Latest / Faith Church Podcast / Your Seed Encounter | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church

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Your Seed Encounter | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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This morning, this morning, you know I love seeds,
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right? I love to plant seeds. I love to eat seeds.
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And so today we're going to be talking about
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a parable of Jesus that concerns seeds. And so
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you're gonna want your Bible. So if you have
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your Bible or if you have it on your phone, I
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want you to pull it out. We're gonna go to Mark
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chapter four. Today I wanna ask you what your
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seed encounter will look like, okay? And so in
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Mark chapter four, we have a very popular parable
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that you may have heard, maybe not, of Jesus.
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This is just a story Jesus tells to explain the
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kingdom of God. And so we're going to be kind
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of walking through this. As you hear people preaching
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and teaching on this parable, you will hear different
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perspectives. Some people focus on the types
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of soil. Today, we're going to focus on the seed
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encounter of the parable. And so in Mark chapter
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four, we're going to read the first portion,
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and then we're going to skip ahead to Jesus's
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explanation. But starting in verse one, it says,
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again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. If Darren
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had his choice, this would be where he would
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choose to preach from as well, by the lake. That's
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right. The crowd that gathered around him was
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so large that he got into a boat and sat in it
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out on the lake, while all the people were along
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the shore at the water's edge. Now, this is also
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a dynamic thing because water carries sound.
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And so this would help Jesus also to project
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his voice to the crowds. He taught them many
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things by parables. And in this teaching, here's
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what he said. He said, listen, a farmer went
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out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the
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seed, some fell along the path and the birds
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came and ate it up. Okay, so there's our first
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encounter. The seed is scattered on the path
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and the birds ate it. The second encounter, some
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fell on rocky places where it did not have much
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soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was
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shallow. So initially it's like, wow, look at
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that fruit. That's awesome. But when the sun
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came up, the plants were scorched and they withered
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because they had no roots. Other seed fell among
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thorns, which grew up and choked the plants so
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that they did not bear grain. Still other seed
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fell on good soil. It came up, it grew, and produced
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a crop, some multiplying 30, some 60, some 100
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times. Okay, so this is the story that Jesus
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tells them of this seed, and they're confused.
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What are we talking about, Jesus? What does this
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mean? Well, if we go down to verse 14, he explains.
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He says the farmer sows the word. Some people
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are like seed along the path where the word is
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sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and
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takes away the word that was sown in them. Others
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like seed sown on rocky places hear the word
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and at once receive it with joy. But since they
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have no root, they last only a short time. When
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trouble or persecution comes, because of the
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word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like
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seeds sown among the thorns, hear the word, but
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the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
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wealth, and the desires for other things, come
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in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
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Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the
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word, accept it, and produce a crop some 30,
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60, 100 times what was sown. Now, I love to hear
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Jesus because if you go back a chapter, Jesus
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is in the synagogue, the temple, preaching. And
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now we find that Jesus is... by a lake where
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a whole bunch of people have just, I love that
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Jesus takes the word to wherever there are people.
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Being in the church or on a lake somewhere outside
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of the church, Jesus will go where people need
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to hear his words of truth. And so today here
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you are and Jesus is coming to you to share his
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word with you where you're at. in your life and
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in your journey. He cares and he comes to where
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you are because he sees you. And so he will go
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wherever people are. And Mark, if we go back
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a couple chapters, we have a beautiful encounter
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that Jesus has with a man named Levi. And I'm
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gonna just read it to you because I want you
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to see this Jesus who is sharing this story.
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And so in Mark chapter 2 verse 13, it says that
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once again, Jesus went out beside the lake. A
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large crowd came to him and he began to teach
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them. As he walked along, he saw Levi, son of
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Alpheus, sitting at the tax collector's booth.
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Follow me, Jesus told him. So Levi got up and
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followed him while Jesus was having dinner at
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Levi's house. Many tax collectors and sinners
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were eating with him and his disciples, for there
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were many who followed him. When the teachers
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of the law, the religious leaders, when they
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saw him eating with the sinners and the tax collectors,
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they asked his disciples, hey guys, why is he
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eating with the tax collectors and the sinners?
