Latest / Ian Green Audio Sermons / The Depth, Power and Nature of the Love of Jesus Christ

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The Depth, Power and Nature of the Love of Jesus Christ · Ian Green Audio Sermons

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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Ministry of Ian Green, a place where faith is strengthened, hope is renewed, and the word of God comes alive.
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  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're searching for answers, walking through a difficult season, or simply hungry to know God more deeply, you're in the right place.
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  SPEAKER_00: So take a moment, quiet your heart, and open your spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into the Word of God together.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is Ian Green and this is today's message.
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  SPEAKER_00: The depth, the power, and the nature of the love of Jesus Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today I want to speak to somebody about something that is so simple yet so profound.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are loved by God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not because you've got everything together, not because you've never made a mistake, not because you've always done the right thing, not because you've lived a perfect life.
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  SPEAKER_00: No, you are loved because God is love.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says in 1 John 4 8, God is love.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love isn't simply something God does.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love is a part of his very nature.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when we understand the love of God, we begin to understand something about our own value.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because the enemy will constantly try to convince you that your mistakes have disqualified you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your failures tell you you're not worthy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your past tells you God can't use you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your sin tells you God has finished with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the gospel comes along and says, God still loves you.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may have fallen, but his love hasn't fallen.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may have failed, but his love hasn't failed.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may have wandered, but his love knows exactly where you are.
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  SPEAKER_00: And today I want somebody to understand God's love is deeper than your failure.
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  SPEAKER_00: His grace is greater than your sin.
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  SPEAKER_00: His mercy is greater than your mistakes.
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  SPEAKER_00: And his purpose for your life is greater than the chapter you're currently living in.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, the love of God is deep.
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul says in Ephesians 3 that we should know the width, length, depth, and height of Christ's love.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: The love of Jesus isn't shallow.
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  SPEAKER_00: You cannot measure it, you cannot reach the bottom of it, you cannot go beyond it, you cannot exhaust it.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can spend your entire life discovering the love of God and still find there are depths you haven't explored.
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  SPEAKER_00: The psalmist says, For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards those who fear him.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's Psalms 103, verse 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: How high are the heavens?
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  SPEAKER_00: You can't measure it, and God says his mercy is like that.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are depths of God's love that your mind cannot comprehend.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here's the beautiful thing: God knows everything about you and still loves you.
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  SPEAKER_00: He knows the things you don't tell anybody, he knows the thoughts you've had, he knows the mistakes you've made, he knows your history, he knows your weaknesses, he knows your struggles, he knows where you've been, and yet he says, I love you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's what makes the love of Jesus so extraordinary.
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  SPEAKER_00: Human beings often love according to conditions.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'll love you if, I'll love you as long as, I'll love you provided that, but God's love reaches into the mess.
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  SPEAKER_00: Romans 5 8 says, But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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  SPEAKER_00: While we were still sinners, not when we got cleaned up, not when we became perfect, not when we got everything right, but while we were still sinners.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus came looking for us.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, the cross is the greatest demonstration of love.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you ever question whether God loves you, look at the cross.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't look at your circumstances, don't look at your failures, don't look at what somebody said about you, look at Calvary.
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  SPEAKER_00: John 3 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice the order.
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  SPEAKER_00: God loved, therefore he gave.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love gives, love sacrifices, love pays a price.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus didn't simply say he loved us, he demonstrated it.
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  SPEAKER_00: He stretched out his hands, he allowed himself to be wounded, he carried our sin, he carried our shame, he carried our rejection, he carried our punishment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 53 5 says, He was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus went to the cross because he saw something in you that you might not see in yourself.
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  SPEAKER_00: He saw your value.
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  SPEAKER_00: You were worth pursuing, you were worth redeeming, you were worth saving, you were worth the blood.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's how valuable you are to God.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, God's love doesn't approve of your sin, it transforms you from your sin.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's something important.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we talk about God's unconditional love, it doesn't mean God says, everything you're doing is okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: No, God loves us too much to leave us where he found us.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is a difference between acceptance and transformation.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, Jesus will meet you exactly where you are, but he loves you enough to take you somewhere else.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.
