Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20250420 - It Matters - 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

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#20250420 - It Matters - 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. If you have your Bibles, open
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them. The first Corinthians chapter
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15. If you need help, I'm sure a
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neighbor can help you. You can look it up on your
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phone. If you have a Bible app, First
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Corinthians chapter 15. I've entitled this Bible study.
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It matters. And what I mean by that is the
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resurrection matters. The power of the resurrected
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Christ matters in your life. It is the hinge, you can say, of
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all of our lives, how we respond to the life, the death and the
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resurrection of Jesus. And let me just say at the
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outset, it is a privilege for me to share with you that Jesus is
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the only way to a right relationship with God.
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Jesus alone can change your life.
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Jesus alone can forgive you of your sin.
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Jesus, the Savior of the world is alive.
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We have testimony in the Bible where they went to the tomb and
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the tomb was empty. I have the privilege as well as
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taking people on tours to Israel and we will go all throughout
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the land of Israel in two almost two weeks full of tours and our
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final stop. The way it all ends is we come
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to the place where strong evidence leans toward.
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This was the tomb where Jesus would lay.
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Now we don't know exactly, but I do know this.
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Any tomb that claims to have Jesus in it, whether wherever we
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are, wherever we visit in Israel, I'll tell you this right
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now. I know this for sure.
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The tomb is empty. Jesus Christ rose again from the
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dead. The evidence in the Scripture is
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very clear that Jesus lived, died, and rose again.
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I want you to notice with me in verse 1 of chapter 15, Paul the
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apostle, a man of God, a man like you and me that responded
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to the gospel. His life was forever changed.
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He's writing to a group of people just like you and me in
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the city of Corinth. That's why he's called.
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That's why the book you're reading is called First
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Corinthians. It's the first letter recorded
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for us to this group known known as believers in the city of
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Corinth. First one.
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Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached
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to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which
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also you are saved, if you hold fast the word that I preached to
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you, unless you believed in vain.
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Paul is writing to a group of people he is familiar with,
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reminding them of the gospel. I want you to mark that word
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gospel. It means good news.
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The word does, he says, I want you guys to remember when I
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preached, came to your town and I preached to you the good news,
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the gospel. And notice it says they received
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it in verse 1. And that's what you do with the
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gospel. You receive it.
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You you take in its truths. And they responded to it.
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None they're receiving wasn't just listening, it was
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responding. And notice now as he's writing
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this letter, he says that they're standing in it.
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They're standing in the gospel. And verse 2, the gospel came to
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your town. I want you to think about this
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for a second. The city of Corinth is known
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throughout history as a very a very big city filled with
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debauchery and sin. A lot of sexual sin, a lot of
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idolatry, a lot of false worship.
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There they woke up 1 morning doing their own thing like they
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did every other day. But that day was different
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because Paul the apostle showed up in town and he showed up with
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a message, a message that he preached.
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He ended up staying there 18 months, a year and a half.
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He preached the message, it was received and responded to and
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men and women were saved. The whole city changed,
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completely changed. Why?
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Because of the gospel. And so you say, pastor, what is
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the gospel then? If it's such a powerful message,
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what is it? If you're asking that question,
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I'm glad you did notice with me verse 3, the definition of the
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gospel. He says I delivered to you first
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of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for
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our sins according to the Scriptures.
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We just read that in Psalm 22. According to the Scriptures,
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according to the predictions and the prophecy, Psalm 22 is just
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one of them. Christ died, according to the
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Scriptures, for our sins. He was buried, and he rose again
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the third day. According to the Scriptures.
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That's the gospel. The gospel is that God in human
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flesh, Jesus Christ, came and dwelt among us, and the reward
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for all of his good deeds and his love and his care and the
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miracles and the healings and his teachings.
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He was rewarded, as we learned on Friday, with a torturous
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beating known as a Roman scourging, and from the Roman
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scourging that he took the full weight of it all.
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They placed him on a Roman cross, a tool of torturous death
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and murder that the Persians invented, but the Romans
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perfected it. Jesus, he died according to the
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Scriptures. Why?
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For our sins. And if you put together verse
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three with verse 2, that Jesus, his death, his burial, and his
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resurrection saved us from our sins.
