Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20241224 - The Gift That Keeps Giving - Luke 4:16-21

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#20241224 - The Gift That Keeps Giving - Luke 4:16-21 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Would you take your Bibles?
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If you have one, open it up to Luke chapter 4.
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If you don't have one, you can share with someone next to you,
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or there's boxes actually in the middle section there.
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Part of the top of that box is used to give your tithes and
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offerings, and on the bottom there are Bibles you can use and
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you can keep them as a gift. If you'd like.
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You can always pull out your phone as well, but open them to
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the Christmas story. We have it best given to us in
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Luke's gospel. So Luke chapter 2 is where I
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really would like you to go. We'll end up in Luke 4 and I've
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entitled our Bible study. I want to talk to you about the
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gift that keeps on giving, the gift that keeps on giving.
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And you know, it is very, it's such a joyful time of the year.
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And it's easy as you look out how much the world that we live
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in needs the joy of God, needs the joy of the Lord in their
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lives. Christmas will stir that up.
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Christmas will stir that up on God worshippers and even those
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that don't worship God. There's just a festiveness in
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the air and a celebration that's among us.
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For us as believers, you know, we're learning to rejoice with
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those who rejoice, and certainly Christmas is a time of
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rejoicing. But before I step into the Bible
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for a moment, I just want to acknowledge that I also know
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around the holidays, it's not easy for everyone.
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The holidays stir up so much. There's hurt and pain, there's
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grief and loss there. There's just so much that you're
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here with. And I just want to commend you
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and encourage you that you're stepping in with all that you're
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facing like you're stepping forward and you're learning
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because there's another side to that verse.
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You're learning to rejoice with those who rejoice.
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And we may be learning to weep with those who weep.
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And you come together. That's the body of Christ.
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With the body of Christ, we learned that in times of
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celebration that we can give as much energy and effort, of
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course, as possible to celebrate.
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But there's also times of weeping and mourning and
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certainly the holidays bring that out on top of all the other
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things that might be related to our family.
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I like to say we all have family and that pretty much covers it
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all. You know, the good and the not
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so good. We all have family, but the
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family of God is something special.
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And even as I mentioned that there's always those among us
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that might have been hurt by the family of God and go like I
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seems like everywhere I go, I have to experience And you know,
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that's I took a phone call this week on the radio yesterday,
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actually yesterday from a young woman in Texas who was sharing
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her life with me. She had called me a year ago and
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we prayed through some things and things have not gotten
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better for her. They've gotten worse.
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And so she has this layer and this layer and this layer and
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this layer. And she's in a season right now,
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right before Christmas where her response is something like, you
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know, when is it going to end? When's it going to end?
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And life can be that way sometimes.
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When is it going to end? And I reminded her, as I'll
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remind you today and even myself, that the God shows the
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pain of life all throughout the Bible.
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And one episode in particular came to mind about the life of
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Jacob. You know, Jacob had this strong
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will about him and, and yet he suffered much and he decided
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that he wanted to wrestle with God.
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It was an Angel of the Lord, but it was a pre Incarnate before
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Jesus was born. He shows up to wrestle with
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Jacob and they're wrestling and they're fighting and they're
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wrestling and they're fighting all night long until finally
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Jacob gets his hip touched and probably put out of joint and
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and he was injured. He was wounded to the point
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where he finally surrendered. And he recognized something in
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that in that battle, and that was he was not God, but that he
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had a God to trust. But as soon as that wrestling
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was over, here's what happened. Jacob got up and he went back to
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live life, except that he got up limping.
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The rest of his life. He had that limp, that limp that
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would remind him of the battle, and that limp that would remind
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him of God's sufficiency, and that limp that would remind him
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of God's faithfulness. And he learned a valuable
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lesson. But he lived the rest of his
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life with a limp. And life can be like that.
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There will be a limp, a wound, a hurt, but it's not God's desire
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for you just to hide. And as much as you want to be
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left alone and in the dark, I commend you.
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God's will for you is to be in the body of Christ today.
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And here you are. Now, some of you might not be
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with us. You're watching online or
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listening on the radio, but you're getting so closer.
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So take the victories when you get them, you're pressing in and
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seeking God because it is good to remember the birth of Christ.
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And the older we get and the longer we live, we pick up a few
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limps along the way. Can I get an Amen on that?
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Anybody? I mean, that's life.
