Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Troubles Come, but So Does God- Minister Max Lucado

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Troubles Come, but So Does God- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: We are mindful and grateful of our student ministry retreat
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  Speaker 1: taking place this weekend at Camp TBRM and New Braunfels,
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  Speaker 1: where over four hundred students and volunteers are gathered for
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  Speaker 1: a weekend of prayer and encouragement and studying God's Word
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  Speaker 1: and just generally having a great time. And that great
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  Speaker 1: over four hundred are gathered, May God's blessings be upon them.
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  Speaker 2: Also.
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  Speaker 1: We're grateful to our elders and our elders wives who,
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  Speaker 1: under the apt leadership of Mark Sharp, gathered for a
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  Speaker 1: weekend of prayer for this wonderful congregation, praying for the
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  Speaker 1: future of the church, the blessing of God, the favor
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  Speaker 1: of God upon the church. Aren't we blessed to have
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  Speaker 1: elders and elders wives who regularly meet to pray for
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  Speaker 1: pray together, and pray about the work of the old
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  Speaker 1: Church family. We're equally grateful to the many, many, many
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  Speaker 1: of you who participate each week in a small group.
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  Speaker 1: Oak Hill's Church has over three hundred Yes, that's correct,
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  Speaker 1: over three hundred groups sprinkle all around San Antonio and
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  Speaker 1: the Hill Country. In these groups, many of them meet
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  Speaker 1: to study the unshakable hope material, some of them study
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  Speaker 1: other material. Many of them meet in homes, some of
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  Speaker 1: them meet in restaurants, some of them meet in schools.
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  Speaker 1: Some of them meet on one of our church campuses.
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  Speaker 1: Some meet in workplaces. Some meet early in the morning,
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  Speaker 1: others late at night, some at noon. But we have
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  Speaker 1: over three hundred groups that meet, and so we're very
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  Speaker 1: very grateful because that's really where the connections are happening.
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  Speaker 1: That's where community happens. We often encourage you to if
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  Speaker 1: you want to grow in your faith, lock in at
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  Speaker 1: a week we can worship, experience, serve on one of
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  Speaker 1: the campuses, and be a part of one of the groups.
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  Speaker 1: Something happens spiritually when we worship. We believe in the
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  Speaker 1: heavenlies that things are changed, the atmosphere of spiritual truths
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  Speaker 1: are changed. When we worship together, when we serve, we're
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  Speaker 1: using our spiritual muscles and realizing that we're busy to
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  Speaker 1: be the blessing of being busy about the work of
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  Speaker 1: God's kingdom. And when we meet together in a small group,
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  Speaker 1: that's where community happens. That's where those connections happen that
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  Speaker 1: can really serve to provide ministry ongoing ministry in the
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  Speaker 1: life of someone else. So we're very grateful to our
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  Speaker 1: campus ministers, our community ministers, to those who host these groups,
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  Speaker 1: lead these groups, and participate in these groups. And if
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  Speaker 1: you'd like to be in a group, there is a
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  Speaker 1: place for you. There is space for you. Just contact
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  Speaker 1: your campus wherever you attend, and we'll make sure that
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  Speaker 1: that happens. Week we've had it seems like we just
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  Speaker 1: come out of one calamity into another. Here we're faced
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  Speaker 1: with yet another hurricane bearing down on the coast of
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  Speaker 1: Louisiana and perhaps Alabama and Florida. Also, we're dealing with
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  Speaker 1: the ramification still reeling from the news of the terrible,
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  Speaker 1: unspeakable tragedy in Las Vegas. And so if you're finding
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  Speaker 1: yourself unwilling to watch the news or not wanting to
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  Speaker 1: read a paper, you're not alone. You're not alone. More
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  Speaker 1: than any other time. We are in need of the
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  Speaker 1: presence of God and the promises of God, and that's
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  Speaker 1: what we're looking at. We're looking at the promises of God,
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  Speaker 1: and this week's promise seems particularly appropriate. God promises when
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  Speaker 1: you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
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  Speaker 1: God never promises the absence of difficulty, just that will
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  Speaker 1: survive the difficulty. Our response, our promise is I will
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  Speaker 1: respond to increasing evil with increasing faith. Now help us
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  Speaker 1: Lord to understand this great and precious promise that comes
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  Speaker 1: to us through your word, and help us Lord, as
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  Speaker 1: we live in a world of increasing evil, to respond
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  Speaker 1: with increasing faith. We pray for those who find themselves
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  Speaker 1: in the path of this hurricane. We pray for those
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  Speaker 1: who find themselves personally affected by the tragedy in Las Vegas.