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And that is the good news today. The good news is that your sins
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can be forgiven, that Jesus lived and he died and he was
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buried and he rose again from the dead.
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But here's the rub. There's a few words in here that
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challenge you. They might even seem offensive
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to you. They might hurt you or harm you
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or turn you away from the rest of our time.
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Please don't turn on give me, give me the time, and then you
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can decide. But when we hear words like
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saved, you're like, I don't need to be safe from anything.
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What are you talking about? I'm doing just fine.
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I don't need to be saved. And then and then we talk about
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sin, you know, like sin. I I don't know what you're
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talking about, preacher, but that's not a problem for me.
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Well, it's actually a big problem for you and for me.
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When we talk about sin, as unpopular as it may be, I want
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you to consider it's the one thing that we all share.
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Of all the backgrounds in this room, all the skin colors, all
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the languages, all the upbringings, male, female,
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child, adult, all of the differences in this room, and
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there are many in the diversity. It's beautiful.
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God made it that way. But in all the differences,
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there is one thing for sure every single one of us share,
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and that is we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of
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God. There isn't an innocent one
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among us, Not one. Now I do want to acknowledge
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that it is possible that in your life you've sinned less than me.
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And I would say great, I'm, I'm great.
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Like you have saved yourself a lot of pain so that you maybe
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have been more moral than me before I got saved.
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Or you may have a less of a life of sin than I did.
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And that's great. There are some differences, but
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what the same, what is the same is that we have all sinned,
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which poses a significant problem.
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If we have all sinned, then what do we do with that?
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How do we respond? Sin is a Bible word describing
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an unrighteous, unholy act toward a righteous God.
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We may use the word mistake. You know, if I say something to
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you and I hurt your feelings or I do I miss, I made a mistake.
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I need to apologize. I've hurt you.
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I've done something bad to you. I've made a mistake.
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But sin is much greater than just a simple mistake, even hurt
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feelings. When we sin, we've separated
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ourselves from God. We weren't made to live in sin.
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We were made to live in relationship with God our
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creator. And so it's important that we
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recognize that not only both do we have sin, but we also need to
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be saved from sin. And I believe this is
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acknowledged throughout the world because there's a lot of
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religions out there Jesus declares to be the way, the
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truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
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except through Him. John 14-6.
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But there's a lot of religions and a lot of isms out there that
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have replaced the truth of Jesus Christ.
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I think of Buddhism and Confucianism and every other ISM
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you can think of. I think of the world religions
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that exist today. We're literally in a minefield
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of false teachings and feel good theologies and even substitute
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saviors. And when you look at religions,
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especially the three big world religions, when you think of the
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religions that have caught and there's more than three big
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ones, but when you think of those that have caught the
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response of the world, they all share some common threads, but
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they too also have one common thread exclusively.
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And that is all of their founders are dead still, even as
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I speak. Only with Christianity is it
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demonstrated that Jesus is not dead.
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The tomb is empty and he fulfilled everything he
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predicted. The resurrection is proof you
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think of the impact that Jesus has made on history.
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Every culture from the beginning of time has been impacted by
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either the anticipation of the coming of Messiah or the fact
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that he did come. And we look back on it.
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We think of Jesus fulfilling every messianic prophecy to date
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in the Old Testament, and we look today at his resurrection
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over and over and over again. Jesus claimed that he would rise
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again before he ever died. You know, he would be talking to
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those that were closest to him, and he would tell them on more
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than one occasion. They're going to kill me.
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I'm going to die. But in the same breath he would
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say I'm going to die, but I will rise again.
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Well, you know how it is. When you receive bad news, you
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get stuck. I hear bad news and I don't
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really hear anything else because I'm still processing the
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bad news that you shared. And I see that in the life of
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the disciples. They heard what he said, but
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they stopped at the bad news. We know that to be true because
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after Jesus died and buried, they all went back to life and
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they thought they lost everything.
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I wasted my life. I'm going to go back fishing.
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I'm going to go back and live my own life.
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Not remembering Jesus said Jesus said that he would rise again.
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It's different today is not only do you have false religions and
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isms, but there's just a lot of criticism toward the Bible
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today. You might be one of them.
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You're a skeptic. You're a critic.
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You just, yeah, I don't believe that stuff.
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That might be good for you. It's not good for me.