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And the thing about suffering and difficulty is that in our
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lives, those that believe in God, they suffer, but also those
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that don't believe in God, they suffer as well.
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Let me just do some housekeeping here and clean up the stage.
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Hold on. Sorry.
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They, they, the believers, they hurt, unbelievers hurt like,
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like we all go through things together.
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But the important thing to remember is that God is faithful
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and that he's brought you this far and he hasn't brought you
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this far just to drop you. You can move forward with your
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pain and your hurt. Yeah, praise God, I'll rejoice
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with you. You know, it wasn't too long ago
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where I didn't want to be here. Great tragedy hits my family and
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I was like, yeah, I don't, I just don't think I I mean, I, I
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and then, but people are going, but Ed, you're the pastor.
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Like you need to be there. I'm like, yeah, I don't, I don't
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really want to be there. And and yet the power of God
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inside of me. He moved me to be here and the
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church that the healing in the church, just being in the room.
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It wasn't anyone particular person or one particular, it was
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being in the room. It was being among those that
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were happier than me. You know, I had a sad time and
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you were happy for me and I say thank you for that.
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I got through that season and now we get to we get to be able
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to be happy or, or you can maybe go, I don't want to sing.
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Don't worry about it. We'll sing for you.
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That's fine. We'll sing for you and you can
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be in the atmosphere of the faithfulness and the presence of
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God. Isn't that great?
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It's so good to be in the House of the Lord.
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It's so good being reminded of the birth of Jesus Christ.
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It's so good to remember that when God looks at the world both
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then and now, He saw our need. He saw our need.
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And what did we need? We needed a savior.
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We needed a savior. We needed one who rescues and
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one who redeems and one who protects and one who provides.
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And even saying that word, there's resistance.
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You know, there's resistance to some that are listening to
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people. I don't need anybody to rescue
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me. I don't need anybody to protect
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me. I don't need anybody to provide
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for me, but I believe if you stood back for a moment and
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examined your life, you know your life.
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We don't know your life. We don't live your life.
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You have your own life. You have.
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You know when you come to church, you put on your best.
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I mean, for goodness sake, I put a suit on this week like you put
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on your best. But you don't know me.
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You don't know my heart. You don't know what I was
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thinking. You know what I'm going.
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You don't know you. You get what it gets presented
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to you. You get what's presented to me,
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to you, and you don't know me, and I don't quite know you.
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But what we do know is what gets presented to us, right?
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We get to see your face and your countenance.
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We get to see your behavior in your life, and that gives us a
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little hints on who you are. But God, he knows you.
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It doesn't matter how you're dressed, what you look.
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It doesn't like He knows you and he knows what you need.
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There are some listening to me right now that they know because
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because the the second person that knows you the best is you,
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even though there's probably some things you don't quite know
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and can't quite understand the second best because you put your
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head on the pillow at night, you rehearse your life.
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You have lived it like you know, someone might want to argue with
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you about XYZ and you're like, bro, I was there.
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That's my life. Like I lived it and you know the
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life that you lived. And so when God, he looks at the
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world even 2000 years ago, the world 2000 years ago needed a
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savior. 4000 years before that, he looks at a garden with just
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two, a man and a woman. They need a savior.
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And today it's the same today. So what we look at and what we
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look to in a Savior is the gift that's been given to us through
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Christ. So if you would, let's read a
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familiar story together. It's true in verse one of Luke
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chapter 2, it says it came to pass in those days that a decree
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went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be
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registered. This census first took place
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when Carinius was governing Syria.
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And so they all went to be registered and everyone to his
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own town. You know, sometimes when you
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read in the Bible, you don't quite understand why things are
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there. The reason why we have these
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details is it stamped time, its stamps say an external source of
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time on this event. So you can look back Caesar
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Augustus and Corinius, there's a time stamp on it of the the
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general time where Christ was born.
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Verse 4, Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of
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Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called
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Bethlehem because he was of the House of the lineage of David.
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He went notice verse 5 to be registered with Mary his
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betrothed wife, who is with child.
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So it was that while they were there, the days were completed
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for her to be delivered, and she brought forth her first born son
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and wrapped him in a swaddling clothes and laid him in a
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Manger, because there was no room for them in the end.
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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in
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the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory
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of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
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The Angel said, don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good
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tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.
