Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / The Family Affair pt. 4

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The Family Affair pt. 4 · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
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designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
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walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
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the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
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right in. The accurate measure of our growth
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in the things of God is actually seen in our
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work life. in our love walk, how we love one
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another, how we allow the love of God to flow
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through us. And I really want to see a new wave
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in our midst as a church, as a community, that
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the love of God is not just on the pulpit. or
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in our words, but we see it manifested in our
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daily living towards one another. That is how
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we see, you know, the power of God at work. Matthew
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chapter 18. Matthew 18 from verse 15. Matthew
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18, verse 15 to verse 19. Moreover, if your brother
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sins against you, go and tell him his fault between
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you and him alone. And if he hears you, you have
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gained your brother. But if he will not hear,
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take with you one or two more, that by the mouth
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of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
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And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the
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church. But if he refuses even to hear the church,
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let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
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Surely I say to you that whatever you bind on
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earth will be bound in heaven. and whatever you
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loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again
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I say to you, if two or three, two of you rather
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agree on earth concerning anything that they
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ask, it will be done for them by my Father in
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heaven. For where two or three are gathered together
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in my name, I am there in the midst of them.
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Hallelujah. Now it is important to note that,
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you know, that in our family cycle, in the church,
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we must be ready to forgive one another. It's
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an emphasis. We must always be prepared because
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most times, because of the expectation that we
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build towards one another, It becomes a shocker
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when you are offended by somebody. So it is quite
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very important that as family members, as a church,
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as a family of God, we must be ready, prepared
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at all times. Let it not be that until someone
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offends you, then you look for what to do. No.
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Before the offense will come, because you are
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sure that offenses will do what? Will arise as
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a result of your relationship with people. So
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long as you interact with people, so long as
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we interact with one another, conflict is mandatory.
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Hallelujah. If it didn't happen with you, it
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simply means that you are not participating in
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fellowship with people. It simply means that
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you are not, number one, it means that you're
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not being a blessing to people and you're not
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allowing people to be a blessing to you. It means
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that the pastors have no influence in your life.
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It means that you don't even belong to a team
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in this church. It means that you don't belong
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to a cell or you don't have a circle of people
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around that are close to you in this church.
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But so long as we are together, we are people
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and we are interacting together, in the course
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of our interaction, all right, there will be
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friction. Now, the problem is not the friction.
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Hallelujah. The problem is our response to what?
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To the friction that will happen in the course
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of our relationship. And what God will want us
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to do is to create room in our hearts. Now, as
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we plan to enter into the new year, Let there
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be open -mindedness. Let us be prepared in our
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hearts, all right, that my brother, my sister
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can offend me. Once we have this preconceived
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thought in our mind that my brother can offend
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me, then I think up to 50 % of our problems are
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solved, our relationship problems are solved.
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Secondly, What is my disposition towards my brother's
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offense, my sister's offense? My disposition
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is that I have forgiven even before she offends
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me. Do you understand? That you have already
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what? You have already forgiven the brother.
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You have already forgiven the sister even before
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the offense. With this mindset, it is impossible
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for the enemy. It is impossible for Satan. to
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have a foothold. It is impossible for Satan to
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influence our guarding our relationship because
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we are living in love. We are allowed in love
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to find expression through us, one another. So
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we must get ready to forgive. Forgive our pastors.
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Amen? Because our pastors, they will offend us.
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Come on, every day, every week, there are people
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that we keep offending every day, every week.
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In the course of serving you, we offend you.
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We'll correct you sometimes and we'll correct
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you. Even we feel the impact of our correction
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towards you. We have no choice. We just have
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to correct you. We have to be bold. See, let
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me tell you, it takes boldness, right? It takes
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courage. It takes courage to give correction
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to people. It takes courage to be firm and to
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insist and say, you must do it this way, you
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must do it that way. It takes courage to discipline.
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There are some people that they can easily just
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accommodate everything that happens, even if
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you are wrong. Oh, everything is all right. It
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takes courage to really be diligent in giving
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instruction. In leading people and in guiding
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people. So, in your relationship with your pastors,
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you must be ready. You know, sometimes when you
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correct people, people choose to respond any
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way they want to respond. But we must be ready
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that no matter how, no matter what will happen
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in the course of this new season, that I... will
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be open -minded and let the love of God flow
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through my heart. So, in the course of our relationship,
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pastors, church leaders, we must be ready to
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do or to accommodate one another and to let forgiveness
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reign. Now, sometimes people think that when
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you talk about forgiveness, you know, many times
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when I hear people talk about The issue of forgiveness
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is that you should forgive so that you will prosper.