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I'm not that bad. I don't need God.
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And on and on the list goes. You may even speak to someone
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that says, oh, you don't believe the Bible, do you?
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To which you say, of course I do.
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There's so much evidence that this book is valid and
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represents the true words of God spoken through the prophets
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thousands of years ago. Yes, I believe in it.
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Well, well, you know, you, you, you don't believe, you don't
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believe that story about Jonah, do you?
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Well, I actually do believe. Well, you know, they've proven
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that to be wrong. I see it on Google and AI now
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they tell me it is not true. It's not possible.
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Well, of course it's not possible in the human realm.
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It was a miracle. Miracles supersede what is
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possible. God is able to do the the
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impossible because with God all things are possible.
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But not only that. Will you go to Snopes and to
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Google? And you're trying to, you're
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trying to use human wisdom to debunk the Bible.
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I've got something even greater that you have to come to terms
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with, and that is I believe in the true story of Jonah because
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Jesus believed in the true story of Jonah and he taught it as
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such. He shared, and I'm paraphrasing
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here, that as Jonah was in three days and three nights in the
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belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of
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the earth basically saying that Jesus would die.
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It's a prophecy, Jonah. And it's amazing that the world
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would want to undermine Jonah because it's a prediction and
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prophecy of the life, death and burial and the resurrection of
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Jesus Christ. And Jesus believed it and taught
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it as such and used it as a prediction of his own
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resurrection. You see, it's important in times
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like this and I'm so grateful you would hear me out.
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It's important in times like this for you to reflect on the
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truth because it blows my mind that so many in this world can
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have all the right facts but come to the wrong conclusion.
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Like you could even say today that you believe in the Bible
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and you believe in but but I don't want to follow him.
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I don't want God in my life. That's the wrong conclusion.
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Jesus did live and die, and he rose again over the years.
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Even though there's so overwhelming evidence of Jesus
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rising from the dead, it still is dismissed.
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I want you to notice in verse 5 now Paul anticipates this.
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In the 1st century, Jesus has risen from the dead.
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We've established that it's the hinge of all humanity.
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It was predicted in the Old Testament, fulfilled by Jesus.
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Now notice what he says in verse 5 and that he was seen after the
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resurrection. Jesus was seen by Cephas.
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Now that is another name for Peter, one of his key followers.
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Peter then by the 12, which is a general reference to his closest
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followers, says he was seen eyewitness, a proof of the
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resurrection. One of many is the eyewitness
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account of Peter and the eyewitness account of the 12 to
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which even some will say, well, you know, they were his friends
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and it was all just a hoax, so you would expect them to be
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witnesses as well. No, no, no, no, no, that that's
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not the case. However, you need to read on.
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Notice after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of
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whom the greater part remained of the present.
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But some have fallen asleep. So as he's writing, he says,
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look, it's not just Peter and it's not just the 12.
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There was a time and it's just this is recorded.
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I'm sure there were more, but there was a time when over 500
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people saw the resurrected Christ at the same time in the
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same place. That's significant.
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That is significant evidence. Eyewitness evidence is always
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the strongest and multiple people giving the same
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testimony, very strong evidence. I want you to consider it for a
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moment. 500 people. So the room here is filled with
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about 1300 people right now. So almost three times that
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amount. But let's just say we go ahead
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right down the. All right, we split the room
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down the middle and we asked for your eyewitness testimony of me
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talking today. And so we're going around the
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room and we're going to hear about the same thing throughout
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the room. There will be a few variables
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because you guys are getting an angle that you guys are getting
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that you're not getting, you're getting a different angle.
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You were looking down at your Bible at that time.
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You were looking up at the lights.
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You were wondering, what am I doing?
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And I'm just kidding, just kidding.
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But we all have different, we all have different perspectives.
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And so, you know, he's wearing a blue suit, He's got a black
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Bible and he's got black shoes. And, and you know, I see
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stripes. I don't see stripes.
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And, and you would hear all kinds of testament, but you'd
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hear the same thing over and over again.
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Might be a little variation only because you see things, you
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won't hear massive contradictions.
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I mean, if you do, then they really didn't see.
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So for example, you know, blue suit, blue suit, blue suit, blue
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suit, blue suit, red suit. I'd be very concerned for you.
