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Somebody Else's Story · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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Praise the Lord that you were here today.
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Praise the Lord that you chose to worship pastoring a church
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for 30 years in the metropolitan area.
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Every other Sunday in our congregation we had a different
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congregation. And being here at Cartersville
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now, the time that we have been for Cindy and I, it is amazing
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to me that you guys show up Sunday in and Sunday out.
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It is absolutely amazing. We have, we are not accustomed
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to that. We would see people coming in
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and out on a regular occasion. And it is.
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I just want to compliment you as a body of Christ that you are
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faithful to come to Bible study and you're faithful to come to
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worship. So it is indeed a privilege to
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be here this morning. It's an honor to represent the
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Lord Jesus Christ and stand in this place where Pastor Kyle
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faithfully, faithfully teaches and proclaims the Word of God.
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I love young preachers. It's crazy for me to even say
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that because I still think that I'm young.
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Ha ha, crazy. Many of you know that when you
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get older, it just seems like yesterday that you were young,
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and that's the way it seems like to me.
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In my mind, I'm young, but my body is sure not responding in
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like manner. So it's a privilege to be here
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to represent the Lord Jesus Christ in this pulpit and to
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share this time together. When Pastor Kyle asked me a
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number of weeks ago to do this, I have been praying every day
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for the Lord to use this time in such a way in your life and my
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life to draw us ever closer to the Lord Jesus Christ and to
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understand what it is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus
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Christ. The word disciple is used over
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200 times in the New Testament and it means a follower, someone
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who goes according to the standards or lifestyle of
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another. I don't know if you're like me,
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but I want to be like Jesus. Is there anyone here that would
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like to be like Jesus? I see a few of you on raise your
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hand, others of you, you'll be ready for the invitation time to
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get your heart right, to come down and get your heart right
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with the Lord. So let's pray together.
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Father God, we are grateful. We are grateful to be in a
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church. I was founded on the foundation
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of Jesus Christ, and for years and years and years and years,
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the body of Christ here has been faithful to the testimony to the
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gospel of Jesus Christ. What a privilege is to be here
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today, to share this time together to get into your word.
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And Father, we would just pause for a moment and we would do
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what our pastor just asked us to do.
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We want to pray for Brother Kyle as he opens up the word in a
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little bit as he proclaims the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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Whatever you put on his heart and Lord, may you use him in a
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in a very incredible and dynamic way.
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May individuals there like individuals here be touched by
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the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit of godfather.
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I would pray that you'd use this time in each one of our lives in
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a very productive way. I pray for the freedom of the
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Holy Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
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here in this place to weave in and through us in such a way
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that we would humble ourselves in some area of life and we
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would say yes to you. Lord, there is no doubt in a
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crowd this size that there is someone that is struggling
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beyond despair. There is someone that is
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hurting. And Lord, I know no other person
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than Jesus than to help them. And I pray, Lord, that they
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would reach out. Let it be, let it be Jesus that
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they would call. I pray, Lord, anyone here today
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that know not the Savior, that know not Jesus Christ in a
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personal way, that today would be the day they would come to
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know Jesus. I pray likewise, Lord, for maybe
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most of us here today that we would be so impacted by your
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spirit that we would continue or maybe even begin to get involved
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in someone else's story so that they in turn might come to know
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the living God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Lord, I pray in these moments together that you would speak,
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You would hide me under the cross of Jesus Christ, and the
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words and meditations of my heart would be pleasing unto
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you, Lord, and you would speak truth and that truth would
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radically change our lives here today.
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And we pray this in the glorious and most powerful name that I
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know, the name of Jesus and all God's people said, if you'll
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open up your Bibles to the Gospel of John, the Gospel of
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John. I really appreciate Brother John
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and the music staff. A few weeks ago I called him and
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asked him if he would play this song, somebody else's story.
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So I got to give you the back story to this particular song.
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At our church at Westside Baptist Church for 24 years, we
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would go all across the country and hope Ministries and share in
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the gospel of Jesus Christ through doing basketball
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clinics. We started that in 1997 and
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finished in 2019. In 2018, we were travelling on
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our bus going to Virginia, then Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and
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Vicki Parker, one of our faithful missionaries, handed me
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this song, said Pastor. I want you to listen to the
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song. That song impacted me because I
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was going into New Jersey and I knew that two of my siblings
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would be there to hear the gospel, and I was praying that
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perhaps it would be the time that they would give their heart
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to Christ. Unfortunately, they haven't yet,
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but I want to read the words in that store, in that song again.