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You know, if you don't forgive, your life, your
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life will not be what? Your life will not be
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prosperous. It's partially true. It's not true.
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Because some of the most prosperous people, based
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on the prosperity that we look at in the world,
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some of the most prosperous people we see in
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this world are the most unforgiving, are the
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most vicious people we can meet. You think in
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the business and the political cycle they forgive?
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They don't forgive. Alright? So the motivation
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for forgiveness and reconciliation is not necessarily
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so that your life will be prosperous in the physical.
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That's not the reason. If that's your motivation,
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just know that Donald Trump says it appropriately.
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He does not forgive. He does not forgive. He
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deals with his enemies. And he's prosperous.
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Isn't he prosperous? Hallelujah. So the reason
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why you forgive is because, number one, so that
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you enjoy the blessings of your brothers and
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your sisters. Because if you have offense towards
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me, the moment I clam this people to even bless
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you, you will not be blessed. Because automatically
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one will stand between you and myself. It's an
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offense. Are we together? In our interaction
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as a family, we will not be a blessing one to
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another. Secondly, we will not be able to truly
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demonstrate the love of God. Because the gospel
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must be seen in our interaction with one another.
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So what we do when we don't forgive is that we
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limit the expression of God's love through our
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lives. So it is for our benefit. And the benefit
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is that so that we will be blessed and we can
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grow. We must be ready to forgive and reconcile.
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Team members, I've had some teams. There's quite
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a few teams. You can't work together if there's
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no forgiveness and reconciliation. Hallelujah.
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So you must make up your mind that in this new
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year, In a prayer time, even if Takunda will
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say one thing I don't like, we'll be there. Are
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we together? See, relationships don't just break
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because they break on their own. Relationships
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are not individuals on their own. It's two individuals
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or people that choose to uphold a relationship.
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And when one doesn't take responsibility, what
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will happen? The relationship will be deteriorated.
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Hallelujah. So we must be determined to take
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responsibility for what? For ensuring that what?
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We keep the love. Be ready to forgive and reconcile
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with one another. Even at family level, there
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are some of you here that you're not in good
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times with your parents. Right? Your father and
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your mother have not been speaking, they've not
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been talking. So you've sided with one part.
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You've joined one of the parents against the
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other. And oftentimes it's the children ganging
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up with the mom against the father. Oftentimes
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that's how it happens. Some of us have inherited
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our parents' enemies. And what do you call it?
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You're like in a family. Your father is not in
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good terms with maybe one of his cousins. Who
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happened to be your uncles? Automatically, you've
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sided with your dad and then you are against
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them. So we must be ready to ensure that in our
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relationships, there's no obstacle. In the family,
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be ready to forgive and reconcile with your wife
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if you are married. With your husband? With your
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siblings? Some of you, you don't even talk with
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your siblings. How is the love of God flowing
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through your life? You and your siblings are
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like cat and rat. We cannot be doing love in
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this church and then you are living in grudge
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with your... your siblings, they're living in
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God with your parents, they're living in God
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with your cousins, your aunties, your uncles.
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Even in your work, God work, even with unbelievers,
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towards unbelievers. So it is very important
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that we examine our relationship. That's what
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I want to bring to our notice. It is important
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that we examine every... Of our relationships.
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But in the family. In the church. In the society.
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To ensure that what. We are. Living in love.
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Hallelujah. The believer must be relationship
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conscious. The believer. Must be relationship
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conscious. At all times. Because that is our
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identity. You must be poor reconciliation. At
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all times. Let it not be that when there's a
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division in a place and they come and they find
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you, ooh, they believe that you're the one that
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is orchestrator of that division. You are the
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one that is the main engineer of that separation
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relationship. But you must be pro -reconciliation
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because we are born, our nature is to build relationships.
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Hallelujah. So we must be prepared and ready
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to forgive in all situations. Colossians 3, verse
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12. Colossians 3, verse 12 to 13. So therefore,
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as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on
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tender mercies, right? Kindness, humility, meekness,
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long -suffering, verse 13, the key verse, verse
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13. Bearing with one another, and what? And forgiving
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one another. If anyone has a complaint against
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another, Even as Christ forgave you, what will
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happen? You also must do what? Must forgive.
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So our forgiveness is a response to what Christ
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has done for us. So therefore, it becomes necessary
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that at all times we are ready. To do what? To
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forgive. To bear with one another. We are bearing
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with one another because we are humans. We are
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humans. So pastors, bear with us. We are humans.