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I would give you a doctor's appointment or a card because
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that's way out there. We wouldn't hear that.
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Blue Boo, Boo red, we wouldn't hear that.
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So here we have 500 witnesses of the resurrection. 500 That's a
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lot of people. 500 I did the math.
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I was thinking about it, if we gave 500 people the opportunity
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to give their testimony for 15 minutes, that's it.
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Like on our water baptisms, when we have them, we lying people on
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the wall up on this side and we lying people on the wall up.
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So we have 250 people that way, 250 people that way.
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And they come up to the stairs and they walk up and they stand
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here for 15 minutes. I saw him.
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He talked to me. You wouldn't believe his eyes.
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His robe was flowing. People are and over and OK,
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you're 15 minutes over. Go sit down.
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You come up 15 minutes, you won't believe it.
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I wasn't even expecting it. When I turn around, he was right
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there another 15 minutes, 15 minutes, over and over.
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If we gave 500 people 15 minutes, it would take 15 1/2
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eight hour days with no break. So I go into where?
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8 hours from morning to night for 15 1/2 days.
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Testimony after testimony after testimony after testimony.
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I saw him, I was there. He spoke to me, I was there.
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Convincing evidence they go well, not so much pastor, not so
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much. I mean, it's written in the
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Bible and not not not really convincing to me.
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But you have to put yourself in the shoes first of those that
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receive the letter the Corinthians.
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So as they're reading this, they're like, OK, they're being
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affirmed on the resurrection. Their faith is being affirmed.
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Paul is calling them back to a deeper, especially later on.
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There were people that were saying the resurrection didn't
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have like he's saying no, no, no, this is the truth.
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And then he writes, and you may have never seen this before,
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noticed it before, but the first time I saw it, I highlighted it
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because it was shocking to me. He says not only are there 500
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witnesses, but he says to whom the greater part remain to the
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present. Do you know what he means?
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He says this, there are 500 witnesses and most of them are
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still alive right now. If you doubt it, go ask him.
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They're still alive. We're not making this up.
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I mean, you can accuse a few people of a hoax, but these are
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500 independent people in a place, one place at one time,
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and most of them are still alive as I'm writing this.
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If you're still a skeptic, go ask them.
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Talk to them. Find a few of them.
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Jesus rose from the dead. He doesn't stop there.
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Notice verse 7 after that he was seen by James, which was his
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half brother, Jesus, half brother then by all the
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apostles. And then I love verse 8 because
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verse 8 brings this whole story, true story into the 21st
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century. I love it.
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So he says. Then last of all he was seen by
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me also as one born out of due time, the death and at the time
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of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Paul hated him, wanted nothing to do with Jesus.
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He took it upon himself later on to be a one man show to destroy
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Christians and Christianity. That was his life and his
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testimony. So to see the risen Christ, the
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evidence would point that it wasn't at the time of the 500.
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It was later born out of due time.
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And so you Bible students, you probably know exactly where I'm
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going. But for those of you that don't
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know the Bible, there was a time later on in Paul's life where he
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was on the on a road headed with a group of people to Damascus to
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destroy Christianity. That's his view of Jesus.
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He was coming against these Christians.
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He's on the road to Damascus and a bright light stops him, and he
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hears a voice from heaven that happened to be the voice of
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Jesus Christ. And it was in that moment that
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Paul was born again. And in some spiritual,
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miraculous, mysterious way, he has a vision of Jesus, receives
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the gospel from him, and is born again.
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He has seen the risen Lord not only on the road to Damascus,
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but every single day of his life, which would lead us to
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hear. It would take over a month if I
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gave every believer in the room here 15 minutes to share your
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testimony of the risen Lord in your life.
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Where you met Him, who brought the gospel to you, what life was
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changed, who you used to be, who you are now, What habit you
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left, how you left alcohol, how you are no longer homeless, how
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you found yourself going back to school.
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Why? Only because the risen Lord
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entered into your life and you heard His voice through a man,
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you heard his voice through the Bible, you heard His voice on
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some evangelist on television or the radio.
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You heard his voice and you can only hear voices of those who
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are alive. You have a testimony of the
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risen Lord. And that's what Paul says to us
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here. Jesus Christ is alive and he is
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still speaking even in the room right now, drawing people at the
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spiritual level, drawing some of you right now to himself.
