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From Ordinary to Extraordinary | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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If you go with me in your scriptures to Acts
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chapter 15 this morning, Acts chapter 15, we're
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going to read a story here that has been speaking
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to me, that has been impacting my life. I was
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camping with my daughters and my grandson, Edmund.
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It was his first trip. He's back there running
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the cameras. this morning. Happy to have him.
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And the fourth night, the first three nights
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were awesome. The fourth night, we got, we were
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planning on staying at a lake and every campsite
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was full. So when that happens, guess what you
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got to do? You got to go to the next lake. And
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I am thinking that nobody has ever been to that
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lake. It was called Skin Dance Lake. Skin Dance
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Lake. And, I mean, it was so overgrown, we couldn't
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even find the campsites. But the girls finally
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found the campsite. And we found out why it was
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called Skin Dance Lake. Because there were so
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many mosquitoes in that place. I mean, we had
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bugs, but not that bad. And they were, it was
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mind -boggling how many mosquitoes that we had
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on that lake. Especially, you know, when the
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sun goes down, the mosquitoes usually come out
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for about 40 minutes and then they settle down
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and leave. Well, they did not settle down and
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leave all night. They swarmed and swarmed and
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swarmed and swarmed. And my grandson Edmund said,
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Papa, I have been to the gates of hell. We named
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that website, or that website, that campsite,
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the gates of hell. So many mosquitoes, it made
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your skin dance. See, that was the, that's how
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we're going to remember that lake forever. Skin
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dance lake. And then the last campsite, the Lord
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rewarded us for us enduring. Jesus is building
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his church at the gates of hell. I just want
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to remind you about that. It's not always the
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nicest places that Jesus is building his church.
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Isn't that right? And the Lord rewarded us, though,
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with the last campsite is normally the first
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one taken on the lake, and we got there late
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during the day, and we got the best campsite
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on Segal Lake, and it was... phenomenal. It had
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its own swimming pool. It had its own precipices
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where we could climb and see every part of the
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lake. It had blueberry patches that were totally
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ripe. We picked blueberries. We even found some
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raspberries that were ripe, and we picked them
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and picked them, and we called that the gates
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of heaven. Amen. And so why did I tell you that?
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Oh, because when we were at that site and I was
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setting up the tent, I just felt the Lord speak
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to me and drop in my heart something that He's
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going to do, that He's going to send the moving
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of His Spirit. That he is going to breathe on
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our city and in this region fresh life. That
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he is going to move in power. And I was setting
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up the tent there. And I just, the presence of
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the Lord. And you know, it was all good. It wasn't
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like... It was a great time with my family. It
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wasn't a prayer retreat for me this week at all.
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But in that moment, the presence of God came
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upon me. And I knew God's going to bring revival.
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He is going to bring the moving of His Spirit.
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That may or may not... mean anything to you.
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You might be sitting there saying, well, what
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do you mean by the moving of God's Spirit? What
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do you mean by God's going to bring revival?
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What do you mean by that? And what I mean by
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that is that there have been different times
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and seasons throughout history that God just
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sovereignly moves by His Spirit. Sometimes it's
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in response to people calling out to him, which
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is why we need to increase prayer, which is why
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we're having summer nights of prayer on Wednesdays.
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And so sometimes it's in response to a hungry
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heart seeking after God. But sometimes it's simply
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a sovereign move of His Spirit. God just chooses
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this moment in this time, and He begins to do
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things that only He can do. And the New Testament
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church is really... in the last hundred years,
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really since Azusa Street and a little bit before
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that, the church began to realize that we can
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experience what the New Testament church experienced.
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We can have the same encounters that the New
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Testament church had. And then as that grew,
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as that grew in the hearts of men, they begin
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to say, not only can we, but we don't want to
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settle for anything less than that. That's what
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we're believing for. That's what we're praying
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for. And you have moments of history that God
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broke in and did great things. Now, there are
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some times where you catch, you know, on a trip
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like ours, that I've had taken in the last couple,
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in the last month I've had two trips up there,
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you know, and I don't catch fish in nets up there.
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I catch them with a line one at a time. And there
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are times where God catches people one at a time.
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Here and there. Catch this one. Catch that one.
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But I believe And I'm thankful for that. Some
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of you got saved all by yourself. You came to
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Christ all by yourself. You were the only one.
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Maybe you were all alone. And I'm thankful for
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that, and I don't want to diminish the ones and
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the twos and how God works here a little, there
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a little, because it is God that does it just
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the same. Amen? But the time for needing the
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nets, is coming where you don't catch one or
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two for dinner here or there, where you throw
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the nets out and the nets get full of fish and
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you bring in the fish, not in the ones and the
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twos, but in the dozens and the dozens and the
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dozens and the dozens. Hallelujah. Glory to God.