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We are growing. Leaders, bear with us. We are
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humans. Correct us. And as we are corrected,
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we receive correction in love. Hallelujah. Ready
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to forgive when we feel offended? Ready to forgive
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when we have a complaint against another? Ready
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to forgive? Now in Matthew 17, Matthew 18 verse
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17, I just want to discuss some certain issues
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that we're... I didn't emphasize in the previous
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teachings. Verse 17 particularly emphasizes the
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importance of the church. He says, and if, now
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first of all, an individual offended you, alright,
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you've gone to him to seek reconciliation and
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then there was no reconciliation. you've communicated
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to your brother or two, and then you've gone
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to the person to seek for reconciliation, and
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this was not possible. All right? Now, the next
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step is to tell it to the church. But if he refuses
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even to hear the church, let him beat you like
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a hittin', like a tax collector. All right? So,
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the church... is very, very important in our
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relationship. We must not always, you know, silence
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ourselves from the body. Are we together? Acts
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chapter 15, verse 10. There's an issue that happened
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in the church in Acts chapter 10, chapter 15,
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verse 1, where the brethren had an issue concerning
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doctrine. I just want us to see an example in
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the life of the apostles and we move on. Acts
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chapter 15, from verse 1. And certain men came
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down from Judea and taught the brethren. What
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was their doctrine? Unless you are circumcised
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according to the custom of Moses. You cannot
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be saved. So these folks came around and they
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began to preach works to the brethren. Therefore,
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when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension,
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that is, when they disagreed with them thoroughly
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and disputed with them, they were determined
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that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of
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them should do what? Should separate and divide
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the church into two? Should cause division in
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the church? What should they do? Certain orders
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of them should go up to Jerusalem. Okay, where
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the elders are, where the leaders of the church
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are. To the apostles and the elders about this
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question. What question? The question of the
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customs of Moses. Is it necessary for someone
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to obey this to be saved? Hallelujah. I mean,
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for us, we know at our time and our season right
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now, we know that salvation is by what? It's
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by faith alone. All right? But for them, it was
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a contention. Now, what we want you to learn,
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brethren, as you are growing, as you've not seen
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us, your leaders do, please, I want to encourage
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you, don't try it. All right? I've seen instances
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where brethren will disagree on doctrine and
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then the pulpit become an opportunity. Pulpit
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and media become an opportunity to castigate
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and to attack. For example, now Pastor Carson
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preached something. Alright? And then I'll go
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and listen to what Pastor Carson preached. And
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he said for us to reason together on what he
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preached. Alright? And reach a place of what?
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Conclusion. Together, reasoning together. Then
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I come online and I begin to castigate whatever
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he said. That is not working in love. Hallelujah.
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And sometimes we have warned some of you that,
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you know, when you go online and you see things,
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you don't have the liberty to make comments or
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to contribute to attacks of people because you
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don't see us do it. Are we together? So you must
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be able to Walk in love. And one of the ways
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of walking in love is knowing that the body of
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Christ is actually the body of Christ. All right?
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Now, in this situation, verse 3, so being sent
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on their way by the church, they passed through
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Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion
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of the Gentiles, and they caused great... Great
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joy to all the brethren. So as they were going,
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they were telling the churches around how the
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Gentiles have repented, have received the gospel.
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Verse 4. And when they had come to Jerusalem,
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they were received by the church and the apostles
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and the elders, and they reported all the things
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that God had done with them. But some of the
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sect of the Pharisee who believed not, who believed,
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rose up saying it is necessary. Now, these are
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the people that were adding the things of Moses,
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the laws of Moses as a foundation or as a prerequisite
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for faith. Some of the sect of the Pharisees
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who believe rose up saying it is necessary to
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circumcise them and to command them to keep the
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law of Moses. Now, the apostles and the elders
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came together. The apostles and the elders, what
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did they do? They came together, all right? on
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that matter, on this matter. And when there has
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been much dispute, dispute here is not that I
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agree, I disagree, I agree, I disagree. Oh, they
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were removing their clothes and crossing punches.
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No, no, no. Dispute here has to do with what?