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For there is born to you this day in the city of David a
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Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to
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you. You'll find the babe wrapped in
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swallowing claws, lying in a Manger.
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We see at the very birth of Jesus that God the Father
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declares to him, to us through the Angel that a Savior was
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born. A Savior was given to us, given
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to us as a gift. We talk a lot about gifts around
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Christmas. We give exchange gifts.
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We think about what to get. Should we get the gift card?
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Should we get this? How is it that we're going to
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give? But there's a lot of giving and
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receiving. There's probably more giving
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around Christmas than any other time of the year.
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So we can relate to giving. We like to give.
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Some of you love to give more than you receive.
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Some of you love to receive as much as you give.
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I don't know if it's more or not, but like giving is just so
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much fun. It's so exciting to see the kids
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faces light up or your husband or your wife or your single
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friends like it. Giving is great, but you got to
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take your giving and put it into the context of the greatest gift
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that was ever given has been given from God to you.
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We sing it in the beginning you may not have noticed or perhaps
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you did the most famous verse that is known around the world
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for since it was written down for us John 316 that God so
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loved the world that he gave. You'll see this all throughout
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the Bible, love and giving connected and it's not just any
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love, it's the love of God. And I remember this as I'm
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growing older in my marriage with my kids and even future
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grandchildren, all types like I'm learning this word.
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Remember this, the love of God has a very important word
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attached to it. And then when you know when you
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are living in the love of God, there's a, a Greek word for the
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love of God. It's agape.
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And you and I, we know we're closest to the agape love of God
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where it's supernatural in our lives.
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When we live and we love, listen unconditionally.
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God's love is unconditional. He's it's not, it's, it's I
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give, I expect nothing in return.
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I love and I expect nothing in return.
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There is. There are no expectations.
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Well, it's like Jesus said, there's no greater love than to
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lay down one's life for his friend.
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And what did God do? That's the human realm.
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In the spiritual realm, what did God do?
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Jesus laid down his life for not only his friends, but also his
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enemies. That's the baby born here, a
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Savior. And all of us, we need to be
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saved. Because here's the thing, we all
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come from different backgrounds. We, we, it, this is this is what
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makes us all the same. You ready?
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Like all of our backgrounds, all of our nationalities, all of our
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languages. It doesn't matter What Car you
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drive or you took public transportation day, how much
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money you have in the bank or not.
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It doesn't matter what clothes you wear.
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Here's what we all share. You ready.
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We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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What do I need to save you for? Because we have all sins, and
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sin is a Bible word, but it's an important Bible word.
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It reflects the holy or the unholy action toward a holy God,
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an action of disobedience or even a disobedient life.
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It's how I walked into a church like this.
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I was invited by a friend. Last place I'd ever want to be.
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You would look at me on the outside and see one thing.
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But I knew what was going on in my life.
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And it would have been very, very hard for you to convince me
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that I needed a Savior. But I knew I needed something
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and I knew I needed someone. And I was able to be in a church
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very similar to this, where a faithful man, my pastor, taught
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me about the love of God and the gift of God, the gift of God.
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Isn't it amazing that God would gift you with salvation if you
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take it? He would gift you a
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transformation of your life if you will take it, if you will
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receive the truth of your own sinfulness.
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You know sin when you think of sin, I don't want you to be
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offended by that word. You shouldn't.
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Because if I backed off sin for a moment and just said, do you
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make mistakes? How many of you just put a wave
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of hands, say, say I make mistakes.
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How many of you say it, say I go ahead, say it out loud, Say it
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next to the person next to you. They know you make mistakes.
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So now you're admitting it like we all.
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Well, yeah. So we all make mistakes.
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Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. OK, you ready?
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Ready. I did that on purpose.
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You're all smiling, mouths wide open.
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I'm going to put the truth right in right now.
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Ready. We talk about and easily admit
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we make mistakes with each other.
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But what is a mistake with each other?
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The this is what the Bible calls.
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It's sin against God. You know how mistakes can make
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you, you know, you might make a mistake, you might say
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something, do something and it breaks your relationship with
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someone for a little bit. Well, sin is much greater and
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much holier because it's against a holy God and it is our
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imperfect behavior toward a perfect God who loves us.
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And it dates back to the garden. We all inherited it, but we not
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just by inheritance, also by action.
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It's a big deal. It's such a big deal that the
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Bible declares that the wages of sin is death.