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Why is he hanging out with them? On hearing this,
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Jesus said to them, it is not the healthy who
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need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come
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to call the righteous, but sinners. We all have
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needed to hear the call of Jesus. It says he
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is calling, come, follow me. Without him, we
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all carry spiritual sickness. Not one of us can
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be alive and thrive without Jesus, without carrying
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and heeding his call. We carry the sickness that
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sin produces. Who is he hanging out with? The
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tax collectors and the sinners. As I was working
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on this yesterday, I was looking around my living
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room at all of my plants. And I thought, oh,
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because you see, without oxygen, Without water,
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without food, we quickly fade and grow sickly,
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don't we? And so in that moment, I thought maybe
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I should do a plant check. Because you know,
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I tend to forget to water my plants. I love plants,
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but I get busy. And all of a sudden, I look up,
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I'm like, oh, they look sickly. They don't have
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water. Without oxygen, without water, without
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food, we grow sickly, we are cut off from the
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source of life. And when we're cut off from the
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source of life, we become sickly, we become weakened.
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Without Jesus, this is our spiritual state. And
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yet Jesus says, I've come not to help those that
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are already healthy, I've come to help the sick.
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And so, Jesus hangs out with tax collectors.
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He does things like hang out with sinners. You
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say, well, what's so bad about tax collectors?
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I work for the IRS. Let me just say, back in
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Jesus' time, they were notorious for stealing.
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And so, they were, nobody wanted to hang out
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with the tax collectors. You say, well, what
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is a sinner? It's very simple. One that has missed
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the mark of God. One that God has set the standard.
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Why does he get to set the standard? Well, he
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created everything. So I think that gives him
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a say in the standard. And so he sets the standard,
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and we all have missed the mark. In Romans, it
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says we all have fallen short of the glory of
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God. That's what sin is. And we all have done
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it. We all have been that, right? We all have
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been born into this thing called sin. And the
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beautiful thing is that Jesus is not afraid of
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that. Jesus comes in and takes care of the problem.
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And so we see Jesus eating with the tax collectors.
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You see this little picture up here. This is
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while you all were at your faith groups on Wednesday,
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This was the faith group that was happening here
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at the church Wednesday night. And so if you
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were to ask Jack and Kyrie, you can see they're
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working on a paper there. And what were they
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learning about Wednesday night? They were learning
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about Adam and Eve disobeying God. Disobeying
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God. This is what sin is it's when we have disobeyed
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God's standard and the the result of it is sickness
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and death and So today in this parable Jesus
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He calls to us Christ calls to us and how will
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we answer? How will we answer? Well, we're gonna
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look at here Jesus's example in this parable
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and so The farmer that is sowing the seed that
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would be God God is the farmer. He sows the seed
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and in this case we are talking specifically
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about the seed that is the Word of God Jesus
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the gift of salvation that we all have to answer
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to. And so here, if we look at this passage and
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we see that the seed is being sown on all of
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these different places, you know, what is God
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trying to do? He's trying to just get the seed
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anywhere that man will be. And it looks like,
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God, you're not a very good sower of seed. I
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wouldn't waste my seed here. I wouldn't waste
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my seed there. God is after all man. He's after
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anybody defines the seed of salvation. And so
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in John chapter one is what tells us that Jesus
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is the word. And so in John chapter one, it says,
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in the beginning was the word, and the word was
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with God, and the word was God. Jesus was there,
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the creation at the very beginning. when we needed
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this plan of salvation because we disobeyed God.
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It says in verse 14, the word became flesh in
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the form of Jesus and he made his dwelling among
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us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
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one and only son who came from the father, full
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of grace and truth. And so what is the seed?
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The seed is the living word, Jesus. Okay? And
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so, here we are. Four. Four encounters with seed.
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How will you handle your encounter with seed?
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The first one is the seed along the path. This
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is the one that Jesus said, Satan comes and he
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does what? He steals it away. I understand this
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pain because I work hard in the years that I'm
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gardening to buy seed. It costs me something.
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I have to sit down when I place my seed order
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and be like, okay, this is a week's worth of
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groceries. That's all this is. You plant this
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and you're gonna have a whole summer full of
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food. But it cost me something that seed does.