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  Speaker 1: We find an opportunity, also, Father, to pray for all
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  Speaker 1: those who face any challenge, asking for strength, Open our hearts,
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  Speaker 1: open our minds, forgive our speaker his sins her many
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  Speaker 1: help us to see Christ, just Christ, through Christ, we pray,
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  Speaker 1: And all God's people said, I've been having fun with
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  Speaker 1: a little trivia question over the last few days, asking
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  Speaker 1: people where do you turn in the Bible to find
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  Speaker 1: the very first appearance of the word grace? Where do
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  Speaker 1: you turn in the Bible to find the initial appearance
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  Speaker 1: of the word grace. Most people assume it would be
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  Speaker 1: in the epistles of the apostle Paul, the Great Champion
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  Speaker 1: of Grace. Some suggest it would be in the teachings
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. A few had suggested that the first
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  Speaker 1: appearance of the word grace is actually in the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: probably in the Psalms, one of the psalms written by
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  Speaker 1: King David. And then a few people have looked at me, like,
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  Speaker 1: why are you asking such a stupid question. Well, Bible study,
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  Speaker 1: I remind him, involves good archaeology. Just as we dig
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  Speaker 1: deeply for evidence of a people, or a human or
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  Speaker 1: a society, so good Bible study digs deeply to find
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  Speaker 1: the earliest evidence of an important idea, and grace is
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  Speaker 1: the big idea of the Bible. And so how far
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  Speaker 1: do we have to dig in scripture before we find
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  Speaker 1: the first appearance of the word grace. Well, I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to tell you in just a moment, but first let's
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  Speaker 1: make our declaration. You thought I had forgotten, So sit
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  Speaker 1: up straight, put your shoulders back. If you don't know
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  Speaker 1: the drill, watch somebody around you. They know it. They're
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  Speaker 1: going to sit up straight, and they're gonna put the
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  Speaker 1: shoulders back. Fill your lungs with air and your hearts
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  Speaker 1: with hope. Say it like you mean it, because even
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  Speaker 1: the devil is listening, and let him be convinced what
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  Speaker 1: we are about to do. You ready, we are building
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  Speaker 1: our lives on the promises of God. Because his our
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  Speaker 1: hope we do not stand Amen. So when did the
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  Speaker 1: word grace first appear in the Bible? We need to
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  Speaker 1: turn all the way back to the first book of
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  Speaker 1: the Bible, Genesis, chapter six, in verse eight. Here it is,
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  Speaker 1: but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: That's right, Noah the arc, building animal herding floods, surviving doves,
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  Speaker 1: sending wine, drinking Noah. The word grace first appears in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible when his name does, and it appears after
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  Speaker 1: one of the most sombering of paragraphs. If you like
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  Speaker 1: to fill in the blanks, let's begin by looking at
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  Speaker 1: the corruption. The corruption. The Lord saw that the wickedness
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  Speaker 1: of man was great in the earth, and that every
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  Speaker 1: intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
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  Speaker 1: Can any verse get lower than that description? Look at
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  Speaker 1: those descriptors. Wickedness was very great, every intent only evil continually.