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But you have to get over the sin barrier, don't you?
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Which is not popular now. You, you, you, you're in a
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church. You got preacher up here.
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Been talking about the Bible for a while now.
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You don't need me, although it wouldn't be.
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You probably wouldn't have any problem with it, but you don't
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need me to convince you that sin exists.
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Spoke about it already a little bit, but like, you don't need me
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to put up on the screen. I picked 100 different sins and
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I'm like, OK, everybody just get out a pencil and mark down.
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Find the five popular sins on that screen.
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They're in your life right now. You go to Ken.
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Can I do more? Can I do more?
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Like is it more than 5/10/15? You don't need that.
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Although I could have done that. I could have put it right up
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there. You could have taken a picture
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of it. We could have set up on the
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website, but you don't need that because you already understand
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sin. Even those of you today who
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would come strongly against me, go, I don't believe in sin.
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I don't think I'm a Sinner. I don't have sin.
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I want to challenge that for a second.
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You know sin very well. You know sin very well.
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Let me give you a few of the top ten.
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And we know those are the 10 commandments, right?
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Let's just talk about a few of them.
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Don't lie, don't steal, don't covet, don't commit adultery.
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There's just a few, and we know that you believe in sin.
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When one of those things is done to you, when somebody steals
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from you or lies to you, your response is that's wrong.
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You shouldn't do that. You're responding to someone's
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action towards you that you know intrinsically, you know inside.
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Why? Because you've been created in
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the image of God. Sin is so prevalent in our world
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today, such anger, such violence, such vitriol, that
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when we're what? When somebody demonstrates the
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love of God, it actually makes the news.
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I'll give you an example of some horrific crime takes place and
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they're finishing with the sentencing or at the courtroom.
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And they have the family that has been hurt has a press
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conference and they invite all of the news media there.
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And they have the podium with the microphones and they're
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asked to speak and they share the thoughts about their loved
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one or the situation. And they are hurting and crying.
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And it's a very, very difficult scene.
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And then they end the press conference with this, but I
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forgive them in the name of Jesus.
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I forgive them because of all that God has done in my life.
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I forgive them for what they've done to my family.
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And it hits you because you step into their story while you're
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watching the news and you're like, I don't know if I could do
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that or some of you even greater is like, I would never do that.
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I want vengeance and I want revenge.
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I could never. And why would those responses
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exist? Because of sin.
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This sense of revenge and vengeance is deeply embedded
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inside of us. And it is only through the
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forgiveness. See when, how can a family do
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that? I'll tell you, it's only when
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you acknowledge and experience the forgiveness of God in your
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own life do you begin to understand how important it is
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to forgive others. It's not just a Bible teaching
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and a theological truth. It is a relational aspect and
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outflow of your relationship with Jesus because you start to
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think, well, we'll look what Jesus has done in my life.
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And you stand at a podium or in an office or in a counselor's
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room, and you say, I forgive. And how do you forgive?
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But by the grace of God, oh, sin is real.
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Sin is real in your life. You know it and I know it.
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And I'm advocating, I'm asking you, don't run away from it.
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Don't run to the bottle. Try to drown out the reality of
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sin. Don't try to ignore it and
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pretend it's not there or put up some strong stand.
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I don't believe in it. I know you do.
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I know you do. You would never allow people to
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take advantage of you. You have to make a moral
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decision. That's a moral decision.
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The law didn't create that because laws always change.
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Men didn't create that because men always change.
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God is the author of morality, and you know something is right
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or wrong because of God. He put eternity in our hearts.
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Don't run away from relationship to relationship.
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Don't find yourself in a place running a pornography to try to
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drown out all of the weight of the reality of sin.
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Instead, confess your sins to God.
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Why? Because on the cross, Jesus died
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for all the bad things you've ever done, all of the wrong
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places you've ever gone, all of the wrong thoughts you've ever
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had, all of the wrong words you've ever said.
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On the cross, Jesus became sin for us in order that we might
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become the righteousness of God in Him.
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And the only way to deal with your conscience is to and to
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have your sense cleanses, to come clean with Jesus.
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No question remains on this Easter Sunday is what's
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preventing you from receiving Jesus today.