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It cost me something in time and effort to put
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that seed in the ground. And then I watched these
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little God -given made creatures called birds
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and rabbits and squirrels steal my seed. I know
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what those robins they made going for the worms,
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but I know they get some of my seed too. I understand
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this pain. Listen, you have an enemy. And the
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word says that he is out to steal, kill, and
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destroy you. He's out to steal, kill, and destroy
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the seed that has been given to you in the gospel
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of Jesus Christ. And so what happens is you receive
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the word of salvation, and then the enemy, he
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never stops talking. He will not stop talking
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to you. He will not stop whispering in your ear.
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Did you really receive the gift of salvation?
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Did really Jesus come and save you of your sins?
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Did he take your punishment? Did he really? Do
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you know where else he did that? It was in the
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garden. Did God really say to you, Eve, don't
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eat this? He's always whispering in your ear.
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And so how will you handle this seed encounter?
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You got to learn how to say no to that voice.
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You gotta know how to resist the devil and he
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will flee from you. To say, no, you can't have
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my seed. I have received this seed. I have received
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the good news of Jesus and his salvation and
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you cannot have it. How will you handle this
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seed encounter? Because I don't care who you
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are, every last one of us that receives the seed
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of the gospel, the enemy will seek to steal,
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kill, and destroy it. How will you handle it
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when it happens? How will you handle this encounter?
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The second encounter is the seed sown on rocky
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places. You've heard the good news on Sunday
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morning, yes! Jesus has come to give me life.
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He's come to bring health to me. You receive
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it with great joy, but then you ignore it. And
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you have roots that might grow quickly, but because
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you ignore it, it withers and dies. I have this
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problem myself. In fact, because I've had such
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great intentions in the last two years at a garden
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and it's failed every time, I haven't had time.
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But I just keep buying plants anyway. Oh, look
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at those tomato plants, they're on clearance
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for $2. And I buy them because I'm shopping and
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I have time in that moment to buy them. And they
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have roots and I receive those tomato plants
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with great joy, envisioning all these tomatoes
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in my kitchen. And then I pull them out of my
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car and I sit them in my yard with every intention
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to take care of that and to plant them so they
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can grow deeper roots. And do you know what happens?
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I get busy. and I ignore it and I forget about
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it. Every once in a while, I might throw a little
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water on it to try to keep it alive. And then
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there comes the day where I walked by, I was
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like, well, it was nice having you while I had
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you. I received it with great joy, but I did
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not allow for the roots to grow. They had some
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roots, but it wasn't enough to sustain. Tomato
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plants like deep roots. They like to be planted
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deep. For those where you you hear it and you
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receive it with a joy. Here's what happens Troubles
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hit and that's it Everybody say troubles hit
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and that's it. I Know in my family some people
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that have not my interview. I'm not talking about
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my girls here, but I've known people that in
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their effort to become healthy, like, I'm gonna
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try this supplement. I'm gonna try not eating
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sugar. I'm gonna try eating this way. And do
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you know what happens? They give it up. When
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they don't, within a week, see something from
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it, they give it up. And do you know how many
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people receive the seed of salvation? I'm going
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to try Jesus out, but if he doesn't fix everything
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in my life, I'm done for. When troubles hit,
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that's it. How will you handle trouble? How will
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you protect the seed that you've been given?
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What will your encounter with the seed of salvation
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be? We have to protect the roots. We have to
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protect the roots. We have to move our seed from
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the rocky places and get it into the soil, or
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it's going to quickly wither and die. The third
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area. And see, I'm watching the time, because
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a chicken will be here in 15 minutes. But I've
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got you today. The third encounter with seed.