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That's in a very real way, but also in a very spiritual way.
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There's a practical side to death and there's a spiritual
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side. And these are no, this is no
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nothing to mess around with. That's why the culture that you
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live in doesn't like the Word, doesn't like the church, doesn't
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like pastors, doesn't like the Bible, like every turn yours
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like don't listen to them, don't listen to them, don't listen.
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They're filled with hate. They're filled.
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Don't listen to them. But but but you're but but when
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you choose not to listen to the truth of God's Word, you do so
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at your own peril, your own destruction.
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You don't need a pastor to tell you that because along the way
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you experience little destructions, relationships
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broken and things lost and loneliness and isolation and
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wondering what my purpose is in is in life.
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Well, part of that purpose in life is tied to your Creator.
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He's created you with purpose. Do you know the Bible says, and
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we could go all day today, but we don't have time.
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But the Bible says that God put eternity in your heart, that he
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knew you before you were born. God has purpose for your life.
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And so when we read the story of the birth of Christ like that,
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that's that's the rescuer that can bring us back because
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although the wage is the sin of death, the Bible says that the
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gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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That's not just like heaven, although we often associate it
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to heaven. Eternal life could also be
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translated as abundant life like a full life like like a life
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that matters and makes has purpose and and now helps
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instead of hurts like it's amazing the things and the the
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what what God wants to bring into your life if you will just
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come and take the gift. Just come now, Fast forward in
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your mind, 30 years, 30 years from the birth of Jesus.
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We'll get to Luke 4. So from Luke two to four is 30
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years or so. And Jesus is an adult.
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He has begun his earthly ministry.
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He's starting to teach and heal and love and care.
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And in chapter 4, verse 16, notice it says he came to
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Nazareth where he had been brought up.
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And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the
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Sabbath day, stood up to read, and he was handed the book, the
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book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
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he found the place where it was written.
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The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to
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preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the
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broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
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recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
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oppressed, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
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And they closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, sat
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down, and all the eyes of who are in the synagogue were fixed
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on him. And he began to say to them,
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today this scripture is fulfilled In your hearing, in
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this reading of the prophet Isaiah by Jesus, we see quite a
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few ingredients, if you will, quite a few elements of the gift
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that is available to you by faith in Jesus Christ.
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Why did Jesus come? What exactly is the gift?
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What is it? What are the facets of the gift?
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What's in the box? I give the box.
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I kind of picture 2 tables up here, right?
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On the one hand, you can have a table with all these gifts laid
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out, 1 by 1 by 1, and you can see the areas.
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Maybe one or two of them are really needed in your life
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today. Or on this table, there's just
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one big box, and that's the one you need to open.
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You need to open the box that contains everything that you
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have been missing out on your whole life.
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But let's look at him briefly and just see the gift that comes
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through this Savior Jesus #1 the gift of Jesus.
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He brings to you good news, not bad news, good news.
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He brings to you the good news that your life can be forever
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rescued, that your sins can be forgiven, that the shame and the
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the guilt and and how you view your past.
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You can become a new creation in Christ today.
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And those of you may need to be reminded that you are a new
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creation in Christ and there is no guilt and shame under the
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blood of Jesus Christ. He has forgiven you good news.
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He came notice to preach the gospel and that word gospel, it
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means good news. It doesn't mean bad news.
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It doesn't mean ruin your life news.
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Jesus would even put it this way.
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You Fast forward a little bit later in John 10/10, He would
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say that the enemy of our souls has come to kill, steal and
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destroy. But I have come to give life, to
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give life, like life at its fullest, to be discovered and
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enjoyed and shared #2 I want you to notice the gift of Jesus
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brings healed hearts. He heals the broken hearted.
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One of the disappointing things about healing often is that we
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expect it all to happen at once, and it usually doesn't.
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You usually get a limp out of it, or a wound or a scab or a
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scar. Nevertheless, the wound, the
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scab, the scar, the limping doesn't mean you haven't
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experienced healing. It doesn't mean that God is that
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not at work at your heart in your life.
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He is. He's come to heal that broken
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heart of yours. That's what He said.
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There's no pastor putting a sermon together.
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It's like this is what Jesus said right here.
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He says He won't. He came to heal your broken
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heart. Many of us can attest to this.
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Thirdly, I want you to notice He says that He has come to
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proclaim liberty those who are oppressed.