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  Speaker 1: Were tempted to write such a verse office hyperbole, But
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  Speaker 1: then we remember the skeletons of ouswitch, the skulls of
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  Speaker 1: the Cambodian killing fields, or the bodies of the Tutsis
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  Speaker 1: in Rwanda, or even the mass murders in our own country,
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  Speaker 1: And we reconsider might wickedness becomes so great that every
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  Speaker 1: intent is evil continually? Well it did in the days
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  Speaker 1: of Noah. But how did such evil happen? And how
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  Speaker 1: did it happen so fast? I mean, just six chapters
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  Speaker 1: earlier we were reading that great creation Sonnet. Let it be,
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  Speaker 1: and so it was. And God said it is good,
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  Speaker 1: Let it be, And so it was. And God said
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  Speaker 1: it is good, Let it be. So it was six
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  Speaker 1: times it appears, and it was always good. Light and
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  Speaker 1: land and seas and skies, good, good, good, good in
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  Speaker 1: the day. The days culminated with God's magnum opus. So
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  Speaker 1: God created men in his own image, in the image
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  Speaker 1: of God. He created him male and female. He created them.
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  Speaker 1: God blessed the first couple. He told them to have babies,
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  Speaker 1: to have dominion, to help each other, and help themselves
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  Speaker 1: to the good life. How could they do anything else?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, their work was their play. Animals were their friends.
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  Speaker 1: Funerals were unnecessary. Lions loved lambs, Skunks didn't stink, The
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  Speaker 1: earth didn't quake, and thunder didn't thunder. It was a
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  Speaker 1: perfect paradise, and it was a perfect marriage, man and
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  Speaker 1: woman sinless. They wore no shoes, for there were no thorns.
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  Speaker 1: They wore no clothing because there was nothing to hide.
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  Speaker 1: Reciprocal and mutual, separate and equal her she had him,
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  Speaker 1: and they both had God. These were the good days. Yet,
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  Speaker 1: into this world of all joy and no fear, a
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  Speaker 1: snake of evil slithered, and he asked, has God indeed said,
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  Speaker 1: you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?
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  Speaker 1: What an insidious seed to sow in Eve's heart? Not
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  Speaker 1: the seed of rebellion, not the seed of anger. Satan
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  Speaker 1: was more subtle. He sowed the seed of doubt? Has
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  Speaker 1: God really said? The seed of distrust? And as fast
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  Speaker 1: as you can say chaos, paradise became exactly that. Fear
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  Speaker 1: drove the couple into the bushes, and shame left them
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  Speaker 1: hiding behind leaves and lame excuses. And that was just
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of their woes. Their first born killed their
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  Speaker 1: second born, and one of their descendants demanded multiple wives.
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  Speaker 1: The family tree soon grew red with shed blood, and
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  Speaker 1: by the time we reached chapter six, the children of
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  Speaker 1: Adam have descended into an evil pit from which they
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  Speaker 1: cannot climb, and separating them from God were seven generations
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  Speaker 1: of hard hearts. And so God said this. The Lord
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  Speaker 1: saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
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  Speaker 1: and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart
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  Speaker 1: was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that
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  Speaker 1: he had made men on earth, and he was grieved
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  Speaker 1: in his heart. And so the Lord said, I will
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  Speaker 1: destroy man whom I have created from the face of
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  Speaker 1: the earth, both man and beast, and creeping things and
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  Speaker 1: birds of the year, for I'm sorry that I have
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  Speaker 1: made them. No one longed for Eden, no one craved
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  Speaker 1: for God. No one grieved the fall or longed for
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  Speaker 1: the garden. No one, that is, except Noah. We've looked
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  Speaker 1: at the corruption. Now let's look at the exception. You know,
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  Speaker 1: Noah in this passage Genesis six and verse eight, is
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  Speaker 1: described as the one who found grace in the eyes
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord. I wish I could tell you how
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  Speaker 1: Noah found grace. I wish I could tell you more
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  Speaker 1: about Noah. How this descendant of Adam came to be
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  Speaker 1: good in a world gone bad. How this butterfly landed
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  Speaker 1: in a pig sty? What did he do Did he pray?