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is the seed sown among thorns. I feel like for
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us in the Western church, this might be the most
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significant. Because it is in this place, it
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says, that Jesus says, you hear the word, but
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the worries of this life and the deceitfulness
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of wealth and the desire for other things, choke
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it. When you receive salvation, when you decide,
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yes, Christ has called to come and follow Him,
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and I am saying yes. And it starts out good on
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that path of following Him. But then, oh, wait
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a minute, this thing of the world, I really don't
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want to give that up. I had a conversation with
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one of you this week about this. Am I gonna have
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to give up some of my friends? Is it gonna affect
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some of my friendships following Jesus? Well,
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yes, the truth is it had already started affecting
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some of her relationships. And it's in these
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moments that we make the decision, am I really
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gonna be a Christ follower? When it begins to
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affect... how I spend my money, when it begins
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to affect how I spend my time, when it begins
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to affect what my relationships are. If we don't
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make the decision ahead of time, then we're gonna
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have trouble following Christ. I was listening
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to, oh, the Bethel guy. Bill Johnson. And he
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was sharing about a story he had heard about
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a handball champion, a man that when he was seven
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had been in a railroad accident and lost an arm
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and had been very athletic. And so he wanted
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to continue to be athletic. And so he figured
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out he could do handball. I've never played handball,
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but most of them use both hands to play handball.
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And so he learned to do it and he became went
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on. He's now in the Hall of Fame for handball.
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And and so they were asking him what his cause
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for success was. And this is what he said. When
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the ball comes off of the wall. He said, I don't
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have to decide which hand to use. That was his
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cause for success. The choice had been removed
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from him. And so mentally, in that quickness
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of movement, the ball is coming toward him. And
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if you look up handball, there are techniques
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to know which hand to use. But for him, there
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was no decision -making process. He had one hand.
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And often, we have too many choices. This world
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offers so many lures to us. It calls to us in
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so many ways, so many options to give to us.
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There's one option we must commit to when we
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are receiving the seed of salvation. I will follow
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Jesus. I will not get sidetracked. I remove all
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other options. And you will have to make choices.
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You will have to make choices. When my family
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had received the gift of the seed of salvation,
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it affected my parents. They had to make the
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choice they were going to actually live together
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in marriage and not, they were headed to divorce.
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When we accepted this seed of salvation, it meant
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that we had to eventually bring a bit of schism
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in our family and leave the Catholic Church.
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When we received the gift of salvation in junior
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high, I did lose friends. I remember my closest
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friend. It affected us. When we accepted the
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gift of salvation, it affected our time. No longer
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was my dad playing in the bars in the weekends.
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We now were traveling a half hour to church.
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Every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every
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Wednesday night, and everything in between, we
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were all in. It affected us. And so when we receive
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this gift of salvation, this seed of salvation,
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suddenly how we view the things of this life
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and this world have a different perspective.
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Suddenly they're not our priority, but the priority
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is following Christ. Heeding the call come. I
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love Levi didn't even sit there and question
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Jesus. Well, Jesus, what will that look like?
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What will that cost me? Because he left his current
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job. Levi was making good money collecting taxes.
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He didn't ask Jesus, am I gonna be reimbursed?
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For the money I lose if I follow you, I was listening
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to a book, an audio book, and he tells the story
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of a man that worked for Microsoft. And he had,
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as part of his job, received 16 shares in Microsoft.
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Each share worth multiple millions of dollars.
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And he had 16 of them. As he's working for Microsoft,
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he hears the call of God to plant a church. And
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so he quits his job at Microsoft. Microsoft is
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asking, what can we do to get you to stay here?
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He had heard the call. He had heard the call
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of Christ and he said he resigned. And in the
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resigning, he lost all 16 shares. to take a pastoral
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job of 26, I believe it was, thousand a year.
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And he said to God, he said, God, for every dollar
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that I gave up, I want a soul. His church is
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currently running 6 ,000 people. It's one of
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the fastest growing churches. What did he do?
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He heard the call and he said no to the things
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of the world that would try to lure him in. Because
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you know how we think, we think things like,
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well God, what I could do with 16 shares for
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the kingdom. All those millions of dollars, what
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I could do for the kingdom, you know how our
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minds work and how we justify. And he's like,
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nope. Christ called to me to come and to follow,
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and I say yes, I say no to those things that
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would lure me, and I say yes, and 6 ,000 souls
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later. And he's still, I mean, he has not finished
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his race, who knows where he'll end up, right?