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See it at the end in verse 18 to set at liberty those who are
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oppressed or to preach deliverance to the captives.
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He wants to give you freedom, freedom from sin.
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Here's the problem with sin. Not only is it ignored, but but
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it latches on to a person and won't let go and just squeezes
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the life, the word. The world understands this.
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You know, the world that doesn't have the Bible doesn't speak the
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language of the church. That's fine.
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They they see the same thing. They just use different words.
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One of the most popular words of how sin will attach to someone
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and squeeze the life out of them is often described as addiction.
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That's what the world's trying to describe.
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I can't get out from under it. I don't know how to be free.
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I'm going to be this way the rest of my life.
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I don't know, I'm just going to have to settle that.
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I'm going to be under this the rest of my life.
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But that's not why Jesus came. He came to set you free.
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He came to release you. He came to remove those labels
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and those ways that things are being described and go, no, no,
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no, you, you can live free as a new woman, as a new man.
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I would say that's quite the gift.
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Not only that, notice he came to open your eyes.
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It says here, he says he came and he has can't come to give
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recovery of sight to the blind. Now, you know, you're sitting
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here, you go. Whoa, pass.
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What are you talking about? Pastor?
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I'm looking at you right now. I'm not blind.
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Hey, look, there's physical sight and there's spiritual
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sight, and those that are disconnected from God just can't
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see it. They just can't see.
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I'll give you an example. You decide.
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I think I want to be a more moral person this this year.
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This might be the beginning of it.
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I want to go to church. And so I'm going to start
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reading the Bible, which is great.
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You should do it, but it'll be a frustrating experience for you
24:37
many times because it will be very, very hard to understand.
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Now, some of the narrative, you know, as you're reading some of
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the stories you kind of get, you kind of get, you kind of get
24:46
eventually you get to Leviticus and you go, I don't know, man.
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I don't know what why I don't think I'm going to understand
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anything in the Bible. And you're reading and reading.
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You don't quite understand. And I'll tell you why you don't
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quite understand it because you don't have a relationship with
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the author. The author understands it
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because he wrote it. You don't have a real
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relationship with the author. It would be like this, like
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between you and me if I wrote a code book, just a bunch of
25:11
symbols and things and codes. And I gave it to you and I said
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read this and understand that. You could read it and you can
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observe it and you could see all the little signals and things,
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but you won't be able to understand it because you're not
25:23
connected to the author. You still need my help to help
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you see it. And so if I wrote the code book,
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I could give you the key and you'd figure it out.
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Oh, I get it now. That's how it is with the Bible.
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You see, you're unable to understand the fullness of what
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God has for you until your eyes are opened.
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And your eyes can only be opened through a repentant surrender
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life to God. That's the gift you want your
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eyes open. Begin to see things not only
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physically, but spiritually. You have to come to Jesus and
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receive the gift. You have to.
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There is no other way, no other way.
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Not only that, notice #5 He wants to again give deliverance.
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You know, for those deeper things.
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Jesus always lifts people up out of their captivity.
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Not just freedom, but true complete deliverance where you
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can look back and say that was my past and, and I get to say
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that here, I always do. I've been here.
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Now if you're wondering why the numbers are on the stage, we
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just celebrated 25 years being a church here in Colorado.
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And so we still have those numbers up there just reminding
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us of the faithfulness of God and moving out here when I did.
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Just about every single person I have ever met in the 25 years do
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not know the old Ed. They only know the new one.
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They've only met the new one. They don't know.
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They've met the ad that's been delivered.
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They didn't know him when he was stuck.
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And we know, praise God, I, I didn't, I mean, I probably don't
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know you before you got saved. And if you didn't know me before
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I got saved, I didn't know you before you got saved.
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It probably would have been not so good, probably would have
27:03
been bad. And so I'm grateful for that.
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But I know and I, I lived. I know my life.
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I can look back and I'm like, oh, there is a time when I was
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oppressed and stuck and the Bible describes it as slave to
27:21
sin. But accepting the gift of God.
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He delivered me, set me free. It's what He wants to do in your
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life. Let me give you a few more
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before we head out. The gift of Jesus number six is
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hope. I always like to say that hope
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has a name. His name is Jesus.