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What is it exactly holding you back or why have you been gone
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so long? What is so captivating in this
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world, so alluring, that's worth your separation from Jesus?
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I mean, I know in a room this size, this many people, there
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are many of you that haven't. You really haven't had a walk
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with Jesus in a long, long time. I'm so glad you're here.
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I hope it's the beginning of coming back, but it's time.
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You've got to choose. I can't do it for you.
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Some of you been invited by friends and family because they
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love you, because they care about you, because they want to
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see your life changed on the hinge of the gospel.
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And what is the gospel? Christ died for our sins
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according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again,
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and he's alive today, inviting you into relationship.
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If you don't have this certainty that Christ is living in you and
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you don't know with confidence that you will go to heaven when
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you die, that can all change right here, right now.
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It may even be time for some to reaffirm their faith just to
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know. God, you have me.
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I've been feeling this, feelings of vengeance and revenge or
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things propping back up into my life, but that's not how I want
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to live. As my pastor would often teach
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us, only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for
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Christ will last. So enough of having all the
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right facts but coming to the wrong conclusion.
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Because we have all sinned, the gospel is for all people, and
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because we have all sinned, forgiveness is needed for all,
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and God is ready to receive you as you come to Him.
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So Father, I thank you for the truth of the gospel that has
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changed so many of our lives. It's simple.
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It might even be offensive to some, but God, you love them and
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care for them and we pray for them.
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Right now I pray for you. We've been praying for you all
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week. And as the church is praying
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now, maybe there's someone here that would say I need Jesus.
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I have a big hole in my heart. I've tried to fill it with
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things the culture says will fill me, but it hasn't worked.
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I desire this forgiveness that you speak of.
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I want my guilt taken away. Or the prodigal.
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And of course, only Christians understand that.
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That prodigal, you've wandered away, been away for a long time.
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And I don't mean church, I mean God.
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You've been away. You've been involved in things
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you shouldn't have been involved in.
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You're experiencing right now that the wages of sin is death.
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Your marriage is dying, relationships are dying,
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friendships are dying. God is calling you home.
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He's calling you home. It's almost like you, you
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started to come back and like the Father and the story Jesus
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get, He's running toward you right now.
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And if for the first time you need to receive Jesus or you
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want to recommit your life to the Lord, I want to ask you
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right where you are. Would you just stand to your
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feet? I want to pray for you all over
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the room downstairs in the overflow.
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I know it's full. I'm calling you as well.
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If you're here today and you say, Ed, I need to get my life
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right with God. I want to follow him.
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I want to return. Just stand to your feet.
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God bless you guys in the back over here on the side in the
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back here. This is the work of the Holy
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Spirit in your life and I know there are more, so we'll wait
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for you. You're responding to the
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conscience. God bless you guys and you God
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has been moving on the inside. He's used of the words in the
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Bible, but he's been moving on the inside of your life.
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Bless you guys and this standing.
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It's not like it saves you. It's that's not why it's like a
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time stamp. It's a time stamp in your life
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like a core memory. And as people are moving around
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the building right now, don't that they're coming alongside of
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you as much as we can so that you know that we want to follow
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up with you. We want to stay connected to
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you. In a church this size, we don't
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want you falling through the cracks.
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So we have a system in place. So somebody comes up, they
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they're doing it on purpose. Who else would say that's me?
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Today is the day, God bless you so good, so good.
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This is the day and the moment and the time.
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This is the day that the Lord is made.
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Let us be glad and rejoice in it for the work of God in your
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life. And so there's two ways we can
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handle this today. I think of you in the jail cell
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right now, physically think of you in the hospital room, maybe
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driving around the city right now.
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God is calling you to Himself to respond to the invitation to
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receive a fresh forgiveness and anointing of your Holy Spirit.
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Thank you, Charlotte, and those of you that are praying to
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receive the Lord. You can use my words, you can
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use your own. Just be honest with God.
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He knows, and you could say something like this.
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Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a Sinner, but I know that You're
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the Savior who died on the cross for my sins and I know You're
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the Savior that rose again from the dead.
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I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this
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moment forward. Thank you for hearing my prayer
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and answering it. I commit my life to following
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you from this day forward. In Jesus name I pray and
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everyone says Amen and Amen and Amen and Amen.
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So good. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.