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And who knows how many souls of those 6 ,000
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are going to win, right? This is how multiplication
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works in the kingdom of God. But we have to say
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yes, we can't let this world and the worry and
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the things choke out This gift of salvation There
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was a rich young man that came to Jesus and and
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he said good teacher What must I do? to inherit
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life eternal life and I love it says Jesus looked
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at him and loved him But then Jesus said, because
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the man said, I follow all these laws, all the
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laws of God. But see, Jesus looked at him and
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saw the lacking thing, and he said, here's what
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you lack. Go sell everything you have and give
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it to the poor, and you will have treasure in
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heaven. Then come follow me, Jesus said. The
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man's face fell and he went away sad. It says,
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because he had great wealth. Listen, I don't
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care what your thing is. This was his thing.
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We all have a thing that we have to say no to,
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to heed the call, to embrace the seed. The fourth
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seed encounter. This is the one that we want
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to attain to. This is the encounter with the
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good soil. This is the seed that hears the word,
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that accepts it and produces a crop. In ancient
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biblical times, a crop that was a crop of 10
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times the seed would have been good. But what
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does God say? I'll give you one of 30 and 60
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of 100. This is the kind of crop I'll give to
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you. If you will accept, if you will hear the
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word, accept it, it'll produce a crop. Zacchaeus,
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how many of you know him? If you grew up in the
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church, you knew the song. Zacchaeus was a wee
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little man. Wee little man was he. Yeah, you
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all know that? Yes, you're all sitting there
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singing it. It's now gonna be stuck in your head
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all day. You're welcome. I love this encounter
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because Zacchaeus has an encounter with the seed
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Jesus in Luke 19. And it says that Jesus is entering
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Jericho and he's passing through. And a man was
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there by the name of... Interestingly enough,
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in good company with Levi, he was chief tax collector
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and very wealthy. It says he wanted to see Jesus.
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He wanted to see who Jesus was. He couldn't look
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him up on the internet. He had never seen him.
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He wanted to know who Jesus was. But because
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he was short, he could not see over the crowd.
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I have had that happen to me. All the short people
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are laughing. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore
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fig tree to see Jesus, since Jesus was coming
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that way. When Jesus reached the spot, I love
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this, he reaches the spot, and you know, there's
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all kinds of people crowding him, but somehow
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Jesus knows to stop and to look up. And he looks
31:00
up and he says to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
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I must stay at your house today. All these crowds
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of people. And I don't know, I'm kind of thinking
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he looks up and he's like, there's a guy in the
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tree. I feel like he's the guy I want to go stay
31:15
with. I know there's a crowd of people, but he's
31:18
in a tree. And so I think I want to stay with
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him. I feel like there's just, he can sense this
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guy's so desperate to see me, he's climbing a
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tree. That's the one I want to go to. So he came
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down at once, and it says that he welcomed him.
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If we know the song, we know he served him tea,
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right? I'm coming to your house for tea. We don't
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get that from scripture, but. All the people
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saw this and began to mutter. Again, he has gone
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to a house of a sinner. Jesus liked to be there.
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But Zacchaeus stood up and he said to the Lord,
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look, Lord. Here and now I give half of my possessions
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to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out
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of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
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And Jesus says to him, today salvation has come
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to this house, because this man too is a son
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of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and
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to save the lost. I love this heart of Zacchaeus.
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He was good soil. He had a soil that was ready
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to receive the seed of Jesus and begin to immediately
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bear fruit, immediately. Unlike the rich young
32:50
man who said, what do I need to do to get saved?
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This guy, he just needed Jesus to come into his
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house and there's this immediate response of,
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I am compelled. I am compelled to give what I've
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had. I am compelled. I am compelled to pay back
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what I have cheated. What was he? He was a man
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that was truly repentive of his sin. He had an
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encounter with Jesus and his immediate response
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was, I have to make things right. He had good
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soil to receive the seed of Jesus. And so this
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morning, it's very simple. But sometimes you
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have to go back to the simple. Sometimes you
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have to be reminded of how you've answered this
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call that Christ has given. Christ is calling
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to us today. How will we answer? How will we
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handle this seed that has been sown in our lives?