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I want to be a part. I want to be a part of somebody
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else's story, somebody's else's story of redemption.
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I want to be the one. I want to be the one to shine
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the light of Jesus into their darkness.
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So lead me, get this raised, lead me to that someone, I pray,
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Lord, I want to bring you glory and someone else's story.
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And then the bridge, this hope in me, this hope in me was not
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contained. Was was not meant to be
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contained inside. I got to give it away.
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I got to give it away. And that phrase just because for
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so long we have been giving away the gospel of Jesus Christ and
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we had seen the privilege of individuals coming to know the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And that song just was a
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catalyst that moved even our hope teams to another another
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level. And I'm praying today that as
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you have shared Christ as the 20 individuals and a couple weeks
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ago gave their heart to Christ because of the faithfulness of
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so many of you during Vacation Bible school, that you were a
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part of their story. It is my desire.
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It is my desire to share the redemption story of the Lord
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Jesus Christ in order for someone else's destiny to be
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changed forever. And of course, that was not
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always the case in my life. But as I allowed God's Word to
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seek within me to get into my spirit and get into my soul, I
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started understanding that I that is the most important thing
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that I needed to do as a follower, as a disciple of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. So I want you to look on your
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sermon page there and I want you to see that statement, Soul
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winning. Soul winning was the only
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business big enough to bring Jesus out of heaven into this
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world with spiritual heartache and need.
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Jesus came according to the scriptures.
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Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
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And if I if each one of you are going to be a follower of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, we need to do likewise.
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We need to be a be about the business of what he came for in
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the Gospel of John. Here we're going to discover a
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number of lessons. Now I have 30 lessons.
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Well, that's not going to work, is it?
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So I'll, I'll, I'll just bring it down to some lessons that
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would that would propel us to a deeper understanding of how
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Jesus did soul winning. And maybe you and I could learn
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some lessons from the Master soul winner today in the Gospel
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of John chapter 4, beginning in verse one.
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I am reading from the NIV version, the New International
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Version, the Scriptures read. The Pharisees heard that Jesus
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was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in
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fact it was not Jesus who baptized but his disciples.
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When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once
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more to Galilee. Now he had gone through Samaria,
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so he came to a town in Samaria called Sakhar near the plot of
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ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
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Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the
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journey, sat down to the well. It was about the six hour, verse
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7, when a Samaritan woman came to draw water.
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Jesus said to her, Will you give me a drink?
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His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
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The Samaritan woman said to him, You are a Jew and I am a
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Samaritan woman, how can you ask me for a drink, for the Jews did
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not associate with Samaritans. Verse 10 Jesus answered her, if
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you knew the gift of God and who is it that asked you for a
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drink? You have asked him, and he would
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have given you living water, Sir.
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The woman said, you have nothing to draw with and the well is
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deep. Where can you get this living
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water? Are you greater than our Father
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Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did
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also his sons and his flocks and herds?
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Jesus answered in verse 13. Everyone who drinks this water
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will be thirsted again, but whoever drinks the water I give
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him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
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will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
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life. The woman said to him, Sir,
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give, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to
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keep coming here to draw water. The first lesson I'll call your
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attention to this morning is Jesus did not allow his
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feelings. Jesus did not allow his feelings
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to affect his sharing. Jesus and the disciples had been
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travelling, He had been teaching and proclaiming as he was doing
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all the time. He came to this town and he was
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tired. The disciples went on into the
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town to get some food, and Jesus was there by the well.
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He was thirsty. He could have thought to
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himself, I need a break. I am tired of being around
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people. How many of you sometimes get
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tired of being around people? OK, there you go, There you go,
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There you go. I'm tired around being people.
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I just need a break. But rather he did not.
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He put his feelings aside and engaged this woman at the well.
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He did not allow his feelings to affect his sharing.
