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What Harvey Can Teach Us - Max Lucado Daily Sermons · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: Just this morning, I stopped at a convenience store on
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Speaker 1: the way here. The front door had almost like wallpaper
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Speaker 1: signs up on the front entryway. We don't have any gas.
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Speaker 1: We don't know when we're going to get it. And
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Speaker 1: went in and bought a newspaper and bless her heart,
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Speaker 1: the attendant looked at me, and before I even said anything,
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Speaker 1: she said, we don't have any gas. Yeah, what a week. Huh,
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Speaker 1: what a week. I'm grateful that you're here, grateful that
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Speaker 1: you're in a place where you can receive some energy.
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Speaker 1: I thought it's too late to do it. I wish
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Speaker 1: i'd had the idea earlier. We should have put on
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Speaker 1: the marquee out here. We'll fill you up. That would
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Speaker 1: have been good. You know, Jesus was Lord before the storm.
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Speaker 1: He's Lord in the storm. He's the Lord after the storm. Amen,
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Speaker 1: and so, my Heavenly Father, our blessed Jesus, our King,
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Speaker 1: our King, our King, we bow before you as our Lord.
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Speaker 1: Our hearts are just so full of a variety of emotions,
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Speaker 1: from fear to hurt, to shock to numbness. We don't
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Speaker 1: know how to process what we're seeing, we're feeling, even
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Speaker 1: some guilt here we are high and drive with people
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Speaker 1: we love just by virtue of a street address have
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Speaker 1: lost their homes, and their cars and their belongings. Even
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Speaker 1: the few have lost their lives. So we ask you,
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Speaker 1: dearest Father, to help us understand just a little bit,
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Speaker 1: how we're supposed to process this, what we're supposed to
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Speaker 1: do with it. We thank you, Jesus, that you walk
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Speaker 1: in the middle of storms to rescue disciples and to
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Speaker 1: display your glory, and we pray you will do that
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Speaker 1: now through Christ we pray, and all the Church said,
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Speaker 1: So today's paper looks like this. Do you ever think
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Speaker 1: you'd see anything? Twelve thousand, six hundred homes destroyed, forty
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Speaker 1: two thousand, three hundred and ninety nine evacuees in shelters,
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Speaker 1: forty two thousand three that's four times the size of
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Speaker 1: my little hometown where I grew up, and then fifty
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Speaker 1: fatalities confirmed. What is the gospel? According to Harvey? What
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Speaker 1: can we learn from this? Who would have ever imagined
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Speaker 1: that we would see roadways turned into rivers, that we
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Speaker 1: would see rescuers in flat bottomed boats paddling through neighborhoods.
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Speaker 1: Who would have ever thought we'd see the hero of
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Speaker 1: the day, or rednecks in their big trucks riding in
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Speaker 1: and camouflage rescuing people I'd never even heard of, the
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Speaker 1: Cajun Navy. And some of the images that we saw
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Speaker 1: and are seeing right the elderly and the rest home
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Speaker 1: or senior citizen home, chest deep in water, the sites
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Speaker 1: of families are returning to see their homes for the
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Speaker 1: first time. And as one man said, somewhere down and there,
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Speaker 1: there's one hundred and fifty year old family Bible, just
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Speaker 1: image after image, and now the economic ramifications of cars
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Speaker 1: destroyed and homes destroyed and people dislocated. For days, we've
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Speaker 1: watched this tragedy unfold. And if you're like me, you've
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Speaker 1: wrestled with feelings of disbelief and numbness and fear. Maybe
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Speaker 1: you've even had the thought that I've had. It seems
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Speaker 1: to me we're feeling these feelings and seeing these sights
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Speaker 1: far too often. I was thumbing through some old sermons
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Speaker 1: on Monday, and I came across one for Crying out
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Speaker 1: Loud that was preached almost exactly twelve years ago today,
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Speaker 1: almost September tenth, two thousand and five. The headliner or
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Speaker 1: the title of the sermon was Lessons from Katrina, and
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Speaker 1: then we had one lessons from Haiti. What we can
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Speaker 1: learn from nine to eleven? It seems like we're just
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Speaker 1: stacking them up, one calamity after another. What can we
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Speaker 1: learn from these? I think it's very important for us,
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Speaker 1: as God's people, to pause and say, Lord, are you
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Speaker 1: trying to get our attention? Are you trying to say
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Speaker 1: something to us? Do we need to be hearing something
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Speaker 1: more than what is in the news coverage? Are there
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Speaker 1: some spiritual lessons that we should take from this that
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Speaker 1: will make us better people and better servants. Jesus was
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Speaker 1: critical of the leaders of his day because they focused
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Speaker 1: on the weather and ignored the signals. He said, you
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Speaker 1: find it easy enough to forecast the weather, why can't
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Speaker 1: you read the signs of the times? So, Lord, what
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Speaker 1: are the signs of the times? What are we needing
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Speaker 1: to see as your followers, as your people? Are there
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Speaker 1: some spiritual lessons that you would like us to learn? Well?