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And this is what begins to happen in what we
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would call a move of God in the land is that
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many people begin to come under conviction all
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at the same time. There comes in the life of
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a group of people, families, cities, all groups
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of people, a desire to get right with God and
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walk in repentance. Praise the Lord. And the
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New Testament church, they walked in that. They
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saw it. They saw multitudes come to Christ. Multitudes.
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And I want to read this story. This might seem
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like an odd story to read, but it's been speaking
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to my heart because we need to make it easy for
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people to come to Christ. not more difficult.
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And certain men came down from Judea and taught
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the brethren, this is the Gentile brethren, unless
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you are circumcised according to the custom of
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Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul
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and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute
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with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas
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and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem
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to the apostles and elders about this question.
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So circumcision was the sign of the Jews and
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it was a portion of following the law. Well,
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the law was what Jesus came to fulfill. Jesus
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fulfilled it. And the law teaches us what sin
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is. So they sent Paul and Barnabas on their way
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by the church. They passed through Phoenicia
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and Samaria, describing the conversion of the
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Gentiles. And they caused great joy to all the
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brethren. 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 Pharisees who believed in Christ
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rose up saying, it is necessary to circumcise
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them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
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And can I tell you that this teaching still persists
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today? That if you want to follow Jesus correctly,
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you've got to follow the law. If you want to
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do it rightly, you've got to be circumcised.
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And all 600 and some laws of the Old Testament,
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you've got to keep them all. And so these Pharisees
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had come to Christ and they trusted in Christ,
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but they said, we've also, as we trust Christ,
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got to follow the law. Now the apostles, now
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this is an important question. You see, seven
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to ten years before, was when Peter had the vision
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to go to Cornelius' house. He had a vision of
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unclean animals. He was on his rooftop praying,
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and he had this vision of unclean animals, and
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this vision came to Peter, and the voice that
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he heard was, rise, Peter, kill, and eat. And
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he was appalled, disgusted by this vision. He
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was like, Lord, nothing unclean has ever touched
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my mouth. You want me to eat these unclean animals?
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And the vision happened three times. And what
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God was really showing Peter was that Peter,
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you thought that salvation was only for the Jews,
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but salvation is for the Gentiles as well. Now
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that encounter that Peter had happened seven
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to ten years before. And so the church had, through
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the leadership of Peter, this Jewish church had
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opened up its heart to see that the salvation
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that Jesus brings is not just for the Jews, but
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it's also for the Gentiles. So the church had
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come to the place where they understood that
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salvation was not just for Jewish people, but
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that it was for whosoever will. But that created,
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although everybody rejoiced as they watched God
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move among the Gentiles, and now through Paul's
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ministry, they all rejoiced about it, but it
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also created tension. And it created problems.
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Because the Jewish people who grew up in their
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Jewishness, who had all of these traditions and
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different things that they celebrated and different
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ways that they lived because of the law of Moses,
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when they trusted Christ, they did not just immediately
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abandon all of those things. They continued to
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keep those things as part of their tradition.
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And do you know what? The Holy Spirit never convicted
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them about it or told them to stop. It was okay
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for the Jewish people to maintain some of those
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Jewish traditions in the midst of following Christ.
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And in fact, Jesus is the fulfillment of all
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of those traditions. The Jewish traditions are
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fascinating. The revelation of Jesus is in those
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traditions. And it's awesome. But now these Gentiles,
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who did not grow up with any of that Jewishness,
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are coming to Christ. And guess what they're
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not doing? They are not following the laws of
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Moses. They are not. intertwining with any of
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those things. They didn't grow up with it. It
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was not a part of who they are. You know what
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they're just doing in their Gentileness? They're
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just trying to follow Jesus as best as they can.
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And that's probably where most of us are at.
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Gentile people. Not grown up in any kind of religion.
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But here they are. turning to Christ. And it
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bothered some of the Pharisaical believers. And
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they came and preached. Okay, yes, you've got
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to follow Jesus, but now you've got to do this,
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you've got to do that. And they started preaching
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the law of Moses to these beautiful Gentile believers.
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And it angered Paul and Barnabas. And they broke
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out and they were protecting these Gentiles.
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Let them follow Christ. Let them follow Christ.