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Oh my goodness, how often? How often does that happen to
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you and to me? How often do we allow our
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feelings to get in the way? Every Sunday morning the pastor
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was faithfully to get up and preach the Word of God and after
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lunch he and his son will go out in the afternoon on Sunday
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afternoon knocking on doors and giving out tracks.
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On this particular Sunday, it was cold and rainy outside.
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The son after lunch said dad, I'm ready, ready to go, it's
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time. Ready for what?
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His pastor dad said it's time to gather our tracks and go out
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there. Son, do you understand how cold
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it is outside and on top of that it is raining?
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The son looked at the dad says dad, aren't people still going
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to hell? Do people still need Jesus?
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The dad said I'm not going out. The son said, dad, would you
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please, Dad, would you please let me?
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Said, sure, son, just be careful handing them tracks.
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And off went the boy out in the cold weather, it's raining.
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He goes up and down trying to find people knocking the doors.
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And he has one track, has one track left.
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And something inside says you got to give this track away and
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turned. And he looked at this one house
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that he had not been to. He turned to the first home,
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that home, and started up the sidewalk to the front door and
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rang the doorbell. Rang the doorbell, but nobody
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answered. He rang it again and again and
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again. Nobody answered.
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He waited, but still no answer. Finally this 11 year old boy got
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kind of impatient, right? And he started walking away, but
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there was something inside him. Turn, go back.
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He goes back, rings the doorbell and that, but then starts
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knocking harder and harder. The lady inside was up in the
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attic. She finally came down and she
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said to the boy, open up the door and said, son, what can I
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do for you? The older lady looked at the
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young boy and said, man, he's got this great big smile.
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The young little boy said, ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed
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you, but I just wanted to tell you that Jesus really does love
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you. So this is where we get you to
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interact. You ready?
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I want you to turn to the person to the right and left and look
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at them and say Jesus really loves you.
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It is amazing. Those words put a smile on our
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face and many of you were not smiling.
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So it's great to see you smile here.
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It's great to see you smile. Jesus really does love you,
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ma'am. And I came to give you my last
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Gospel track, which tells you about Jesus and his great love.
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With that he handed his track and he left.
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She called him back and said thank you son, and God bless
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you. Well, the following Sunday the
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pastor got him the pulpit, and as he does always in this
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particular country church, said, Does anyone have any word to
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share? Any testimony?
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Slowly in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood up
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to the feet, and as she began to speak, a look of glorious
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radiance came from her face. None of you know me.
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I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I
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was not a Christian. My husband had passed away some
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time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world, and last
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Sunday being particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more
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so in my heart and I'd come to the end of the line where I no
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longer had any hope or will to live.
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So I took a rope and a chair, ascended the stairway into the
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attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to
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the rafter in the roof and stood on the chair and fastened the
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other end of the rope around my neck.
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Standing on the chair, lonely and broken hearted, I was about
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to leap off when suddenly a loud ringing of my doorbell
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downstairs startled me. I thought, I wait a minute and
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whoever it is, they'll go away. I waited and waited, but the
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ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and
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then the person ringing also started knocking loudly.
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I thought to myself again, who on earth could this be?
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Nobody ever comes to see me. I loosened the rope and from my
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neck and I started for the front door.
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All the while the bell ringing loud on the ladder, the knocking
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of the door. When I opened up the door and
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looked, I could hardly believe my eyes.
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There on the front porch was the most radiant, angelic little boy
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that I've ever seen in my life. His smile, oh, I wish I could
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describe it to you. And the words that came from his
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mouth caused my heart that had long been dead somehow to just a
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leap to life. Man, I've just come by to tell
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you that Jesus Christ does love you.
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Then he gave me this track. He gave me this track that I
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hold in my hand as the little Angel disappeared back out in
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the cold weather. I closed the door and started
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reading the track. I just started reading the track
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word for word, word for word, and then I went up to the attic
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to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing this
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anymore. You see, I am now a happy child
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of the King, and since the address of your church was on
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the back of this gospel tract, I had to come and personally say
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to you, thank you to the God's little Angel who came just in
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the nick of time, and by doing so spared my life from eternity
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in hell. You know that word that
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politicians are using all the time now?