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Speaker 1: I would imagine if we all made a list, that
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Speaker 1: list could grow very long. Mine got very long, very quickly.
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Speaker 1: I reduced it down to four. I'll see if we
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Speaker 1: can get through these on time. Number one. Stuff doesn't last,
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Speaker 1: but relationships do. Stuff doesn't last, but relationships do. You've noticed,
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Speaker 1: as I have, as people are responding to the tragedy
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Speaker 1: that you not seeing anybody scream I can't find my
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Speaker 1: cordless drill, I've lost my plasma television. People aren't even
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Speaker 1: weeping over submerged SUVs. But if they're weeping, it's for people.
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Speaker 1: It's for relationships. If they're rejoicing, it's for relationships. It's
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Speaker 1: for people. Could it be that Jesus is giving us
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Speaker 1: yet another reminder, as we, the wealthiest nation on earth,
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Speaker 1: need to be reminded that it's not possessions that matter,
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Speaker 1: but it's people that matter. Could it be that Jesus
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Speaker 1: is saying, watch out, be on your guard against all
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Speaker 1: kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in
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Speaker 1: the abundance of possessions. We see demolished cars that will
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Speaker 1: never be driven again, hidden in debris or buried in water.
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Speaker 1: And in the background of our minds, can we not
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Speaker 1: hear Jesus remind us what good will it be for
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Speaker 1: someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul.
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Speaker 1: Raging hurricanes and swollen byues have a way of prying
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Speaker 1: our fingers off of things that will pass. And what
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Speaker 1: once was forgotten now is precious. What was precious is
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Speaker 1: easily forgotten. The Apostle Paul said, Tell those who are
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Speaker 1: rich in this world, I'm sorry. Tell those who are
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Speaker 1: rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full
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Speaker 1: of themselves and so obsessed with money which is here
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Speaker 1: today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God,
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Speaker 1: who piles on the riches, all the riches that we
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Speaker 1: could ever imagine, and to do good and to be
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Speaker 1: rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they
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Speaker 1: do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining
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Speaker 1: life that is truly life. Let's let Harvey teach us
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Speaker 1: a lesson. Possessions will past, but relationships won't. It's relationships
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Speaker 1: that matter. Let Harvey remind you value your marriage, treasure
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Speaker 1: your children, forgive your enemy, be restored with your adversary.
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Speaker 1: Seek to pursue these relationships, because these relationships are what matters.
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Speaker 1: Be assured that possessions pass, but relationships with people that's
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Speaker 1: where it matters. And also be assured. I think a
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Speaker 1: second point, and that is this, we really are in
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Speaker 1: this together. We really are in this together. We saw
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Speaker 1: on our seeing how humanity can come together and help
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Speaker 1: each other. Lifeboats did not discriminate according to the color
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Speaker 1: of skin. Rescuers do not ask if the person needing
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Speaker 1: to be rescued was a Republican or a Democrat. Helicopter
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Speaker 1: rescue wasn't only offered to people of a particular political
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Speaker 1: persuasion or economic status. People came together to help people,
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Speaker 1: and we need to keep it up, don't we. We
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Speaker 1: need to keep it up. The primary response is prayer.