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And there's some of that in us. We look at people
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and we say their lives aren't perfect yet. We
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see that their lives are not perfect yet. And
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we want them to do this and do that and all of
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these things. But I'm telling you that if they've
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got the real thing, if they've given their life
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for real to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is leading
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them, guess what's going to happen? They're going
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to start walking in line with Christ. The Holy
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Spirit is very good at his job. Somebody say
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amen to that. So the apostles... we're considering
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this question. What is the place of circumcision?
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What is the place of all of this in the lives
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of the Gentiles? Is everybody with me so far?
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And when there had been much dispute, verse 7,
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Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren,
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you know that a good while ago God chose among
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us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear
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the word of the gospel and believe. He's referring
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to Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. You can read
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that on your own time. So God, who knows the
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heart, everybody say knows the heart, acknowledged
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them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he
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did to us. and made no distinction between us
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and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Isn't
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this a good story? This is Peter now, the cornerstone
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apostle talking about to this meeting. Now therefore,
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Why do you test God? By putting a yoke on the
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neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers
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nor we were able to bear. But we believe that
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through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
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shall be saved in the same manner as they. Oh,
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this is a good moment. This is a good moment
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because the Pharisaical believers who were preaching
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the wrong message, trying to put a yoke on all
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the other believers, got rebuked by Peter and
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said, no, we're not going to have any of that.
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It is not by works that we are saved. We are
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saved by grace through faith. Hallelujah. In
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his name. And Peter wanted to make sure the Gentiles
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are saved by grace through faith, and we are
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also saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
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when you try to add to it, when you try to put
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rules on people, when you try to conform people
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into your image, you are not discipling them
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unto Christ. You are trying to conform them to
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what you think that they should be like. And
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that is not the role of the church. And Peter
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was saying, leave them alone. I love this story.
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Then all the multitude kept silent. They listened
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to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles
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and wonders God had worked through them among
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the Gentiles. When I read that, I say, God, may
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that be the story of Faith Church. May we be
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able to go around and tell of all the wonders
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and the miracles that God is doing in Lincoln,
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Illinois. Hallelujah. Somebody on the Lincoln,
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one of the Lincoln website or the Facebook groups
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said, hey, can somebody open up restaurants on
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Sunday morning so that tourists will come to
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Sunday morning. Did anybody else see that post
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about 10 days ago? Jamie, you saw that post.
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I read that. I read that. And the Lord spoke
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to me and said, tourists are going to come to
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Lincoln, Illinois to see the good things that
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they've heard that God is doing. I want to say
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that again. tourists are going to come to Lincoln,
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Illinois to hear, to see with their own eyes,
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is it true what I've heard about that God is
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doing in the city? Hallelujah. I believe that
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with my whole heart. And they told of all the
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wonders that had happened among the Gentiles.
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And after they had become silent, James, this
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is the half -brother of Jesus, Now an apostle
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and a leader in the church answered and said,
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men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared,
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that's Peter, has declared how God at the first
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visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people
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for his name. And with this, the words of the
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prophets agree. Hallelujah. Just as it is written,
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now this is from Amos chapter 9. James is quoting
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from Amos chapter 9. After this, I will return
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and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which
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has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and
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I will set it up so that the rest of mankind
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may seek the Lord. Even all the Gentiles who
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are called by my name, says the Lord who does
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all these things. Hallelujah. And known to God
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from eternity are all his works. Therefore, I
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judge that we should not trouble those from among
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the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that
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we write to them to abstain from things polluted
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by idols, from sexual immorality, from things
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strangled, and from blood. For Moses has throughout
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many generations those who preach him in every
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city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.
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So we'll come back to that in a moment. Then
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it pleased the apostles and the elders with the
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whole church to send chosen men of their own
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company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely
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Judas, who was also named Barsabbas, and Silas,
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leading men among the brethren. They wrote this
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letter by them. The apostles, the elders, and
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the brethren, to the brethren who are of the
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Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings.
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Since we have heard that some who went out from
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us have troubled you with words, unsettling your
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souls, saying you must be circumcised and keep
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the law. to whom we gave no such commandment,
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it seemed good to us, being assembled with one
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accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved
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Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their
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lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will
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also report the same things by word of mouth,
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for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to
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us to lay upon you no greater burden than these
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necessary things, that you abstain from things
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offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled,
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and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves
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from these, you do well. Farewell. So when they
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were sent off, they came to Antioch, and when
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they had gathered the multitude together, they
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delivered the letter. When they had read it,
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they rejoiced over its encouragement. Now Judas
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and Silas themselves, being prophets also, exhorted
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and strengthened the brethren with many words.
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And I see them prophesying over the people there.