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The word that is across society and when I was growing up, you
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would never even say the word in church, the word hell, that word
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where those who are without Jesus Christ will go and spend
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all of eternity. That word that day, that little
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boy didn't allow feelings to get in the way.
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And because of that, someone else's story was forever
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changed. Let's go to #2 #2 Jesus's
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conversation began on the level of her understanding.
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Verse 7 says when a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus
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said to her, will you give me some water?
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You may say, well duh, duh, duh. You see, Jesus, Jesus gets
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people on common ground. You notice what he didn't say,
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what he didn't say. Do you know who I am?
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Imagine for a moment if Jesus said I am, that I am.
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That's correct. I'm the Alpha and the Omega.
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I'm the beginning and the end. I'm the 1st and the last.
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No, Jesus treated this human being as a human being and said,
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would you give me some water? Can I share a great truth
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membership at Cartersville 1st and guests, here's the great
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truth. Here it is.
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Stop trying to impress people. Stop it.
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Stop trying to impress people. Get over yourself.
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Never, never in the 30 years of soul winning a West Side Baptist
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Church, never did I tell people and I knocked on the door.
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I am the pastor of West Side Baptist Church.
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Never matter of fact, when people came and visited, they
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saw. Why didn't you tell me?
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I said if I told you what would happen, I would have run the
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other way. There you go.
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Some of you are trying to impress people.
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Stop it. Here was Jesus.
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Jesus got her on common ground. The thirdly, along with the
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second one, Jesus expressed a personal need and asked for
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help. Can you give me some water?
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This is crazy. When you look at this is crazy,
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Jesus who created water, who spoken into existence, who
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created mankind, is looking to mankind and say, would you give
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me a drink? The one who had all the answers
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and all the questions didn't come across as the person who
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had all the answers. You know, reason why some of you
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are not used by God. This is why I really like
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preaching to other places because you know when you're at
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your home church, you can't be as open and transparent, but you
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know when you're in a visiting church, you can just say
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whatever you want. Amen.
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Amen. Just say whatever you want.
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Pastor Kyle's got to watch his P's and Q's, but I don't have to
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watch my P's and Q's. So here's the I'm an equal
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opportunity offender. OK, so if I didn't offend you
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with the first one, here comes the second one.
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Some of you are no good to anyone because you think you
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know it all. You think you know it all.
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Stop it. Humble yourself to the Lord and
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stop it. You have to relate to people,
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you have to get on common grounds.
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You have to ask them for help. We're going.
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We're going to talk about that in just a moment.
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Let's go to #4 #4 Jesus saw her soul.
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Here we go. And not her skin.
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Should I go there? 1-2, three times?
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Your what out? No, I won't go on #3 I'll just
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stop right there. This woman, this woman, a
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Samaritan at high noon, you may say why?
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Well, all the ladies of the in Group, you know, all the ladies
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of the Bible study group, you know, they all know each other
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and they say knows that. They know it so, so much each
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other that no one gets in the group.
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Does anybody know about that? Anybody know about that?
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You know the in Group? Oh, oh, we have a testimony.
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You want to stay up and talk about it?
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No, no, don't do it. No, don't do it.
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All the ladies of the in Group go in the morning.
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Respectable women, but Samaritan woman, half Jew, half Gentile,
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The dirt, if you will, almost equivalent to a pig in the eyes
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of a Jew. Go at noon.
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And this one particularly because if you read the rest of
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the story, she not only has one husband, but how many?
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5 but Jesus. Jesus did not talk with did talk
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with the Samaritan woman, didn't get into all of the issues Jesus
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was concerned with meeting her need.
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So watch this. When you and I get thrilled with
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who Jesus is, I mean, when you get thrilled.
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I mean when you get thrilled. I don't even know who you are.
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What's your name? Hey, Alex, how you doing, man?
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Long time no see. I don't know nothing about you.
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Have we ever met? And I'm not going to ask you to
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stay in and talk. What's that noise right there,
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Alex? Or some of you in the back are
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falling asleep back there. Don't answer this question.
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If you're thrilled with something, you talk about it.
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You come over here to the baseball guy.
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He loved it. He loves getting embarrassed.
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He's thrilled or used to be thrilled to talk about baseball.
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But you know who he's more thrilled to talk about now?
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What'd you say? Who are you?