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Speaker 1: The secondary response is financial help. We would encourage you,
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Speaker 1: if you're looking to partner or to help her, to
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Speaker 1: make financial donations. We would encourage you to go to
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Speaker 1: the American Red Cross or to Samaritans Purse in those
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Speaker 1: two organizations. We've put the links in this weekend's handout.
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Speaker 1: If you'd like to give your gift through the Oak
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Speaker 1: Hills Church, you can bet your sweet September We'll put
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Speaker 1: it to good use. We already have people on site.
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Speaker 1: James Massey, who heads up our short term mission program,
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Speaker 1: is already on site in Southeast Texas looking out, scouting
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Speaker 1: out the best opportunity for us to send in teams
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Speaker 1: We're waiting for the emergency rescuers to do their part.
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Speaker 1: We don't want to get in their way, but at
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Speaker 1: the appropriate time it will be right for us to
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Speaker 1: send in people with brooms and hammers. We're ready to
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Speaker 1: clean up and build, and so if you'd like to
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Speaker 1: make a contribution, we are creating a fund that will
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Speaker 1: help support that type of effort, and you can be
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Speaker 1: sure you'll be given opportunities to volunteer to be a
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Speaker 1: part of those teams. If you do give through the
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Speaker 1: Oak Hills Church, make sure and indicate that on your
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Speaker 1: check that this is for disaster relief or it's for
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Speaker 1: Hurricane Harvey somehow, so it won't go into the general fund.
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Speaker 1: If you give online, you'll notice that there is a
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Speaker 1: disaster relief fund button you can click. If you give cash,
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Speaker 1: just put money in an envelope and write Harvey on
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Speaker 1: the envelope. We're also partnering with Community Bible Church. They're
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Speaker 1: collecting and distributing cases of water, collecting them today and
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Speaker 1: if you'd like to take some cases of water over
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Speaker 1: to the Community Bible campus on two eighty one, those
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Speaker 1: are going to be collected all day long and then
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Speaker 1: distributed they're also when we are also partnering with them
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Speaker 1: and collecting gift cards from like HB or Target or Walmart.
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Speaker 1: If you want to buy some gift cards and take
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Speaker 1: them over to the Community Bible campus on two eighty one,
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Speaker 1: those will be distributed this week. Thank you in advance
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Speaker 1: for being the hands and feet of Christs, because now
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Speaker 1: it's the opportunity right for us to rally and bring
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Speaker 1: support to people that we know and people who we don't,
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Speaker 1: but can I also remind you you don't need a
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Speaker 1: hurricane to help people, and you don't need to go
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Speaker 1: to Southeast Texas to help people. Let this hurricane remind
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Speaker 1: us that they're a peopeople who are passing through a
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Speaker 1: storm and it's not on anybody's weather map. Maybe these
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Speaker 1: people are on your street, Maybe these people are in
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Speaker 1: your school. Remember we're kicking off a series of lessons
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Speaker 1: called Unshakable Hope, and we have several hundred I think
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Speaker 1: it's up to two hundred and fifty group leaders now
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Speaker 1: who are ready and poised to help people go through
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Speaker 1: a study in scripture, the promises of the Bible. Because
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Speaker 1: we're wanting to build our lives not on the pain
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Speaker 1: of life or the problems of life, but are the
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Speaker 1: promises of God. But to do this we need to
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Speaker 1: know the promises of Scripture. And so we have this
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Speaker 1: series of lessons that we're going to be working through
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Speaker 1: beginning next weekend. Maybe you know somebody at your work,
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Speaker 1: or in your school, or in your neighborhood who could
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Speaker 1: benefit from being encouraged. We have people desperate for hope,
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Speaker 1: and may the Lord use us to introduce them to
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Speaker 1: unshakable hope. And you can find at the Oak Hills
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Speaker 1: website a banner that will give you details about material,
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Speaker 1: about lessons, about groups, everything you need, and if you
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Speaker 1: don't find it, you just call us. We'll help you.
