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Transcript

Inviting Others Into Obedience · Faith at Work

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This morning we are talking about how we,
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  SPEAKER_00: as fathers of Jesus Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: as Church of the Brethren,
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  SPEAKER_00: are called to invite others into obedience.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here's the big idea for this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: God calls His people not just to live faithfully.
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  SPEAKER_00: but to invite others into the joy and the challenge of obedience,
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  SPEAKER_00: beginning with our own households,
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  SPEAKER_00: beginning with our children,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then extending into the nations.
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  SPEAKER_00: Church,
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  today's word and words and scriptures that we read this morning
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  invites us to
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  wrestle with this holy calling to live obediently and invite
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  others into that
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  SPEAKER_00: obedience in the same way.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says in Matthew 5, you are the salt of the earth.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are the light of the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Salt preserves, it flavors, it makes people thirsty.
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  SPEAKER_00: Light drives out darkness.
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  SPEAKER_00: What good is salt if it stays in the salt shaker?
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  SPEAKER_00: What good is light if it hides underneath a basket?
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  This is Jesus' way of saying to us,
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  your life is meant to invite others towards God.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then at the close of Matthew,
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  SPEAKER_00: we have this Matthew 28,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Great Commission,
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  SPEAKER_00: and it echoes this again.
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  It says,
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  go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
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  teaching them to,
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  what?
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  SPEAKER_00: Obey everything that I have commanded you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice,
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  SPEAKER_00: not just information that we're supposed to be teaching,
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  SPEAKER_00: not just passing along nice ideas about God,
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  SPEAKER_00: but teaching obedience,
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  SPEAKER_00: calling people into a life of discipleship.
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  We are called to invite others not just to believe,
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  but to live differently in this world.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Genesis 12,
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  SPEAKER_00: as we have heard a number of times this morning,
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  SPEAKER_00: when God calls Abram,
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  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to bless you so that you can have a nice,
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  SPEAKER_00: comfortable life.
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  SPEAKER_00: He says,
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  SPEAKER_00: I will bless you,
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  SPEAKER_00: and because of that,
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  SPEAKER_00: all peoples in all of the earth will be blessed through you.
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  SPEAKER_00: From the very beginning...
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  SPEAKER_00: God calls us to bless the world in belief of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: God calls us to be outward facing, not inward focused.
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  SPEAKER_00: Walter Brueggemann,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is one of my favorite theologians,
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  SPEAKER_00: he's an Old Testament theologian,
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  SPEAKER_00: he reminds us God's people must always live with,
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  SPEAKER_00: for,
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  SPEAKER_00: and among others in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is not an optional extra.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is the very DNA of what our faith is all about.
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  SPEAKER_00: We do not withdraw to some sort of private holiness.
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  We are to live our obedience in public so that others might
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  taste and see that.
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  SPEAKER_00: John Howard Yoder,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is an Anabaptist theologian,
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  SPEAKER_00: once said,
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  the church is called to be now what the world is called to
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  become ultimately.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we live as a community of blessing in the world,
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  SPEAKER_00: we give the world a glimpse of what God's future for us is.
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  SPEAKER_00: The brethren motto, if you don't know it already, echoes this.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is a calling.
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  SPEAKER_00: It says, for the glory of God and what?
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  SPEAKER_00: Does anybody know?
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, seriously, come on.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's try that again.
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  SPEAKER_00: For the glory of God and?
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  SPEAKER_00: Very good.
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  SPEAKER_00: Obedience, thank you much for that, is not about ourselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is always aimed at our neighbor's blessing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't tweet a whole lot,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it seemed easiest to put some things in tweetable form today,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you happen to tweet or on social media.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the reason that I sort of chose to do this,
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  SPEAKER_00: in particular for this message,
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  SPEAKER_00: is because we're outward facing.
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  We're trying to share the joys that we have and the blessings
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  that we have
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  SPEAKER_00: outwardly.
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  SPEAKER_00: And today, of course, a lot of that happens where?
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  SPEAKER_00: On social media.
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  And so I'm going to give you some tweetable tweets,
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  some shareable socials today.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you happen to want to do that,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you want,
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  SPEAKER_00: you can take a picture with the tweetable tweet up there,
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  SPEAKER_00: tweet it,
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  SPEAKER_00: or just ignore me while I do this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tweetable tweet.
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  SPEAKER_00: God blesses us so that we can bless others.
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  SPEAKER_00: Faith was never meant to be what?
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  SPEAKER_00: Private property, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  SPEAKER_00: The early brethren understood this really, really deeply.
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  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly,
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  SPEAKER_00: in the book that we're following along,
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  SPEAKER_00: Let Our Joys Be Known,
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  SPEAKER_00: right at the very beginning of chapter 5,
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  SPEAKER_00: it says this.
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  SPEAKER_00: The early brethren were very evangelistic.
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  They worked hard at inviting others to make the same choice for
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  radical obedience
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  SPEAKER_00: that they were making at that time.