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Oh, his wife. Oh, man, his wife said.
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Man, isn't that? Did we talk before the service
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about where we're going to do this?
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No, his wife says he's thrilled more to talk about Jesus then
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he's still to talk about the profession that he excelled at.
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Think about that. When you and I get thrilled with
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Jesus Christ, you can't help it. It's got to come out.
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It's got to what? It's got to come out.
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It's got to come out. I'm thrilled with Jesus.
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I'm going to tell everybody I can about Jesus and what he's
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done and what he's doing in my life.
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Let's go to number 5 #5 is where the rubber hits the Rd. #5 is
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that clock is just moving so quickly back there.
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I don't understand that thing. Did you guys start this?
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Like with when I start up here, it's always started at 10
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minutes. And man, because I practice this
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thing and I'm not even my goodness gracious, OK #5 Jesus
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turned the conversation from the secular to the spiritual.
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Verse 10, If you knew the gift of God and who was to ask you
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for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have
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given you liver water. This is the most.
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If there's one point in the sermon, your pastor's a lot of
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different points. If there's one point in the
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sermon, that's the, that's, that's it.
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It's this one. This is where it's the hardest
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for you and for me, taking the conversation from the secular to
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the spiritual, Jesus related physical water to the living
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water. Jesus gives life on so many
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different levels. This woman was going to get
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water and Jesus takes what she's after and puts it on another
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level. You see, you and I, in order to
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turn the conversation from the secular to the spiritual, you
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and I have to use these. We have to use our ears.
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We have to listen to the person that we are talking to.
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Too often we are thinking about what we're going to say rather
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than listening to what they are talking about.
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And when we say something, it does not do anything for them.
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Not a thing. Let me tell you how this works.
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When you meet an individual and they start talking, they are
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always going to mention a need, a problem, a situation that
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they're having that they are struggling with.
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Every time this happens, if you engage people every time, I'm
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telling you, you could say something like this.
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I am so sorry for your situation, but there is someone
30:00
who can help and it won't affect your bank account.
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Did you get that? Would you like to know the
30:11
person's name? You see, we just sang a song.
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Let it be Jesus. Do you believe it?
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How many really believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to
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every single problem that we have?
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Some of you don't believe it because see, in, in, in, in a
30:31
place that we are, where we're all majority.
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We're not even willing to say Amen here.
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That's late. That's just you just can't be
30:42
late. Just can't be late.
30:49
I want to encourage you. I want to to, to, to boldly tell
30:55
you that God wants to use you in someone's story.
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You, not me. You and you and you.
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But you got to listen. Oh, that won't work.
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Have you tried it? It works every time.
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Taking the secret to the spiritual.
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You see, you and I must get reps in.
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What are reps? See, in the sports world,
31:24
everybody has to practice over and over, over and over again.
31:28
What's your first name? Donovan.
31:29
Is it Donovan? Your first name?
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Sorry. I know you.
31:32
I just know that he's the fast. He's a basketball, baseball
31:35
superstar. How many times you have to hit
31:37
the ball to get better? A lot.
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Hey, Ben, how many times do you have to hit the hit, hit, hit,
31:43
shoot the basketball to get better?
31:45
A lot. What happens for us?
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What happens for us? We do it once.
31:56
We do it once, maybe twice. And probably you fall on your
32:03
face. Am I identical when he was
32:06
hitting the ball, when Ben was taking the shot, they fall on
32:09
their face shooting air balls, bricks or whatever.
32:12
But you got to get reps in. The more you do it in basketball
32:16
called muscle memory, the more you shoot, the more you shoot,
32:19
the more you get the reps in, the muscle memory kicks in.
32:23
The more you engage people turning from the secular to the
32:26
spiritual, the more you are telling, the more you're through
32:29
with Jesus, the more you're mentioning His name.
32:32
You're getting used to it and used to it and used to it, and
32:34
God will open up the doors of heaven and so many different and
32:39
extraordinary ways in the spiritual world.
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We need reps and conversations. We give up too easy.
32:48
Satan wants to discourage you. Satan tells you you're no good
32:50
at it. Well, when Satan tells you're no
32:52
good, just remind him where he's going.