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Speaker 1: I think it's important for us to remember that we
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Speaker 1: are all in this together. I also think it's important
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Speaker 1: for us to just pause and say out loud, this
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Speaker 1: world doesn't work, but the next one will. This world
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Speaker 1: doesn't work. It just doesn't seem right that there be hurricanes. Right,
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Speaker 1: just doesn't seem right, that there be tornadoes. It just
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Speaker 1: doesn't seem right. Something is off, it's awry, it doesn't
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Speaker 1: seem right. And the resounding amen you hear from Scripture
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Speaker 1: is yes, it is not working. It doesn't work, and
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Speaker 1: scripture tells us over and over passages like this one
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Speaker 1: from Romans eight and verse twenty two. The whole creation
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Speaker 1: has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth, right
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Speaker 1: up until the present time. What an image. It's as
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Speaker 1: if the whole creation is third trimester heavy waiting to deliver. Now,
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Speaker 1: I cannot speak from experience about these birth pains, but
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Speaker 1: I've been told that they are not very comfortable. I
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Speaker 1: have been told that they can be very painful. But
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Speaker 1: I have also been told that as they increase in frequency,
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Speaker 1: you're drawing closer and closer to delivery. Is that correct?
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Speaker 1: The more intense they become, the more frequently they come,
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Speaker 1: the closer and closer you are to delivery. Am I
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Speaker 1: the only one who seems to think that, Boy, we're
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Speaker 1: having a lot of these. I mean, they just seem
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Speaker 1: to be stacking out. We just we not even endured
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Speaker 1: one hurricane, and there's another one come at our way.
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Speaker 1: Could it be that the Lord is reminding us that
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Speaker 1: we're getting closer and closer and closer to the very
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Speaker 1: end of this era, and we're going to witness the birth,
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Speaker 1: the new birth Earth of a new day. Could it
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Speaker 1: be that this is the generation that will see the
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Speaker 1: return of Christ. Could it be that what this message
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Speaker 1: is is not amen if you want to applaud the
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Speaker 1: Lord there. Could it be that we need to be
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Speaker 1: reminded as we look at these hurricanes. Yow, this isn't
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Speaker 1: how it was gonna be, but it's gonna be the
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Speaker 1: way God intended for it to be. And we're getting
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Speaker 1: closer and closer to that day. This world is not
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Speaker 1: how it was, but God will restore it. The promise
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Speaker 1: of Scripture is that God will reclaim his creation. He
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Speaker 1: will have his garden of Eden, and he will lay
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Speaker 1: hold of every atom, emotion, insect, animal, and galaxy. And
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Speaker 1: he will lay hold of every diseased body, every afflicted mind,
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Speaker 1: every polluted piece of dirt. He is a God of restoration.
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Speaker 1: Look at this promise that Jesus gives us From Matthew
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Speaker 1: chapter nineteen. He says, in the recreation of the world,
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Speaker 1: look at that phrase. There is coming a recreation of
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Speaker 1: the world, when the Son of Men will rule gloriously.
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Speaker 1: You who have followed me will also rule. There is
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Speaker 1: coming a recreation of the world, a restoration of the world,
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Speaker 1: a renewal, a redemption a regeneration, a resurrection. God is
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Speaker 1: a builder at heart, Jesus said, in my father's house
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Speaker 1: are many mansions. If it were not so, I would
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Speaker 1: not have told you. I go to prepare. Look at him.
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Speaker 1: He's a carpenter. He's preparing a place. He's preparing a
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Speaker 1: place for you. And if I go and prepare a
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Speaker 1: place for you, all come again and receive you to myself,
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Speaker 1: that where I am there you may be also. I
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Speaker 1: do not know how a person can process the storm
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Speaker 1: like we're seeing without the hope of heaven. I do
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Speaker 1: not know. I do not know how a person can
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Speaker 1: process a nature that seems so out of whack without
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Speaker 1: the promise that nature will be restored to its intended state.