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Conversation of scripture. They were analyzing
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scripture. They were dispersing scripture upon
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scripture, discussing scripture. When they have
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what? There have been much dispute. Peter rose
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up and said to them, men and brethren, You know
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that a good while ago, God chose among us that
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by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word
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of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows
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the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the
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spirit, just as he did to us, and made no distinction
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between us and them, purifying their hearts by
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faith. Now, therefore, why do you test God? By
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putting a yoke on the neck of his disciples,
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which neither our fathers nor we are able to
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bear. And then to verse 22. Verse 22. Then it
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pleased the apostles and the elders with the
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whole church to do what? After they've discussed
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the matter, alright? They did please the apostles
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and the elders with the whole church to send
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choosing men of their own company to Antioch
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with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, who was
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also named Barabbas, and Silas, leading them
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among the brethren. They wrote this letter by
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them. The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
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to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch,
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Syria, and Cilicia, greetings. that some who
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went out from us have troubled you with words
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unsettling your soul, saying you must be circumcised
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and keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment.
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It seems good to us, being assembled with one
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accord, to send choosing men to you with our
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beloved Barabbas and Paul, men who have reached
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their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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We have before them. Therefore send... Judas
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and Silas, who will also report the same things
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by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy
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Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden
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than these necessary things, that you abstain
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from things of idols, from blood, from things
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strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you
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keep yourself from these, you will do well. Farewell.
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Concluded. Matter closed. Hallelujah. So you
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see, how this conflict, this issue, even when
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it comes to doctrinal matters, they were able
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to seek the counsel of the church, the leadership
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of the church. And we can see how this matter
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was amicably resolved. Hallelujah. So it is important
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to know that there is no private matter in church
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when it comes to conflict between believers.
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Okay? What I'm saying is when the two of you
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have an issue, it means that the body has an
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issue. Hallelujah. So when you are able to try
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to resolve it between the two of you, it becomes
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important that you bring in the brothers in it.
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The church should know about it in order to resolve
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it. So believers must be involved. You cannot
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be the sole judge of issues alone. You must.
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You must involve others, especially in the church.
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The verse goes on to say, but if he refuses even
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to hear the church, let him be to you like a
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heathen and a tax collector. Now, what does it
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mean? Let him be to you a heathen and a publican.
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I started explaining this on Sunday. Now, the
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word heathen is someone who does not know God.
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Someone who is a pagan, someone that is not a
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believer. All right? And a publican or a tax
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collector or a publican is someone who is a corrupt
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individual, especially a tax collector to the
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Roman authority. All right? Who, you know, inflate
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taxes. They are known as very corrupt individuals.
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They cheat with records, for example. So these
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are those we will regard as sinners, the tax
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collector and Republicans. And the Bible is saying
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that we should consider such an individual. The
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person refused to listen to the church. Even
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the church tried to come into the matter, but
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then the church could not reconcile such an individual.
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We should treat such an individual like a tax
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collector. Now, the context of the conversation
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here, as we read from verse 15, is that this
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person is a brother. The context of the conversation
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is that a brother is a brother who sins. The
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brother is not a sinner. Are we together? The
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brother is not a heathen, is not a tax collector,
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but should be treated as a heathen or as a publican.
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Now, how should we treat such a brother? We began
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to see how Jesus treated such an individual.
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Matthew 5, verse 44. Matthew 5, verse 44, quickly.
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Matthew 5, verse 44. Yes. But I say to you, love
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your enemies, right? Bless those who curse you.
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Do good to those who hate you. And pray for those
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who spitefully use you and persecute you. The
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next verse. That you may be the sons of your
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Father in heaven. For he makes his son to rise
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on the evil and on the good and send rain on
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the just and on the unjust. For if you love those
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who love you, what reward have you? Do not even
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the tax collectors, that is the sinners, people
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we regard as the sinners, do the same. Don't
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they do the same? Verse 47. And if you grieve
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your brethren only, what do you do more than
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others? Do not even the tax collectors do so.
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Verse 48. Therefore you shall be perfect. just
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as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 9,
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verse 10. Matthew 9, verse 10 and 12. Now it
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happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house,
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that behold, many tax collectors and sinners
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came and sat down with him and his disciples.
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And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his
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disciples, why does your teacher eat with sinners,
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with tax collectors and sinners. When Jesus heard
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it and he said to them, those who are well have
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no need of a physician. Amen. But those who are
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what? Those who are sick. Chapter 10, verse 3.
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Matthew 10, verse 3. Philip and Bartholomew Thomas
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and Matthew, the tax collector, were part of
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his disciples. James, the son of Alphaeus and
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Labius, whose son was Thaddeus. We see that a
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tax collector was part of his selection of men
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that were served as his disciples. Chapter 11,
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verse 19. Chapter 11, verse 19. The son of man
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came eating and drinking and they said, look.
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a gluten and a wine biver, a friend of tax collectors
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and sinners. But wisdom is justified by her children.
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Matthew 21, verse 31. Matthew 21, verse 31 and
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32. Which of the two did the will? Which of the
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two did the will of his father? They said to...