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  Speaker 1: Did he fast? Did he pray fast? We know what
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  Speaker 1: he did after he found God's grace. He became a
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  Speaker 1: boat building, sermon preaching, animal hurting hero of the faith.
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  Speaker 1: He saved the human race. But what about the young Noah?
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  Speaker 1: What about the Noah before this moment? Who knows? We don't.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we call him Noah because we don't Noah
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  Speaker 1: thing about him. I was very proud of that sentence.
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  Speaker 1: You wonder what preachers do with the whole afternoon. We
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  Speaker 1: try to think up sentences just like that. All we
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  Speaker 1: know is this, Noah trusted the promises of God. In
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  Speaker 1: the long lineage of the people of the Promise, the
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  Speaker 1: name Noah appears at the top. He trusted the promise
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  Speaker 1: of God. In fact, not only does the word grace
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  Speaker 1: first appear in the story of Noah, also the word
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  Speaker 1: covenant first appears in the story of Noah. God told Noah,
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  Speaker 1: I will establish my covenant or my promise with you,
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  Speaker 1: and you will enter the ark, you and your sons,
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  Speaker 1: and your wife and your son's wives with you. So
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  Speaker 1: God made a promise to Noah. He promised him a
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  Speaker 1: safe place, a certain deliverance. God told Noah to expect
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  Speaker 1: forty days and forty ninths of rain, and what began
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  Speaker 1: as a pitter patter resulted in a flood that swallowed
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  Speaker 1: up all the high mountains and the living creatures, and
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  Speaker 1: most significantly, the rebellious people. They had flooded the earth
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  Speaker 1: with rebellion. God would flood the earth with water. The
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  Speaker 1: flood did come, the boat did float, and the planet
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  Speaker 1: was purged. And after forty days of rain and eight
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  Speaker 1: months of floating, Noah and his family came to rest
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  Speaker 1: on dry land. They were protected. God made a promise.
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  Speaker 1: God kept his promise, and then he showed a rainbow
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  Speaker 1: in the sky, and with that promise said he would
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  Speaker 1: never flood the earth again. This is a great story,
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  Speaker 1: but is it more than that? Does it have any
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  Speaker 1: significance to our lives in this day and age? I
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  Speaker 1: think it does. I think the corruption that is followed
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  Speaker 1: by the exception leads to a very encouraging application. You see, really,
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  Speaker 1: not only does the word grace first appear in the
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  Speaker 1: story of Noah. Really, the picture of grace appears in
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  Speaker 1: the story of Noah. God has sent us a rescue
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  Speaker 1: vessel as well. And when our world feels flooded by
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  Speaker 1: evil and trouble. God has sent an ark. Only our
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  Speaker 1: ark is not a boat. Our ark is a savior
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  Speaker 1: by the name of Jesus. Christ. The apostle Paul said
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  Speaker 1: it like this, For everyone has sinned. There's the evil.
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  Speaker 1: It's everywhere. Everyone has sinned. We all fall short of
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  Speaker 1: God's glorious standard. Yet God, in his what grace, freely
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  Speaker 1: makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
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  Speaker 1: For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People
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  Speaker 1: are made right with God when they believe that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. Sacrifice shows that God
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  Speaker 1: was being fair when he held back and did not
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  Speaker 1: punish those who sinned in times past, for he was
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  Speaker 1: looking ahead and including them in what he would do
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  Speaker 1: in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness,
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  Speaker 1: for he himself is fair and just, and he makes
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  Speaker 1: sinners right in his sight. When they believe in Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: you see, Jesus is our arc. We enter into him,
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  Speaker 1: we place our trust in him. When we sense the
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  Speaker 1: presence of evil around us, we step into him. His
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  Speaker 1: gang plank is made of the wood of Calvary, and
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  Speaker 1: the light that opens to the heavens from within. Our
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  Speaker 1: ark is cut through by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He himself is our arc. He himself is our deliverance.