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Speaker 1: But God has promised that if we set our eyes
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Speaker 1: on heaven, that will give us strength to endure these storms.
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Speaker 1: Do that? Will you? Do that? Will you do? Not
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Speaker 1: let your understanding be limited to the here and now,
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Speaker 1: but lift up your heart and set your eyes on heaven,
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Speaker 1: and remember the promise of Scripture that these present struggles
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Speaker 1: are not worth comparing with the glory that awaits us.
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Speaker 1: God's answer to human suffering always has been the promise
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Speaker 1: of heaven. There's something else we can learn, and this
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Speaker 1: will be my last one, and I'll be quiet. Every
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Speaker 1: rescue is a reason to celebrate. Did your heart not
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Speaker 1: rejoice as you watch the people rescue this week? Did
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Speaker 1: your heart not rejoice? Were you not made happy? I
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Speaker 1: saw one rescue I bet you saw it too, on
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Speaker 1: television of a man who had to be in his
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Speaker 1: mid eighties in the early service. I said, older men
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Speaker 1: in his mid eighties. I had several people in their
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Speaker 1: eighties say that's not old, so I'm not gonna say
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Speaker 1: that anymore. One man in his mid eighties, he was
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Speaker 1: hunched over, he was frail. It looked like he had
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Speaker 1: a walker. I couldn't tell because he was most of himself,
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Speaker 1: most of his body was underwater. And a couple of
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Speaker 1: these young guys climbed out of the boat, these redneck
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Speaker 1: heroes and bearded wearing camouflage, and they climbed down in
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Speaker 1: the water with him, and I thought, how in the
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Speaker 1: world are they going to get that guy up in
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Speaker 1: the boat? But they did. They did. Took a lot
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Speaker 1: of grunting and groaning, and you thought the old fellow
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Speaker 1: was going to fall apart, but they got him up
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Speaker 1: into the boat, and I just wanted to stand up
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Speaker 1: and cheer. And when I thought about those rescues, I thought,
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Speaker 1: that's how Jesus feels. That's how Jesus feels, not just
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Speaker 1: when he sees people rescued from a flood, but when
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Speaker 1: he sees people rescued from sin. You see, there's a
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Speaker 1: promise that Heaven rejoices every time that one sinner turns
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Speaker 1: to God. And what you and I experienced as we
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Speaker 1: saw people rescued from the water is what Heaven experiences
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Speaker 1: when Heaven sees people rescued from the devil and from sin.
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Speaker 1: There's a chapter in Luke, chapter fifteen. Go ahead. I
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Speaker 1: never know whether to tell you to stop clapping or
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Speaker 1: start clapping. I don't know. Luke. Chapter fifteen is full
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Speaker 1: of stories, three wonderful stories of what was lost and
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Speaker 1: then found. First there's a lost sheep. Then there's a
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Speaker 1: lost coin, then there's a lost son. You remember the chapter.
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Speaker 1: And when the shepherd finds the lost sheep, he gets excited,
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Speaker 1: he gets celebrate, celebritive, and when he finds it, he
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Speaker 1: happily puts the sheep on his shoulders and goes home.
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Speaker 1: When the housewife finds the lost coin. She says, be
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Speaker 1: happy with me because I have fo the coin that
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Speaker 1: was lost. And when the father of the prodigal son
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Speaker 1: explains to the reluctant older brother the reason for the party,
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Speaker 1: he said, we had to celebrate and be happy because
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Speaker 1: your brother was dead and now he's alife. He was
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Speaker 1: lost and now he's found. The point is clear. Jesus
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Speaker 1: is made happy when the lost are found. Heaven celebrates
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Speaker 1: when those who need to be rescued are rescued. He says,
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Speaker 1: there is joy in the presence of the angels of God.
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Speaker 1: Excuse me, when one sinner changes his heart and life.