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He's going to hell. We discover how little
32:57
conversations. I'm done.
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Do you have conversations with him?
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Yes. Well, you're weird, man.
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I know that. My wife knows that I am in love
33:07
with Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you as the
33:11
body of Christ to continue giving your story away.
33:18
But some of you are still. I go up to some of you and I ask
33:26
you about your children, man, I'll be there 15 minutes.
33:30
Grandchildren, forget it. There are some people in class I
33:33
teach. I don't even ask about the
33:34
grandchildren because they'll never let me teach.
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They'll just talk and talk and talk.
33:39
But then when we talk about Jesus, can I remind you a little
33:48
bit about the characters of the Bible?
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Noah. Next time when you think I can't
33:53
use you, just remember Noah had a drinking problem.
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Abraham was too long, too old. Rather, Joseph was a daydreamer.
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Jacob was a liar. Joseph was abused.
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Moses had a speech problem, Gideon was afraid Sanson had
34:11
long hair and was a womanizer, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah
34:16
and Timothy were too young. David had an affair.
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David, the man after God's own heart, had an affair and was a
34:24
murderer. And on and on and on.
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And yet God would use David. Did you know that Isaiah he
34:33
preached naked find outlook in the scriptures.
34:35
He did. How did you like?
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Oh man, that scene. That's just awful.
34:41
Let's go forward, young man. Naomi was a widow.
34:47
Joe went bankrupt. John the Baptist, he had a bunch
34:51
of bugs. Peter denied Jesus.
34:53
How many times 3 The disciples fell asleep in Jesus greatest
34:59
time. They fell asleep.
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What? Praying.
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While praying, Martha worried about everything.
35:05
The Samaritan woman was divorced and more than one.
35:07
Zacchaeus was too small. He was up in the tree hiding
35:09
out. Paul was too religious and
35:11
Lazarus was dead. Think about it.
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No more excuses, body of Christ, No more excuses.
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God can use you to your full potential.
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Besides, you aren't the message. You're just the messenger.
35:28
You're just the messenger. Very quickly, let's go to #6
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Jesus continued sharing even though she did not understand.
35:35
This is where it really gets interesting for you and I Jesus
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keeps on talking to this woman and says that you have nothing
35:40
to draw with with and the well is deep.
35:42
She said where can you get this living water?
35:45
Are you greater than a father's Jacob?
35:48
Then Jesus said everyone who drinks this water will be
35:50
thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will
35:53
never thirst. Indeed, the woman, the water I
35:55
give you, will become in him a spring of water well enough to
35:59
eternal life. Do you think she had a clue of
36:01
what he was talking about? No, some of you read in that
36:04
text, maybe for the first time. I said, what in the world does
36:06
that mean? Jesus is the substance of life.
36:13
Jesus is the very being of life. This woman had no clue what
36:18
Jesus meant, but the Lord was planting seeds.
36:22
The Lord was planting seeds. And in Isaiah 5511, listen to
36:28
this. So is my word that goes out from
36:32
my mouth and will not return to me empty.
36:37
When you share something about Jesus and you share Scripture,
36:41
as Jesus Christ said on the way, the truth and life, you share
36:44
something about Jesus. God will take that in his
36:47
supernatural way and do some things in their life that you
36:50
cannot even imagine. And as you begin to engage
36:53
people a little bit more, as you get more reps in, there'll be a
36:57
times that you'll think for yourself, Where in the world did
37:00
that idea come from? I, I wish I, I, you said it, I
37:03
can't remember what I said, but somehow had an impact on your
37:06
life. You got to remember Luke 1212.
37:08
The Holy Spirit will teach you what you need to say in the very
37:11
hour that you needed. You see something.
37:14
You got to get on the edge. You got to get on the edge.
37:16
Stop dependent upon yourself and depend upon the Holy Spirit of
37:18
God. Did anybody know what I'm
37:19
talking about? You're embodied by the Holy
37:22
Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit wants to use you and urge
37:25
you just like that little boy that wanted knock up knocking
37:27
and wanted to get away. But that Holy Spirit, that Holy
37:30
Spirit kept him, kept him there. I wish I could share some
37:35
stories with you about seeing this work, but I'll just share
37:39
this one very, very quickly. For 18 years I planted seeds.