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  SPEAKER_00: John 8 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look at both sides.
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  SPEAKER_00: Neither do I condemn you, that's grace, and go and sin no more, that's transformation.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, Jesus didn't condemn her, but he didn't celebrate her sin either.
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  SPEAKER_00: He gave her a new beginning, and that's what the love of Jesus does.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't simply tell you, stay where you are, it says, Come with me, let me change you, let me heal you, let me cleanse you, let me restore you, let me make you new.
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  SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away.
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  SPEAKER_00: Behold, all things have become new.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, his love is a purifying love.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are things in our lives that God wants to remove: attitudes, bitterness, pride, unforgiveness, addictions, wrong relationships, wrong thinking, wrong desires, old wounds, old identities.
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  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we wonder, why is God dealing with me about this?
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  SPEAKER_00: It's because he loves you.
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  SPEAKER_00: A loving father doesn't watch his child walk towards destruction and say nothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: God's correction is not rejection, God's correction is love.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, Hebrews 12 6 says, For whom the Lord loves, he chastens.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes God has to purge things out of us because he's preparing something greater for us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said in John 15 2 that the Father prunes the branches that bear fruit so they can bear more fruit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Pruning can hurt though, but pruning isn't punishment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Pruning is preparation.
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  SPEAKER_00: God is saying, I'm removing this because I have more for you.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm dealing with this because I want to produce something greater through you.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm cleansing this because I want my character to be seen in you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's love.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, you are not your past.
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  SPEAKER_00: Somebody listening today needs to hear this.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not your past.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not the worst thing you've ever done.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not your biggest failure.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not your mistakes.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not the words somebody spoke over you.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are not what the enemy says about you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your identity is found in Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul had a past.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peter had a past.
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  SPEAKER_00: David had a past.
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  SPEAKER_00: The woman at the well had a past.
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  SPEAKER_00: The prodigal son had a past.
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  SPEAKER_00: But God wasn't finished with any of them.
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  SPEAKER_00: And God isn't finished with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: The enemy says, Look what you've done.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, Look what I can do with your life.
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  SPEAKER_00: The enemy says, You've gone too far.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, My grace can reach you there.
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  SPEAKER_00: The enemy says, You're disqualified.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, Come home.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's the gospel.
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  SPEAKER_00: The love of God pursues the lost.
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  SPEAKER_00: Think about the prodigal son.
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  SPEAKER_00: He took his inheritance, he left his father's house, he wasted everything, he ended up in a place he never imagined he'd be.
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  SPEAKER_00: And eventually he said, I will arise and go to my father.
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  SPEAKER_00: But what happens next is beautiful.
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  SPEAKER_00: Luke 15, 20 says, But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
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  SPEAKER_00: The father was watching for him.
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  SPEAKER_00: The son thought he was coming home to become a servant.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the father was ready to restore him as a son.
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  SPEAKER_00: He didn't say, Where have you been?
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  SPEAKER_00: Why did you do that?
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  SPEAKER_00: How could you waste everything?
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  SPEAKER_00: The father said, My son has come home.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's the heart of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: You might feel far away from God today, but God isn't far away from you.
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  SPEAKER_00: His arms are still open, and his mercy is still available, his grace is still reaching.
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  SPEAKER_00: His invitation is still come home.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: Romans 8 asks, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
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  SPEAKER_00: And then Paul gives us the answer: Tribulation?
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Distress?
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Persecution?
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Famine?
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Danger?
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  SPEAKER_00: No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now notice something here.
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul doesn't say you'll never have trouble.
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  SPEAKER_00: He says trouble cannot separate you from God's love.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may go through the valley, but he's there.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may walk through the fire, but he's there.
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  SPEAKER_00: You may feel like you've lost everything, but you haven't lost him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 23 says, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
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  SPEAKER_00: He is with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's love.
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  SPEAKER_00: Faith opens the door to transformation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here's where faith really comes in.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't transform yourself before you come to Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come to Jesus and He begins transforming you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's the difference.