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  Speaker 1: And then he comes once we place our trust in him,
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  Speaker 1: and he seals the door shut, just as God did
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  Speaker 1: with Noah. He seals the door shut from the outside,
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  Speaker 1: and he guarantees our safe arrival. Storms come, troubles come,
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  Speaker 1: but so does God. The word for this in the
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  Speaker 1: Bible is grace. Grace is God's unmerited favor, his choice
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  Speaker 1: to be kind to people who do not deserve kindness,
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  Speaker 1: to give forgiveness to those of us who do not
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  Speaker 1: deserve forgiveness. Our choice is to simply believe, to do
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  Speaker 1: as Noah did, climb into the boat, to believe the
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  Speaker 1: promise and trust that He will take us home. Years ago,
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  Speaker 1: I came across the story that I believe illustrates this
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  Speaker 1: great promise of grace. It was told to me by
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  Speaker 1: a friend who had heard the story from a friend
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  Speaker 1: who I believe had heard the story from another friend.
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  Speaker 1: So I cannot vouch for the absolute veracity of the story.
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  Speaker 1: But if it carries even a splinter of truth, it's
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  Speaker 1: worth the retelling. Seems. A certain gentleman was shopping at
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  Speaker 1: a commissary. All he needed was coffee and bread, and
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  Speaker 1: so he got his coffee in his bread and he
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  Speaker 1: went to the checkout line. Behind him in the checkout
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  Speaker 1: line was a lady, presumably a housewife, and she had
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  Speaker 1: a basket overflowing with groceries and clothing and even some
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  Speaker 1: television equipment. As the gentleman, with just the bread and
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  Speaker 1: the offee, stepped up to check out, the cash register
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  Speaker 1: attendant pointed to a fish bowl and he said, in
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  Speaker 1: that fish bowl there is a correct number, and if
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  Speaker 1: you reach in and you pull out the correct number,
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  Speaker 1: all your groceries are free. Well, the gentleman looked and
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  Speaker 1: the bowl was overflowing with little pieces of paper hundreds
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  Speaker 1: and hundreds. He asked the cash register attendant how many
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  Speaker 1: correct numbers are there? And the reply was just one.
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  Speaker 1: So the fellow said, what are the odds? But he
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  Speaker 1: stuck his hand down in the fish bowl, and he
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  Speaker 1: fished around for a minute, and he pulled out a
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  Speaker 1: piece of paper, and he looked, and wouldn't you know,
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  Speaker 1: it was the winning number. What a surprise. But then
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  Speaker 1: he realized that all he had that day was bred
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  Speaker 1: and coffee. What a waste. But this fellow was quick.
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  Speaker 1: He remembered the lady behind him, the one with the
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  Speaker 1: mountain of groceries in the basket. He remembered, and he
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  Speaker 1: looked over at her, and he said, hey, honey, guess
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  Speaker 1: what we won. She stared at him, but he winked
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  Speaker 1: at her and held up the winning number. Well, much
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  Speaker 1: to her credit, she had to wherewithal to play along,
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  Speaker 1: And she stepped from behind the basket and walked up
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  Speaker 1: and stood beside the man and put her arm in his,
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  Speaker 1: and for just a moment, the two, now wedded by
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  Speaker 1: good fortune, stood together out in the parking lot. She
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  Speaker 1: consummated their temporary union with a quick peck on the
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  Speaker 1: cheek and to thank you. And he went home and
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  Speaker 1: she went home. And don't you know they had a
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  Speaker 1: grand story to tell their kids. Now, don't send me
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  Speaker 1: any emails. I know it was a bit shady what
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  Speaker 1: they did. I get that he shouldn't have lied, she
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't have pretended. No emails. Please. All that said, isn't
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  Speaker 1: that a great story? And doesn't that story remind us
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  Speaker 1: just a bit of the story of grace. Even more so,
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  Speaker 1: the lady, though she had much to pay, could pay it.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot pay for our sins. And yet a stranger
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  Speaker 1: has appeared, and with a wink of kindness, he has
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  Speaker 1: invited us to stand next to him, not just for
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  Speaker 1: food at a commissary, but at a feast for eternity,
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  Speaker 1: and not just for a moment, but forever, and receive
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  Speaker 1: that for which we did not work, and receive blessings
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  Speaker 1: that we cannot overestimate. This is the gift of God.