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I mean, that's this is the thing as we talked about pain and
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suffering and challenges believers, unbelievers, they we
27:47
both have and sometimes we experience the same exact pain,
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except we experience it differently because believers
27:55
understand that your pain has a purpose doesn't mean you like it
27:59
or embrace or even want it. You just know, you remember the
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promise, right? You remember the promise, and
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maybe you don't feel it right now, but you know it's true and
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you'll feel it soon. You'll believe it soon.
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But you have the promise that God is working all things
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together for the good, for those that love Him and are called.
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You know that it may be hard to live it, but Jesus, he brings
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hope into a very hopeless world, a world that just throws up
28:24
their hands, a world that puts their hope in man, puts their
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hope in systems, puts their hope in money and all.
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No hope has a name. His name is Jesus, and that's a
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gift available to you today. He's the only hope of the world.
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Not only that #7 Jesus gives the gift of faith, the ability to
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believe when you're ready to give up, when it's too much,
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Jesus has the faith you need to steady on.
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The Bible says that as believers we have all been given a measure
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of faith and He only expands and develops that number 8, the gift
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found in Jesus is true love. We've talked about that agape
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love, self sacrificial love. It's something new, it's outside
29:07
of us, it's something that is beyond us and yet inside of us.
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To prove His love for us, He laid his life down and it's
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done. Baby born, baby given, son
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returning. That's love saving souls one at
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a time, which brings us to the final gift.
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But it's also the first gift and that is the gift of salvation.
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That's the box, right? That's the big box where
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everything is in. We got to open up the box.
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You don't experience any of these gifts unless you open the
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box. And that's the invitation that
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God gives you today to open the box through a real life
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experience, not just a church experience or a sermon or a
29:54
holiday, but a real life experience with God.
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You bring who you are and what you have.
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You bring it to Him. You come to Him.
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Jesus would give that invitation.
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I could already hear it. Come unto me all who are weary
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and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Isn't that the sweetest place to be, where you can rest in faith
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and trust, knowing that God is faithful?
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Listen, if our greatest need had been information, God would have
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sent us an educator, but he didn't.
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If our greatest need would have been technology, then God would
30:30
have sent a scientist, a programmer, and he didn't.
30:34
If our greatest need would have been money, God would have sent
30:37
an economist or a financial planner or an investor.
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But he didn't. If our greatest need had been
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pleasure, then God would have sent us an entertainer, and
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certainly he did not do that. But our greatest need was
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forgiveness, the forgiveness of sin.
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So God sent us a Savior. And like Jesus said to the
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church in Revelation chapter 3, verse 20 says, behold, I stand
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at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
31:03
opens the door, I'll come to him and dine with him and he with
31:07
me. And so here you are, and here
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God is knocking on the door of your heart.
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God, he has a gift for you. He's offering himself to you.
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He's offering himself to you. That sweet little baby grew up,
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lived a life, was was torturously murdered on a Roman
31:27
cross, taken down, buried. But three days later, on the
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account of many eyewitnesses, Jesus Christ rose again from the
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dead and his blood was shed so that your sins would be
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forgiven. That's Christmas, friends,
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that's Christmas. A baby was born to save, to give
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purpose and meaning to your life every step of the way.
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So don't shut your heart up to him.
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I was listening to my pastor on the way in, coming in a little
31:56
bit later than usual to the to the church today, and I was
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listening to my pastor. He's going through the Christmas
32:01
story himself, and he was looking at the innkeeper there.
32:04
He was sharing about the innkeeper and he was talking
32:07
about how the innkeeper found no room for Jesus at their most
32:13
crucial time. And then he twists, they turn it
32:17
around, he goes, hey, you know, I don't want you to be like the
32:19
innkeeper and find no room for Jesus.
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I thought, man, that's so good, that's so good.
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I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it.
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He's in heaven now, so he's fine with it.
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So I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it because I
32:32
want you to find room. I want you to make room because
32:36
of the love of God. You know that we read, didn't
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we, that no greater love has anyone that gives their life for
32:43
a friend. But Jesus, as we learn, gives us
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life even for us that resist him.
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So I invite you to follow him today.
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Father, we pray as we think through the reality of your
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presence among us. And I do thank you for my pastor
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and the 50 plus faithful years that he served and even this
33:03
morning ministering to my heart that he might minister to us as
33:06
a church family, reminding us to make room not to be like that
33:12
innkeeper, always remembered by his rejection of that baby,
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fully alive in the womb, coming to him for help.