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The first, Jesus said to them, I surely have
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said to you that tax collectors and harlots entered
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the kingdom of God before you. Verse 32. For
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John came to you in the way of righteousness
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and you did not believe him, but tax collectors
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and harlots believed him. And when you saw it,
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you did not afterward relent and believe in him.
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Hallelujah. So from these verses, we'll see Jesus'
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disposition towards the people that are called
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the tax collectors. So from Jesus' relationship
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with these people, we see that he did what? He
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didn't hurt them or condemn them and treated
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them as sinners or as people to be avoided. Rather,
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he became a friend to them. Hallelujah. Jesus
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welcomed them. He welcomes them. He accepted
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them. So it becomes important that we understand
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what the scripture is not saying. The scripture
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is not saying that when the person refuses to
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reconcile, then we should sever our relationship
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with him. Now, there's a difference. Now, there
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are two things in scripture. There's a place
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where, in Corinthians, of course, where the apostle
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taught to leave a brother, all right, is involved
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in an open sin. Okay? And then he is corrected
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and refuses and continues in that. We should
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avoid him and not even eat with him. And what
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is the reason? So that he will come to realization
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of his wrong and do what? And repent. Now, these
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are two different things. The context of this
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is in our individual relationship. When it comes
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to offenses, when someone offends you, when someone
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does something wrong towards you. Hallelujah.
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So whether the brother accepts or acknowledges
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is wrong or not, we have a disposition and our
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disposition is to do what? Is to welcome such
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an individual. Matthew 5, 44 that we read earlier
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on. It says, but I say unto you, love your enemies.
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Those who are in opposition to us, love your
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enemies. Bless them. Bless them that curse you.
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Do good to them that hate you. And pray for them
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which despitefully use you and persecute you.
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So what we do is that we love them. Okay? We
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allow the love of God in our hearts to do what?
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To be expressed towards such individuals. How
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do we love them? We love them by blessing them.
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How do we bless them? We bless them by saying
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good things concerning them. And our utterance
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is concerning them. We don't say negative and
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evil things concerning them. We say good things
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concerning those who do us evil. I know this
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may sound difficult. Sometimes someone done something
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evil to you and then you are expected to say
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something good about the person. Sometimes we
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can scramble and look around for anything good
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we can say. But our eyes will fail us to say
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anything good. But by the help of the Spirit
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of God, hallelujah, we can always say good things
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about people, even the people that wrong us and
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do evil against us. So we say good things concerning
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those who do us evil, not saying evil things
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concerning them to destroy their image, to destroy
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their character. Even when we hear people saying
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evil things about them, we say good things about
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them because that is what God will expect of
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us. We do them good. We help them while in need.
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Amen. That's how we love those who despisefully
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use us. We help them. We do them good. And we
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pray for them. What do we pray for them? What
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do we pray for them? We pray for them that it
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will be well with them. Hallelujah. That it will
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be well with them. Not that they will die. or
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that something evil will happen to them, okay,
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that person that has offended you, that person
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that has done you wrong, your response towards
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such an individual, even in the most unwelcoming
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version of the person that he has refused to
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reconcile, he has refused to even admit that
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he is wrong, he has refused to even accept that
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he has done, he has offended you, pray for him.
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You're not praying that you have an accident
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and die. Because that wouldn't be the love of
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God. But you are praying that it will be well
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with such an individual. You are praying that
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he will be prosperous in his ways. You are praying
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that he will enjoy the love of God. You are praying
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that he will continue to grow and be great. Hallelujah.
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So as we run out this year, I just want us to
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stop there and continue another time. But I really
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want it to be intentional about your relationship
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in this coming year. I really want you to be
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very intentional about your relationship this
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year. We prayed, we keep praying. Listen, it's
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good to pray, but as we pray, God will be staring
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us in our hearts. God will be staring us in our
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hearts. And then we will be led with the right
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thing to do at all times, right responses at
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all times. And the response we always do is the
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response of love towards one another. Hallelujah.
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So, I really want us to be encouraged, right?
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Be intentional that this year that we are entering,
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that I will be a better person. Being a better
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person simply means that you allow the Spirit
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of God to walk through you. That the love of
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God that is already in you is not coming from
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anywhere. The love of God that has been shed
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that brought your heart by the Spirit of God
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that lives in you will be given room to express,
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to be expressed. We appreciate you being here
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today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout
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your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
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for additional insights. Stay connected with
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us through our website or follow us on social
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media. If you are encouraged, share this message
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with someone you care about. Until next time,
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stay blessed.