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Speaker 1: This is interesting, isn't it. The Bible says nothing about
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Speaker 1: a party in heaven. When we get married, or when
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Speaker 1: we graduate from high school, or when we get a
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Speaker 1: new job. The party doesn't happen. Then, I guess the
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Speaker 1: bubbly stays in the refrigerator, but it comes out, and
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Speaker 1: the corks popped and the stringers are strong. When one
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Speaker 1: person places his or her soul in the hands of God,
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Speaker 1: why all this celebration. Why does Heaven celebrate when a
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Speaker 1: sinner is saved? Could it be? Could it be that
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Speaker 1: Heaven can see what we cannot. When one sinner is saved,
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Speaker 1: Heaven can see the kind of person that sinner is
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Speaker 1: now going to be. Did you know that when you're
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Speaker 1: in heaven, when you're escorted into your next life, a
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Speaker 1: wonderful transformation is going to occur. You're finally going to
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Speaker 1: be glorified, You're going to be changed. That last form,
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Speaker 1: last step of transformation is going to happen. Heaven is
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Speaker 1: going to be heavenly because you're going to be heavenly.
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Speaker 1: The scripture says this about what you're going to be.
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Speaker 1: We have not yet been shown what we will be
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Speaker 1: in the future, but we know that when Christ comes
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Speaker 1: again what we will be like him. You're going to
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Speaker 1: be like Jesus. And that now you can clap for that.
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Speaker 1: How many of you are tired of how you are? Now?
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Speaker 1: Don't you get tired of how you are? I like me,
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Speaker 1: but sometimes I get tired of me. I get tired
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Speaker 1: of being cranky. I get tired of being grumpy. I
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Speaker 1: get tired of having doubts. I'm tired of being resentful
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Speaker 1: or having regrets. I just get tired of that. Your
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Speaker 1: heart gets heavy. The promise of heaven is that the
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Speaker 1: day is coming when you will be just like Christ.
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Speaker 1: You will be just like Christ. That final transformation is
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Speaker 1: going to occur, and you're going to be just like Christ.
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Speaker 1: You're gonna have the joy of Christ. You're gonna have
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Speaker 1: the wisdom of Christ. You're gonna have the hope of Christ.
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Speaker 1: You're gonna have the heartfelt worship of Christ. You're gonna
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Speaker 1: have the understanding of Christ. I can't wait to see
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Speaker 1: you in your new U version. You're going to be
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Speaker 1: something else. Heaven is going to be heavenly because you're
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Speaker 1: going to be heavenly. You're going to be something else,
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Speaker 1: something to behold. That's why Heaven celebrates. That's why Heaven
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Speaker 1: celebrates when a person says yes to Christ, because they
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Speaker 1: know that that person is on the road of transformation
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Speaker 1: and that final transformation will happen when they step into
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Speaker 1: the presence of Christ. Heaven Offus also celebrates not just
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Speaker 1: because you will be who you are made to be,
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Speaker 1: but this you will enjoy the world as it was
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Speaker 1: intended to be. That verse one more time, the whole
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Speaker 1: creation has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth.
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Speaker 1: Right up and to the present time, our world is
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Speaker 1: experiencing a rash of birth pangs. It is not to
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Speaker 1: me to know the day or the hour that the
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Speaker 1: Lord will return. But I cannot find one prophecy that
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Speaker 1: has not been fulfilled. I cannot find one thing upon
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Speaker 1: which we need to wait, one more event that needs
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Speaker 1: to happen, another page of history that needs to turn.
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Speaker 1: It seems to me that these rash, this rash of
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Speaker 1: birth pangs, are coming at such frequency. We could keep
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Speaker 1: one eye on the eastern sky, because that Christ, the
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Speaker 1: promise of Christ Is could very well be fulfilled in
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Speaker 1: our lifetime. He could return. Harvey reminds us. Harvey reminds
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Speaker 1: us that the world was not made to endure these storms,
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Speaker 1: but that this world is third trimester heavy, and we're
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Speaker 1: getting closer and closer and closer to the final delivery.