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And here we are, God with the gift that's laid before us, the
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gift of life, the gift of salvation, the gift of freedom,
33:29
the gift of deliverance, the gift of hope, the gift of faith,
33:32
the gift of love. On and on the list goes as we
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repent and turn away from our sins and turn to you today.
33:40
And so today, if you're here and you've never given your life to
33:44
Jesus Christ and opened your heart to him, I want to invite
33:46
you to do just that. If that's you and you say, Ed
33:49
pastor, that's what I want to do.
33:51
I want to I want to turn away from my sin and follow Jesus
33:54
Christ. I want that gift.
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Would you just stand to your feet?
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I'd like to pray for you. Pastors will come alongside,
34:01
stand with you and encourage you.
34:03
We want to invite you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ for the
34:07
forgiveness of your sins. And if that's you right here in
34:11
the room, now is the time. Because remember he said to
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preach the acceptable day of the Lord.
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That was a time. That's a time statement.
34:20
He's basically saying this is now.
34:22
This is the accepted time. That's what he would be saying
34:26
to you today. This is the accepted time,
34:30
because if you will choose to confess with your mouth the Lord
34:33
Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
34:36
dead, you will be saved. It's yours.
34:41
All you need to do is open it. That's what you do with a gift.
34:44
You accept it, you receive it, you open it, and you enjoy it.
34:49
That's it. You don't have to do anything,
34:51
you don't have to work for it. Try to want like just receive
34:56
it, open it, enjoy it. Is there anyone here among us I
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know listening out on the radio might be in a jail cell right
35:04
now, or a hospital room or driving around town running
35:07
errands and God has got your attention.
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It doesn't matter that you're in the room because you really are.
35:13
You're hearing us. You could be downstairs in the
35:16
overflow. God bless you guys over here.
35:18
Who else would be in the room like with us right now?
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We get to enjoy with you. We get to come alongside of you.
35:24
We get to rejoice with you. We get to be reminded because
35:29
sometimes we'll call you up to the stage, sometimes we'll have
35:32
you stand, sometimes maybe raise a hand.
35:33
Sometimes we don't do anything because because here's the
35:35
thing, it's all for you and it's for us.
35:39
See, none of these things matter.
35:40
Standing, sitting, raising, and none of that.
35:42
That's not where a person's saved.
35:44
A person saved when they in their heart of hearts believe
35:48
and they confess Jesus Christ as their Savior, turning away from
35:52
their sinful past. But why do we have this
35:54
movement? I'll tell you why.
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First of all, for you. So you have a memory because if
35:59
Jesus was here today and he said, hey, you come follow me,
36:02
you'd have to physically get up and walk with him, you would
36:05
know that's the day. But also for us, your response
36:09
is for us because it reminds us you're still alive.
36:12
God is still alive and he's still reaching people.
36:15
So I can be praying for my mom and praying for my dad and
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praying for my kids and praying for my prodigals because God is
36:21
still alive, moving among us in his power.
36:25
And so would there be anyone else?
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I don't want to, you know, I don't want to just move forward
36:31
without you responding. God bless you.
36:37
Today's the day, Christmas. What a gift it's going to blow.
36:42
I'm sorry for everybody that gave you gifts.
36:43
It's going to blow their their gifts out of the water.
36:47
This is the best of the best. And so let me help you
36:50
confessing with your mouth, believing in your heart you that
36:52
confessing with the mouth we would call prayer.
36:55
So let me just help you with a prayer that if you pray from
36:59
your heart, this is the real deal, then it's real.
37:01
It's not just repeating words, but you're conveying your love
37:04
for God. So you can say something like
37:05
this. God, I admit that I've sinned
37:08
against you and I believe you gave me Jesus as a gift of
37:13
salvation and I turn away today my from my sins and ask you to
37:19
forgive me of all my sins and I choose to follow you today.
37:26
Here's my life God take it and use me all the days I have left
37:34
on the earth. And Father, I know that anyone
37:37
near or far that would turn to you today, I just remember what
37:40
your Bible says. You will no way cast them out.
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And so we welcome these men and women that say here I am God, I
37:49
received the gift, I want to follow you.
37:54
Bless them Lord, encourage them, protect them in Jesus name,
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Amen. We we pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
38:03
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
38:06
Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
38:15
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
38:18
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
38:24
or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.