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  SPEAKER_00: Religion says, clean yourself up and then come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, Come to me and I will clean you up.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to manufacture your own righteousness.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to pretend.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to hide.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to perform.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come home.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come honestly.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come broken.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come wounded.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come confused.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come with your questions.
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  SPEAKER_00: You come with your failures.
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  SPEAKER_00: And you say, Jesus, here I am.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he says, I love you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then he begins his work inside you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Philippians 1 6 says, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: God is not finished with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're still becoming, you're still growing, you're still being shaped, you're still being transformed.
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  SPEAKER_00: But don't despise the process.
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  SPEAKER_00: See, God's love changes how you see yourself.
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  SPEAKER_00: When you truly understand God's love, you stop living for approval from people.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't need everybody to validate you.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know who you are.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to prove your worth.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus already paid the price for your worth.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to earn his love.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to compete for his love.
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  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to perform for his love.
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  SPEAKER_00: You receive his love.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when you understand that you are loved, something begins to change inside of you.
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  SPEAKER_00: You begin to love differently, you begin to forgive differently, you begin to pray differently, you begin to worship differently, you begin to walk differently.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because 1 John 4.19 says, We love him because he first loved us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our love is a response to his love.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing too broken for Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe somebody listening today thinks, you don't know what I've done.
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  SPEAKER_00: No, I don't.
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  SPEAKER_00: But Jesus does.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he still says, Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've made terrible mistakes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've walked away from God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've disappointed yourself.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've disappointed other people.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're carrying shame.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been living in secret.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're tired of pretending that everything is okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said in Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Notice he doesn't say, Come to me when you fixed everything.
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  SPEAKER_00: He says, Come to me.
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  SPEAKER_00: The answer isn't trying harder, the answer is coming closer to Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: So here's the conclusion.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are loved.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, today I want you to leave with this.
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  SPEAKER_00: You are loved.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not because you are perfect, not because you have never failed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not because you've earned it.
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  SPEAKER_00: But you are loved because God is love.
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  SPEAKER_00: His love is deeper than your past.
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  SPEAKER_00: His grace is greater than your sin.
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  SPEAKER_00: His mercy is greater than your failure.
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  SPEAKER_00: His blood is stronger than your shame.
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  SPEAKER_00: His power is greater than your weakness.
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  SPEAKER_00: And his purpose is greater than your circumstances.
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  SPEAKER_00: The cross proves your value.
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  SPEAKER_00: The empty tomb proves his victory.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit proves that God isn't finished with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: So don't run from God because you failed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Run to God because you failed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't hide from him because you're ashamed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Bring your shame to him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't think you have to become perfect before you come.
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  SPEAKER_00: Come and let him begin his perfect work in you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because the love of Jesus doesn't just say I forgive you.
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  SPEAKER_00: It says I will transform you.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't just rescue you from your past.
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  SPEAKER_00: It gives you a future.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't just cleanse you from sin.
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  SPEAKER_00: It gives you a new identity.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't just bring you out of darkness.
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  SPEAKER_00: It teaches you how to walk in the light.
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  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps the most beautiful thing you can understand today is this.
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  SPEAKER_00: God knew exactly who you were when He chose to love you.
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  SPEAKER_00: He knew your weaknesses.
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  SPEAKER_00: Still He pursued you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Still He gave you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Still He gave His Son for you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Still He calls your name.
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  SPEAKER_00: Still His arms are open.
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  SPEAKER_00: And still His grace is available.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yet still He loves you.
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  SPEAKER_00: So lift your head, open your heart, come back to the Father, and let the love of Jesus do what human effort can never do.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cleanse you, heal you, restore you, transform you, and make you more like Him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because the one who started the work is faithful to finish it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when everything else changes, His love remains.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me today, and I pray that this message has encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and drawn you closer to God.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: If this ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider becoming a partner and helping us continue to share the word of God and the message of hope with people around the world.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can find out more about supporting the ministry through the links provided.
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  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember this God loves you and He has a purpose for your life, and He's always with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm Ian Green, God bless you, and I'll see you again soon.