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Because the truth is is that you all are sitting
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here you Nobody's forced any of you to come well,
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maybe the kids But you all today have heard there
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is a gift of seed of salvation That Jesus wants
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to give to you And the truth is that in these
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four encounters, in these four seed encounters,
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the choice is yours. is yours if you are going
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to be a seed that is allowed to just you hear
34:46
the gospel and you allow the enemy to take it
34:49
or you have received the gospel and you ignore
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the roots and they quickly die off or if you
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are going to be one that yeah i want to follow
35:00
jesus but i don't know i i don't want to disturb
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my family i don't want to disrupt because suddenly
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i have ethics in my workplace and some might
35:08
not like that Or are you gonna be one that you
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have the choice to say, I'm gonna create good
35:17
soil. I'm gonna nurture the seed that I've received
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today. The choice is always ours. Free will that
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God gives. He says, I have given the seed. I
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have given my son Jesus. What will you do with
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it? And that's the question for each of us today.
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What will you do with it? And so I'm gonna ask
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if the team will come back this morning. For
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some of you, you might already say, I've been
35:50
following Christ for a number of years. Can I
35:57
say to you that, I don't know, I still have to
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continually daily answer the call of Christ in
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my life. And sometimes the Lord pinpoints something
36:08
in my life. It says you need to You need to give
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that to me. You need to let go of that in order
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to follow me better. Always I'm having to choose
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to nurture my soil, to feed my soil, to create
36:24
good soil for this gift of salvation. And there
36:29
are some of you here today that you're saying,
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I have never ever received this seed. This is
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the first time I've heard that this gift of Jesus,
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this call of Christ to come and to follow me.
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I have never heard the call before, but I hear
36:49
it today. Today is your day. I am forever grateful
36:55
for the day that I heard Christ calling to me
36:58
saying, Cami, come and follow me. At the age
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of 10, And now 40 years later, it is still my
37:07
joy to keep answering the call to follow Christ.
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It has been the best thing I've ever done in
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my life and I'm so thankful for the grace and
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mercy of Jesus that enabled me to hear it. And
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that call is given to you today. The fruit of
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peace, the fruit of abundant life. Will you still
37:31
have trials and tribulations? You sure will.
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You sure will. But this surpassing greatness
37:41
of following Christ, it produces peace in the
37:46
midst of it. It produces life, abundant life
37:49
in the midst of it. And the day that we stand
37:54
before Him, The day that we stand before him,
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I guarantee you it'll be worth every yes that
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you give to him. It'll be worth every yes. And
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so I'm going to ask this morning, if we'll all
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stand, we're going to in a moment just have a
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moment of worship. But listen, Christ is calling
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to you today. And today is the day for you to
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give your yes. What did Levi and Zacchaeus have
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to do? They had to actually get up and leave
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and move to where Jesus was to follow him. And
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I, in our Western culture, sometimes we like
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to make it really easy for you to say yes to
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answering that call. But friend, Jesus was raised
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up publicly on a cross. He bore our sins. and
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our shame before all the world to see, he was
38:52
beaten and naked before all the world to see
38:55
in order to give us this gift of salvation. And
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so very simply this morning is the call, will
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you say yes to Christ calling to you today to
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come and to follow me, to come and to follow
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me. And so this morning, here's what I'm gonna
39:14
do. I'm gonna ask if our elders will come on
39:16
up, I don't want to make it too hard. I want
39:19
to make it a little easy for you. Our elders
39:21
are going to go ahead and come down to the altar.
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And as we begin to worship, if you need to say
39:26
yes to the call of Christ, today is the day to
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do it. There is no better moment for you to say
39:35
yes to the call of Christ. And so as the team
39:38
begins to lead us, you need to say yes. and give
39:43
your yes and let the elders pray with you this
39:46
morning, amen? And so everybody's eyes are open
39:50
right now. If you are not responding, I want
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you just to begin to worship Jesus. I want you
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just to begin to give thanks that you were able
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to say yes to the call in your life and be reminded
40:03
of that. And so come on up. Team's gonna lead,
40:06
but you begin to move even now and give your
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yes to Jesus. Come on, give your yes to Jesus.
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Thank you, Lord.