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And after they had stayed there for a time, they
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were sent back with greetings from the brethren
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to the apostles. However, it seemed good to Silas
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to remain there. Paul and Barnabas also remained
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in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of
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the Lord with many others also. The move of God.
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The move of God. Moving from city to city, from
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people group. people group. Quickly, why those
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four things? Those four things for three reasons.
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One, because they needed to come out of their
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idolatry to follow Christ. These Gentiles, many
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of them were steeped in idolatry. and they needed
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to come out of their idolatry to follow Christ.
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You cannot serve two masters, and the message
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of the gospel is repent and turn to God. Well,
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if you're going to repent, you're going to turn
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to God, but you're also going to turn away from
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something. And so that message to give up your
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idolatry to follow Jesus is clear. And if you're
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going to follow Jesus, friends, it's going to
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be because you turn your back on some things
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in your life. The stuff that's dominated you
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can dominate you no longer. You have a new master.
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His name is Jesus. Come out from among them.
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The second thing, that they were cautious of,
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is that they wanted to build a bridge to the
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Jews in their cities. And if they're eating strangled
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animals and blood and calling themselves Christians
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and preaching to the Jewish people to come to
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Christ, What do you think will happen? Will any
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of the Jews come to Jesus? No, they won't. And
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so part of this message is, we want you to remove
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the stumbling block that can exist so that others
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will come to Jesus easily. And you know what
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that is, friends? That's called love. I am not
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going to live in such a way that is going to
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keep others from Christ. If you get nothing else
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from this message this morning, I want you to
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hear that. I am not going to live in such a way
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that will keep others from coming to Christ.
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I want to live in such a way that I am not a
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stumbling block. Yeah, but pastor, aren't I free?
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Don't use your freedom to do things that will
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cause others to stumble. But use your freedom
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to create the opportunity for others to come
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to Christ. It's called love. We build bridges
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to people. We build bridges to people. And thirdly,
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the command, these four commands, especially
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the call to come out from sexual immorality.
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This is a major call to our nation. Because sexual
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immorality causes so much harm in a person's
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life. Paul said in nearly every one of his letters,
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warning against sexual immorality of all different
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kinds. He who sins sexually sins against his
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own body. You cannot live in sexual immorality
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and walk in the blessing of God. The two do not
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exist. The two do not exist. And they wrote this
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to... provide the protection on these new believers
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to keep them from the schemes of the enemy. America,
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I have watched over the last 20 years and 10
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years and five years, America go off the rails
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with sexual immorality of types that were rare
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even in the wild days of the 60s and the 70s.
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Before I was born, some of you remember those
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days. The free love days. But it is that immorality
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that harms each individual. When you sin sexually,
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you're sinning against your own life. And so
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they wrote this in there to be a protection of
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that new faith that they had in Jesus Christ.
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Hallelujah. And so our message of purity is not
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one of condemnation. to the nation or to people
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groups or to individuals who are digging their
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heels and saying, I want my freedom. We are not
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condemning people. We are calling people out
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of the stuff that keeps them in bondage and keeps
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them in captivity and in to the blessing of the
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Lord. Hallelujah. And so you'll read it in the
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New Testament over and over and over and over.
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Keep yourself sexually pure. Hallelujah. Praise
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God. If I preach this as much as Paul did, you
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might get tired of me talking about it. But this
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is a point of prayer for our nation. It is way,
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way, way, way more common. For people to live
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together now than to get married. But they are
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sinning against their own body and condemning
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their own souls when they're trying to live for
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God at the same time and it cannot work. And
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so they told them these three things. Come out
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from your former way of life. Build a bridge
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and love the people around you. Don't live in
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such a way as to be a stumbling block. And keep
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your heart, your body, your vessel pure sexually.
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And if you'll do those three things in four commands,
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you will do well. You will find favor with God.
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And I love how Peter just boiled 700 commandments
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of the law down to four. He said, we don't expect
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you to follow 700 of them. But will you follow
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four? And they all said, yeah. They rejoiced
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at the encouragement. of the letter. These people,
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they came and they were teaching us all this
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stuff, and it unsettled us, and we didn't feel,
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we don't know what to think. And that letter
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set them free, and they said, yes, we can follow
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God. Friends, I believe that God is about to
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make a highway. I'm going to preach another message
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about the passage from Amos. That James quoted.
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The tabernacle of David. God reestablishing the
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tabernacle of David. He's going to do it again.
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He's doing it now. He's going to do it again.
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And people are going to stream. People are going
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to stream to the presence of God. Hallelujah.
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From every tribe, tongue, and nation. We're going
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to see it. We're going to see the move of God.