37:42
For 18 years I planted seeds in the senior adult 18 years.
37:46
And a couple of weeks ago he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus
37:49
Christ. Now I, I, I can't tell you what
37:52
it was. All I know was a series of
37:54
things that that, that, that he heard and he kept and the Lord
37:57
just kept on doing in his life #7 Jesus increased her appetite
38:02
for spiritual things. The woman said in verse 15, the
38:05
woman said what? Give me some water?
38:10
The Bible says that we are to be.
38:11
What salt. Do people want to be around you?
38:16
What does salt do? Salt makes you what, thirsty.
38:20
When you walk in the room, do people just walk away or do they
38:25
walk towards you? Because you use these two ears,
38:29
you listen and you engage. How do people view you?
38:37
Or do you think, or do you think that you're a secret disciple?
38:42
Yeah, maybe some of you think that your secrets, it's a secret
38:46
with you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
38:49
May I remind you in the Scriptures that if you will not
38:52
profess me before men, I'll not profess you before my Father in
38:56
heaven. There may be a man or two here
38:58
that gave their heart to Christ. A woman or two gave their heart
39:01
to Christ. A teenager here gave their heart
39:03
to Christ. And you're sitting there and
39:04
says I'm not going to stand up. I'm not going to be, I'm not
39:08
going to do that. I'm not going to do that.
39:11
Well, that tells me you're not in Christ.
39:16
You don't have a fear of standing with a bunch of
39:18
believers to hear an Amen. You'll want to get up now.
39:22
Yes, there'll be fear. What will they say?
39:23
They're not going to say they'll be they'll be rejoicing with
39:25
you. They'll be rejoicing with you so
39:29
you you at times we major on what we don't and it kills our
39:35
enthusiasm for what we do know the Lord God wants to use you in
39:40
an extraordinary way and somebody else's story.
39:47
The question is will you allow a number of years ago at West Side
39:58
and churches across the Southern Baptist Convention.
40:01
We had churches, we had church evening services.
40:05
How do you remember services in the evening?
40:07
Let me see. OK, All right.
40:11
This one particular evening service, this country church
40:14
pastor said I have a young, I have my friends are going to
40:17
come up and give a testimony and this man came up and gave his
40:22
testimony. He said a father and a son and a
40:25
friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific Coast.
40:30
He said when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get
40:34
back to the shore. The waves were high and even the
40:38
father, who was inexperienced at sailing, could not, could not
40:43
keep the boat upright. And the three, the father, the
40:47
son and the friend were swept into the ocean.
40:53
The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with
40:57
the two teenagers, the two teenagers way back in the back,
41:04
and all of a sudden they started listening to the old man's
41:07
story, the old man's testimony. Grabbing a rescue line, the
41:14
father had to make the most excruciating decision of his
41:17
life. To which boy would he throw the
41:21
line to? He had only seconds to make that
41:26
decision. The Father knew that his son was
41:31
a Christian. He had given his heart to Jesus
41:33
Christ and he knew that his friend, son's friend, did not
41:40
know Jesus. The agony of his decision could
41:44
not be matched by the waves that were just going over and over.
41:49
The Father yelled out, I love you son, and he threw the line
41:58
to the son's friend, and he brought the son's friend back to
42:04
the boat, and he turned to find his son, and his son was gone,
42:17
never to be found. He had disappeared.
42:28
At this time the two teenagers were sitting straight up in the
42:31
Pew listening to the very next words coming out of this old
42:33
man. The Father, he said, knew his
42:36
son would step in the eternity with Jesus, and he could not
42:39
bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into eternity
42:42
without Jesus. Therefore he sacrificed his Son.
42:46
How great is the love of God that he should do the same for
42:49
us? With that, the old man stepped
42:52
down and sat down. Within a few minutes the service
42:57
entered and the two teenagers came right up to the old man's
42:59
side. Sitting right up front, one of
43:03
the young men said. Well, that was a nice story.
43:10
I don't think, though, it's very realistic for a father to give
43:13
up his son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a
43:16
Christian. The old man said.
43:19
Yep, you got a point there. Glancing down at his Bible, he
43:23
says you have a point. Then a smile brought in his
43:28
narrow face and he once again looked at the boys.