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  Now,
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  important to note,
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  they weren't selling eternal fire insurance,
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  okay?
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  They were inviting neighbors into a whole new way of life that
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  at that time was
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  SPEAKER_00: actually fairly dangerous to live into.
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  SPEAKER_00: One marked by simplicity, community, peace, and discipleship.
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  SPEAKER_00: Donald Durnbaugh,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is a Brethren scholar,
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  SPEAKER_00: has written a number of books about Brethren history,
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  describes the Brethren movement in the 1700s as the forerunner
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  for the great
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  SPEAKER_00: awakening among the American colonies.
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Pretty incredible stuff here.
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  That's how powerful this imitation of the early Church of the
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  Brethren was.
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  SPEAKER_00: It sparked renewal that reshaped our entire continent, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Merle Crows shows us how two main approaches were used.
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  The first was home community missionary work,
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  and the second was emigration or colonization.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't really like that word because it's kind of dirty,
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  SPEAKER_00: but nonetheless,
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  SPEAKER_00: that's what she called it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some stayed rooted in their towns,
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  SPEAKER_00: in their homes,
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  SPEAKER_00: invited friends and neighbors into a life that lived differently.
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  SPEAKER_00: And others,
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  SPEAKER_00: like I did when I went to Italy as a missionary,
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  SPEAKER_00: carried that message across seas and prairies.
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  SPEAKER_00: But both were saying the same thing.
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  This life of obedience is too good for us not to share it with
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  our friends and our families.
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  SPEAKER_00: Howard Thurman,
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  SPEAKER_00: who was a theologian and involved in the whole civil rights movement,
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  SPEAKER_00: he wrote this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't ask what the world needs.
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  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't ask what the world needs.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
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  SPEAKER_00: The brethren invited people into aliveness in Jesus Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: A while ago,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how many months ago,
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  SPEAKER_00: but certainly in the last year that I was here,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was asked to lead a study on the book For My Neighbors.
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  SPEAKER_00: Good.
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  It was a study about this kind of thing,
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  sharing our testimony on our life with Jesus Christ.
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  And in that book,
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  we're reminded that evangelism is not memorizing a scripture or
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  winning arguments with people who disagree with us about God or
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  Jesus Christ.
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  It's about unlocking our personal testimonies and connecting
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  them with our
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  SPEAKER_00: neighbors and our friends.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think of a championship basketball team.
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  I'm not a real big fan of sports,
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  as you know,
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  but nonetheless,
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  I still use sports analogies.
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  SPEAKER_00: So think about a basketball team,
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  SPEAKER_00: a champions basketball team,
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  SPEAKER_00: like the Golden State Warriors or Oklahoma City Thunder.
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  SPEAKER_00: My understanding is they won this year.
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  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, some of you know that, yeah.
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't until I started studying for this sermon.
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  SPEAKER_00: But nonetheless, they won, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: Their success,
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  SPEAKER_00: however,
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  SPEAKER_00: as I looked at things,
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  SPEAKER_00: does not come from one star alone,
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  SPEAKER_00: but from disciplined teamwork,
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  SPEAKER_00: relentless practice,
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  SPEAKER_00: and players inviting each other into a shared rhythm.
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  SPEAKER_00: One selfish player who ignores the playbook weakens the whole team.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in the same way, evangelism is not a solo sport, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: We invite others into God's rhythm of obedience,
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  SPEAKER_00: and together we support one another and we shine brighter.
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  SPEAKER_00: So another tweetable tweet.
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  SPEAKER_00: Evangelism is not about selling religion.
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  It's about inviting others into a way of radical obedience that
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  transforms life.
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  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 78 that we read is clear.
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  We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the
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  Lord so that they
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  SPEAKER_00: should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: but keep His commandments.
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  SPEAKER_00: J. Clinton McMahon puts it beautifully.
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  Psalm 78 invites us to share the good news and reminds us that
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  our own children are
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  SPEAKER_00: an essential part of that start.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've experienced that this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: We've focused on that,
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  SPEAKER_00: supporting our children,
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  SPEAKER_00: not only as they live life here among us as a church family,
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  SPEAKER_00: but as they go out.
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  into the world and live their lives there obedience is learned
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  mostly not in church
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  actually but at the dinner table in bedtime prayers in how we
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  as as parents and
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  SPEAKER_00: parentals um
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  SPEAKER_00: treat our neighbors, and how we model forgiveness on a day-to-day basis.
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  If we do not invite our children into obedience,
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  we risk breaking the chain of our witness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Alan Kreider,
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  SPEAKER_00: again,
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  SPEAKER_00: a writer who I really appreciate in the Anabaptist Mennonite tradition,
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  he reminds us that the spread of the church was not
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  accomplished by dramatic
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  SPEAKER_00: events.
