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Just checking before I gave away all my suits.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't want this to go backwards.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  SPEAKER_00: So don't hoard.
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  SPEAKER_00: Give away the things that you don't need.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't used it in a year, you probably don't need it.
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  Remember,
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  Sabbath both rests us and protects others from our grasping
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  tendencies.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then tell someone your money story over coffee or a walk.
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  SPEAKER_00: Share one formative memory about money, and then share one manna moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell them about what happened today in church.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can do that, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: And we'll see how many people come next week,
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  SPEAKER_00: but we're not giving away $10 next week,
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  SPEAKER_00: just so everybody knows,
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  SPEAKER_00: all right?
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  SPEAKER_00: But you can give them yours, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Where is God?
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  SPEAKER_00: Talk about where is God meeting you?
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  SPEAKER_00: Where do you want the story to change?
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  Let's discuss those things because that honesty is how God
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  rewrites our story about money.
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  SPEAKER_00: So to the worried,
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  SPEAKER_00: if your inner calculator never powers down,
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  SPEAKER_00: remember your worth is not your net worth.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Christ, enough is abundance.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let the manna teach you that your heart can breathe again.
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  SPEAKER_00: To the cynical,
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  SPEAKER_00: if church money talks feel manipulative or small,
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  SPEAKER_00: lift your eyes up to Jesus' new economy.
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  SPEAKER_00: The point is not pressure for the next four weeks.
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  The point is simply reflection and participation in the table
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  that we want to grow bigger.
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  SPEAKER_00: And to those of you that are comfortable,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you rarely feel the pinch of faith,
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  SPEAKER_00: remember that Sabbath and sharing are God's antidotes to hoarding.
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  SPEAKER_00: Enough for me is never an excuse to ignore our neighbor.
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  SPEAKER_00: In God's story, provision is shared provision.
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  SPEAKER_00: So,
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  SPEAKER_00: before this series moves us to release and to reimagine and to restore,
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  SPEAKER_00: let's stay with remember in this final word.
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  SPEAKER_00: In worship...
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  SPEAKER_00: We tell a story because we are forgetful people.
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  SPEAKER_00: So today we remember who we are and whose we are.
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  SPEAKER_00: We remember the table that seats sinners and saints.
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  SPEAKER_00: We remember the wilderness where bread appears in the morning dew.
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  And we ask God to keep telling us this story until love sinks
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  in and generosity follows.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.