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Speaker 1: And our role is to do what they teach you
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Speaker 1: to do in La Maaw's classes. Breathe deeply and hold
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Speaker 1: the hand of the one who loves you. Just take
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Speaker 1: a deep breath. In one of his final sermons, Jesus
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Speaker 1: told us to expect an increase of natural calamities toward
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Speaker 1: the end. He said that, and then he said in
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Speaker 1: Matthew chapter twenty four and six, see to it that
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Speaker 1: you're not alarmed. And he uses a Greek word here
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Speaker 1: that means freak out. He says, see to it that
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Speaker 1: you don't freak out. You can be concerned, you can
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Speaker 1: be on alert, or you can be aware, but just
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Speaker 1: don't freak out. Because we know that Jesus was the
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Speaker 1: lord before the storm. He's the lord in the storm,
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Speaker 1: and who be the lord after the storm? Amen? So
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Speaker 1: we place our trust in him. Jesus promised that bad
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Speaker 1: things will happen, but they will not happen forever. The
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Speaker 1: day is coming in which you will be changed. The
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Speaker 1: day is coming in which this world will be changed.
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Speaker 1: And to that day we look, and on that day
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Speaker 1: we set our hope. I want to make sure. I
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Speaker 1: want to make sure, with this stormy reminder all around
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Speaker 1: us that if you have never said yes to Christ,
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Speaker 1: can I be sure and urge you to do just that?
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Speaker 1: Have you not been reminded that none of us are
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Speaker 1: guaranteed tomorrow? None of us are sure of what's going
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Speaker 1: to happen. We act like we do, but none of
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Speaker 1: us do really know. What we do know is that Christ,
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Speaker 1: Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that he
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Speaker 1: was buried, and he rose on the third day, and
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Speaker 1: that he has ascended to the right hand of God,
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Speaker 1: and there he oversees the affairs of mankind and the
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Speaker 1: trinitarian God who takes care of us, the Father, the Son,
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Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit. He has promised to return and
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Speaker 1: to redeem those who say yes to him. But he
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Speaker 1: leads that choice up to you. If you have never
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Speaker 1: said yes to him, or if you're not sure you
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Speaker 1: have said yes to him, then I urge it with
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Speaker 1: all that is within me, say yes. Just say yes,
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Speaker 1: and he will do for you what rescuers have been
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Speaker 1: doing all week. He will pluck you out of the storm,
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Speaker 1: and he will keep you safe. Many many years ago,
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Speaker 1: after herric Katrina, I attended a citywide church service at
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Speaker 1: Antioch Baptist Church. The pastor that spoke that night, Pastor L. A. Williams,
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Speaker 1: gave a message on one verse, but Noah found grace
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Speaker 1: in the eyes of the Lord. I remember. He challenged
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Speaker 1: us to imagine what Noah could see as he rode
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Speaker 1: on the ark and looked around, and all he could
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Speaker 1: see was water. He couldn't find his farm, he couldn't
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Speaker 1: find his town, he couldn't find any buildings. But what
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Speaker 1: mattered most is that Noah had already found grace in
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Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord. It's the first appearance of
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Speaker 1: the word grace in the whole Bible, and it had
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Speaker 1: to do with a flood. Have you found grace? Grace
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Speaker 1: is the word the Bible uses for unmerited favor, the
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Speaker 1: kindness of God. Noah found grace, and though he may
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Speaker 1: have lost everything, what he had still mattered because he
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Speaker 1: found grace. May you find grace in the eyes of
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Speaker 1: the Lord. Please be reminded of the message of this storm.
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Speaker 1: Possessions don't matter, but people do. It's community that keeps
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Speaker 1: us together. Every rescue is worth rejoicing. And this world
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Speaker 1: is not working right, but the next one will. Heavenly Father,
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Speaker 1: we thank you for messages that encourage us and that
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Speaker 1: lift us up. Would you, o, Heavenly Father, be our
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Speaker 1: teacher and help us to process this in the way
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Speaker 1: that glorifies your name, that comforts all of the church
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Speaker 1: and all of your followers, and helps us to see
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Speaker 1: that You're up to something really, really special through Christ.
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Speaker 1: We pray Amen.