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Some of you don't know your place yet in the
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kingdom, in the church. You're here for a reason
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right now. You are foundational. You are foundational
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to this house. Tell that to the person you're
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sitting next to. You're important. You matter.
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You might not believe it, but I'm telling you
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to believe it. You are a part. And God is going
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to use you. I want to close with a passage in
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Genesis chapter 4 that has touched my heart my
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whole life. In Genesis chapter 4, the whole event
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with Cain and Abel, the family of Cain, All of
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this. And then the very last sentence, the very
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last sentence does not fit in, seemingly, with
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the chapter before it or after it. The very last
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sentence was this. Then men began to call on
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the name of the Lord. The last sentence of Genesis
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4. Then men began to call on the name of the
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Lord. This was a sovereign move of God at that
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moment in time. People just started getting right
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with God. It just happened. How many of you have
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prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed
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and prayed and prayed and prayed for revival?
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You prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and
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prayed and prayed for a move of God. And you've
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seen a few things happen, but your soul has not
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been satisfied yet. And here, along this sentence,
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just described this time period about the people
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in that entire region. Then men begin to call
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on the name of the Lord. It suddenly began to
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happen. People started praying. People started
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getting interested in the things of the Holy
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Spirit. People started caring about their relationship
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with God. Up until that point, they blew it off.
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They didn't think about it. They lived however
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they wanted. They did things for themselves.
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But at this time in history, men began to call
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on the name of the Lord. And I believe we're
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about to enter into such a time. I believe we're
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about to step into a moment like this where people,
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not because of this church or that church or
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anything that they've done right or wrong or
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any of that, but God begins to move on a city
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and God begins to touch hearts and lives and
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people begin to waken in their heart and something
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moves inside of them that wasn't there before
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and they begin to say, I gotta know this God,
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that God is real. I didn't think he was. I didn't.
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think he was paying attention, but he is paying
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attention. I've got to turn my life to him. I've
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got to begin to pray. I've got to begin to seek.
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Hallelujah. And God is going to cause people
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to sovereignly move on his heart. Some of you
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have family members that you've twisted and twisted
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and twisted and twisted and tried to get them
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to step into their calling and get to church,
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get to church, get to church, get to church,
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get to church, get to church, get to church.
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And you've said it so many times that you quit
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saying it because you just gave up. But then
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all of the sudden, God is going to move in their
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heart and life and they are going to begin to
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call on the name of the Lord and it is going
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to happen in Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord. Do
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you feel hope this morning? Do you feel hope
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in life? Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father.
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And so, Lord, we see you moving in Acts chapter
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15. You made a way. God, if they would have made
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the wrong decision in that moment, if they in
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this moment would have said, oh, they have to
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follow the whole law. If in this moment they
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would have said that, they would have put an
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end to the move of God. Lord, I pray that you
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would convict your church when they make it harder
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than it really is to come to Christ. When they
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say you've got to get all your ducks in a row
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before you come to Jesus. You can't just come
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as you are. You've got to change everything first.
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Lord, I pray that you would forgive your church
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for having that kind of a mentality. God, you
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said, whosoever will call on the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. And I ask God that the way
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would be made easy for people to come to Jesus
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in this last hour in the name of the Lord. I
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pray that it would just be very easy for people
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to turn to God. These Gentiles turning to God.
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Turning to God. I pray that it would be said
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of Lincoln, Illinois. that it turned to God.
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In every neighborhood, in every street, God,
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in every corner of this city, in Jesus' name,
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then people begin to call on the name of the
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Lord. God, we are expectant. God, we believe.
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We're looking to you to move by your spirit.
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Thank you, Father. The grace of God shed abroad
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in this city to turn hearts in high places and
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low places, in every social class. Oh, God. Oh,
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God, we feel your promise. We hear your calling.
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We ask, God, that you would move and have your
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way. Have your way. You're going to bring revival.
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You're going to do it, God, by your Spirit. Hallelujah.
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Hallelujah. Thank you, Father. Just take just
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a moment here and just, in your own words, just
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ask God to move by His Spirit. God, we've made
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it so hard for people. God, I ask that it would
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just be very easy for people to come to Christ.
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Oh, Lord Jesus, have your way. Oh, Lord Jesus,
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move. Oh, Lord Jesus, move. Thank you, Father.
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The people that feel like they are last, you
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are making them first. God, you are calling the
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people in the hedges and the highways and the
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byways, the people in the obscure positions and
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places of life to see that the Father's house
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is full. To see that the Father's house is full.
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Oh God, oh God, oh God. Fill up your house, we
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pray. Fill up your house, we pray. Oh Jesus.
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Oh Jesus. Jesus, move.