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  SPEAKER_00: but by ordinary believers,
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  SPEAKER_00: explaining their hope to their children and,
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  SPEAKER_00: while they were doing that,
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  SPEAKER_00: to their neighbors as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends, evangelism begins at home.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, from our neighbor's good, it challenges us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Build your testimony.
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  Think about how your faith has made an impact in your life and
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  what choices you've
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  SPEAKER_00: made because of how you follow Jesus,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then share that with others.
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  This practice equips us to be authentic witnesses of the work
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  of Jesus Christ in our lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of us are in the agricultural business.
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  SPEAKER_00: Who hasn't seen the corn this year?
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  SPEAKER_00: Wow, yeah, from what I understand, incredible.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not gonna talk about corn though.
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  SPEAKER_00: Barns, you need barns for corn, at least you used to, right?
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  SPEAKER_00: In Amish communities,
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  SPEAKER_00: and we all are aware of this,
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  SPEAKER_00: when a barn needs to be built,
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  SPEAKER_00: neighbors come together for that barn raising.
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  SPEAKER_00: No one does it alone.
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  SPEAKER_00: The invitation goes out and then dozens show up for the event.
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  each contributing their own strength,
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  and by the end of the day,
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  there is a barn that is built.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our testimony to obedience as a community builds on this theme.
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  SPEAKER_00: Teaching our children obedience is like a barn raising.
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  It takes the whole family of faith,
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  inviting the next generation into the building process.
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  SPEAKER_00: These children that we have blessed this morning,
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  SPEAKER_00: we need to remember that it takes a village to raise children,
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  SPEAKER_00: right?
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  SPEAKER_00: We all know that.
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  And we need to commit to building their faith just as we commit
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  to building ours.
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  SPEAKER_00: Evangelism starts at home, friends.
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  If we don't invite our children into obedience,
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  we risk silencing our witness for the future.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends,
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  SPEAKER_00: when we obey Jesus Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: especially when it costs us something,
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  SPEAKER_00: the world takes notice.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, a sports theme.
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  A team that plays with discipline and teamwork invites fans to
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  join the movement as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not so many folks here, but it seems like it happens in other places.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or farming,
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  SPEAKER_00: when a field is well tended,
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  SPEAKER_00: like the corn that we're seeing right now,
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  neighbors notice the fruit even if they have no idea how that
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  corn was planted,
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  SPEAKER_00: how it's growing,
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  SPEAKER_00: or how it will be harvested.
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  SPEAKER_00: So too with faith.
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  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 5 says,
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  let your light shine before others so that they may see your
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  good works and give
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  SPEAKER_00: glory to our Father in heaven.
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  The invitation isn't into just our words but in the living
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  testimony of our deeds
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  SPEAKER_00: on a day-to-day basis.
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  SPEAKER_00: Dorothy Day,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure some of you are familiar with her,
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  SPEAKER_00: she once said,
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  SPEAKER_00: the best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we give away our lives in obedience, the light shines brightest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, one more quote from For Our Neighbors Good.
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  SPEAKER_00: We often refer to the Great Commission as the Great Commission.
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  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps it is better if we understood it as our everyday commission.
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  As you are going,
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  wherever you happen to be living and playing,
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  make disciples.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I encourage the children here,
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  SPEAKER_00: today,
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  as you play on the playground or you stand at your locker or as
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  you're learning in
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  SPEAKER_00: your classrooms,
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  remember that as well as your everyday commission to shine
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  forth the light of Jesus
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  SPEAKER_00: Christ in your daily lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Has anybody ever seen The Black Panther, the movie The Black Panther?
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  SPEAKER_00: Not a real brethren movie, I guess, with the whole pacifism thing.
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  But nonetheless,
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  some pretty cool stuff in there,
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  some good things to remember.
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  And in that movie,
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  King Takala faces a question of whether or not Wakanda will
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  remain hidden
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  SPEAKER_00: or whether they will open up their resources,
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  SPEAKER_00: bring those resources into the light and bless the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: And his decision to move their culture and their life into the light,
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  SPEAKER_00: to share what they have for the good of others,
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  SPEAKER_00: mirrors our calling as a church of Jesus Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we hide our light, the world stays in darkness.
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  But when we live obediently and share what God has given us,
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  nations are blessed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Last one.
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  SPEAKER_00: A life of obedience shines brighter than any sermon.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm aware of that as well.
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  Your lives are much more effective as you live them in the
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  light out there than
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  SPEAKER_00: anything I happen to say up here on Sunday mornings.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our deeds invite others to glorify God.
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  SPEAKER_00: So church, our calling is clear.
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  SPEAKER_00: God blesses us to bless others.
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  SPEAKER_00: Evangelism is an invitation to radical obedience.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we must begin with our children.
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  SPEAKER_00: And our obedience is the light that draws others to God.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, let us be bold.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let us live lives so salty,
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  SPEAKER_00: so luminous,
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  SPEAKER_00: so compelling that others cannot help but say,
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to live that way too.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.