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  Speaker 1: Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Have
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  Speaker 1: you found this grace? Have you found this grace? Maybe
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  Speaker 1: all your life people have told you that what God
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  Speaker 1: wants you to do is behave or or be good,
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  Speaker 1: or or be long, And so you've tried to behave,
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  Speaker 1: or be good, or be long, and you just you
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  Speaker 1: just get so tired because you feel like you never
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  Speaker 1: know if you're good enough, or if you're behaving enough, or
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  Speaker 1: you're belonging to the right group. But then along comes
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  Speaker 1: the voice of grace. And the voice of Grace does
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  Speaker 1: not say behave, or be good or be long. The
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  Speaker 1: voice of Grace says, just be still, just believe. It's
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  Speaker 1: what Noah did. Now, he did a lot after he believed,
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  Speaker 1: but there's no record of him pounding a nail or
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: building a boat or herding an animal before he believed.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Because of his beliefs, some wonderful things happened, But it
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: wasn't his works that saved him. It was his faith.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: And it's not your works that are going to add
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: one iota to your salvation. It's your belief. Why don't
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: you stand on that promise? Just stand on it, and
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: in a world that seems to go evil, you hang
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: on to that one promise no one can take. And
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: that is when you believe in Christ, your soul is secured.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: You have been placed upon the ark of God's deliverance,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: and He will get you home. And if you've never
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: said yes to that grace, now you know why it's
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: so sweet. Now you know why it's called amazing grace.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: And now you know at least part of the reason
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: God makes this great and precious promise. When you go
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: to the rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. Amen.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: And now Heavenly Father, grant that this grace could go
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: so deep in our hearts, that it washes away the fear,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: It washes away the anguish, it washes away the hurt.
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  Speaker 1: For Father, I'm very confident that there are those who
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: are hearing this prayer who have felt all three. Would
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: you please tell them that your grace is sufficient, and
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: your grace is enough. Let grace be our great joy
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: for because no one can take our Jesus, no one
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: can take our grace. Through Christ, we pray, and all
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: the church said.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: Stepp.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: Warm.
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: Loving you alone feels so beautiful, and yet it hurts
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: the most.
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: You became my quiet sunrise, the dream I never dared
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: breath a little away. I held this love like fragile glass,
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: so precious, soft and true, But every beat inside my
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: heart was only reaching out to you.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: Unspoken.
• 31:39
  Speaker 6: Love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain,
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: a tender whole by all so sadly while it slowly
• 31:52
  Speaker 6: breaks me. Loving you from just one side, now leave
• 31:57
  Speaker 6: my soul in silent blue. Because the deeper that I
• 32:02
  Speaker 6: fall along, the lonelier I do.
• 32:09
  Speaker 5: I can blame my heart for choosing someone that could
• 32:14
  Speaker 5: never keep so I smiled through hidden heartache.
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: Hell love you quietly spoke. In love is sweet and painful,
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: like hon e mixed with rain.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: That's end. The whole bi.
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: So tightly walid, slowly breaks me loving you from just
• 32:39
  Speaker 6: one side. Now leave my soul in silent bloom, because
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: the deeper that I fall along.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: The lonely I do. Maybe loving you in silence.
• 33:11
  Speaker 7: It's the closest dye can stay, though leaves behind the
• 33:16
  Speaker 7: sorrow that may never fast away.
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: Spoken love is sweet and painful, like horney mixed with rain.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: A tender whole.
• 33:33
  Speaker 6: Bibles so tightly wally.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: Slowly breaks me loving you.
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: From just one side.
• 33:41
  Speaker 6: Now leave my soul in silence, because the deeper that I.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Follow love the loly.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: Her to
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: Bevo