43:30
It sure isn't very realistic, but I'm standing here today to
43:35
tell you that that story gives me a glimpse of what it must
43:38
have been like for God to give up his son for me.
43:42
You see, I was the son's friend. I was the son's friend.
43:54
True story. I wonder this morning how many
44:03
lives could be changed in Cartersville and on the
44:09
outskirts if we, if we as the Body of Christ, really got
44:21
thrilled with Jesus enough to share and get into someone
44:31
else's story. I'll forever be in debt to my
44:37
precious wife who took me into a Southern Baptist church and I
44:42
heard John 316 as a young New Jersey punk and started a
44:48
journey. And in October of 1977, because
44:54
of her, my story was changed. She was thrilled with Jesus.
45:10
Would you close your eyes for just a moment?
45:12
No one is going to come up near you.
45:14
No one is going to touch you. Maybe today it's all come
45:20
together for you. You've been here for weeks and
45:23
you've heard the gospel from Pastor Kyle and you've been in
45:27
the Sunday school class and it's just all come together and, and,
45:30
and you know, you know, you know right where you are that if you
45:34
were to die, you know you are not going to heaven.
45:39
You know that today could be changed day for you.
45:46
You could say this simple prayer and mean it with all of your
45:49
heart right where you are. I'm going to help you with that
45:53
prayer. The same prayer I've done
45:55
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times all over
45:57
across the country. A simple prayer, but you mean it
46:02
with all of your heart. If you would like for your story
46:07
to change from death to life, you can say these words quietly
46:12
to God. I'm going to say a few and then
46:15
pause and give you opportunity to say them.
46:18
You'd like Jesus to come inside your heart.
46:20
You can say this prayer. Here it is.
46:22
Dear God, I am a Sinner and I need your forgiveness.
46:33
Jesus, forgive me of my sin, and Jesus, I trust you as Savior and
46:45
Lord of my life. Jesus, would you please come
46:54
into my heart right now in the name of Jesus, every head bowed,
47:01
every eye closed. If you've just prayed that
47:04
prayer, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.
47:06
The angels in heaven are rejoicing.
47:09
A Sinner has come home, but I don't know who you are.
47:14
In just a moment, Pastor Stephen is going to be down front.
47:17
If you've given your heart to Christ this morning or even this
47:20
week or weeks ago, and you've not told anyone, today's the day
47:25
for you to stand up and tell somebody that you've asked Jesus
47:30
Christ inside your heart. Congratulations.
47:33
It is the greatest decision of your life and we would love to
47:38
rejoice with you. Maybe for the most of us here
47:43
this morning, this invitation is for you.
47:49
Will you allow the Lord to use you in somebody's else's story?
47:58
Would I have to make a commitment?
48:00
Oh yeah, you have to make a commitment.
48:02
You can make make commitments standing up, sitting down on
48:05
your knees. You can come down here and share
48:07
it with the encouragers. What a word of encouragement
48:09
that would be to the encouragers.
48:12
We need to encourage each other in the Lord Jesus Christ.
48:16
Sometimes we just stand and we and we don't respond.
48:19
And the Spirit of God is moving in this place and wanting you to
48:23
respond, wanting you to take a step of faith, believers in the
48:26
Lord Jesus Christ, disciples of the Lord, wanting you to do
48:29
something now. Now this is the now for you.
48:36
For those of you in Christ respond, make a commitment to be
48:45
involved in somebody else's story and you don't even know
48:48
him yet. That's the greatest thing about
48:50
it. Father God, as we stand and
48:55
sing, oh Lord, I pray with every fiber within my heart.
48:59
And Lord God, you rise up the army of God in this place in a
49:04
greater way than it has been, for you've already done great
49:08
things in this place. But God, I believe there's
49:12
greater things still to be done because you're not finished with
49:17
this church. You're not finished with this
49:19
body, You're not even finished with me.
49:22
So Lord God, give us the courage to respond here today, and I
49:27
pray this in the precious and powerful name, the often the
49:31
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the
49:34
living Lord Jesus and God's people said Amen, where you
49:39
stand, it's time to respond body of Christ.
49:42
It's time to be the Army of God.