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God Is Always With Us - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: Would you open your Bibles please to Luke chapter 2,
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Speaker 1: Luke chapter 2. Mark that with one finger and in
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Speaker 1: just a few moments we're going to be looking at
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Speaker 1: John chapter 1. So you might mark Luke 2 and
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Speaker 1: then in a few moments John chapter 1. If your
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Speaker 1: Bible is an iPhone, I do not know how to
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Speaker 1: do that, but we'll figure that out. Luke chapter 2
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Speaker 1: we'll be turning to in just a moment. Let's pray together.
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Speaker 1: Have mercy please O Lord upon the one who speaks.
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Speaker 1: For his sins are many. May we see Christ. And
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Speaker 1: just Christ. Amen. So there you are in Macy's department store.
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Speaker 1: The place is packed with people who had the same
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Speaker 1: idea that you did. And that is to take advantage
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Speaker 1: of a Saturday. To get your Christmas shopping done early.
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Speaker 1: But you're making good progress in spite of the crowd.
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Speaker 1: You've already found the fleece for your son and the
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Speaker 1: perfume for your niece. And you're inching your way into
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Speaker 1: the jewelry department to look for those little pendants that
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Speaker 1: your mom keeps talking about. When all of a sudden,
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Speaker 1: the Macy's department store just explodes in music. I'm not
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Speaker 1: talking about somebody humming Silent Night behind you. I'm talking
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Speaker 1: about an explosion of Handel's Messiah. Not through the speakers,
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Speaker 1: but through the shoppers. The guy to your right who
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Speaker 1: was just pushing the baby stroller stops and he belts
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Speaker 1: out the tenor part. And the ladies to your left
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Speaker 1: who were looking for pajamas, carrying shopping bags, don't even
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Speaker 1: set the bags down before they turn and they begin
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Speaker 1: to sing toward the mezzanine. The place is full of music.
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Speaker 1: And all of the store can be divided into two groups.
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Speaker 1: Those who are singing and those who are wondering what
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Speaker 1: in the world is happening. Can you imagine such a scene?
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Speaker 1: In case you cannot, turn your attention to the screen
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Speaker 1: for a minute.
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Speaker 1: What a moment. Shoppers became worshipers. Macy's became a sanctuary.
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Speaker 1: And a common, normal Saturday became a Christmas celebration. But
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Speaker 1: what happened in Macy's last October? is nothing. I'm talking
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Speaker 1: small potatoes compared to what happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
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Speaker 1: Here's how Luke described it, beginning in verse 1 of
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Speaker 1: chapter 2. And it came to pass in those days
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Speaker 1: that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, and that
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Speaker 1: all the world should be registered This census took place
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Speaker 1: while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered,
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Speaker 1: everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from
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Speaker 1: Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to
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Speaker 1: the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
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Speaker 1: was of the house and of the lineage of David,
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Speaker 1: to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was
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Speaker 1: with child. So it was that while they were there,
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Speaker 1: the days were completed for her to be delivered. And
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Speaker 1: she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths,
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Speaker 1: and laid him in a manger, because there was no
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Speaker 1: room for them in the end. Now we know what
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Speaker 1: happens next. We know about the shepherds and the angels.
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Speaker 1: We know about the bright star and the arriving dignitaries,
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Speaker 1: the wise men. But did you notice before any of
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Speaker 1: that happens, the whole story of the birth of Jesus
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Speaker 1: just drips with normalcy. I mean, it could be shopping
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Speaker 1: day at Macy's. It was just a normal, normal setting.
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Speaker 1: A regular couple, Mary and Joseph, covered with road dust.
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Speaker 1: Arrive in a simple town. Of Bethlehem. Facing the common problems.
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Speaker 1: A government census. A crowded hotel. No place to stay.
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Speaker 1: And finally they end up in a common stable. The
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Speaker 1: story of the birth of Jesus. Begins in such. Commonness.
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Speaker 1: This isn't King Joseph. This isn't Queen Mary. This isn't
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Speaker 1: Queen Mary. They don't have a tax exemption. They don't
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Speaker 1: get special dispensation from the government to stay home. Yes,
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Speaker 1: God is within her belly, but she receives no special permission.
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Speaker 1: She's so normal. Joseph is so normal. This isn't Joseph
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Speaker 1: and Mary of the Bible. This is Norm and Norma
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Speaker 1: of normal Nazareth. They're just normal. Normal has calluses like
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Speaker 1: Joseph on his hands. Norma has stretch marks like Mary.
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Speaker 1: They're just normal. Normal. They don't have a caravan to
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Speaker 1: take them. They don't have banners. They don't have servants.
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Speaker 1: They're just normal. Normal like you. Normal like me. Norma
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Speaker 1: sings off key. Normal has to get to work early
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Speaker 1: in the morning. Norma has more than she can do.
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Speaker 1: All the laundry is piling up. Normal has a cranky
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Speaker 1: boss who wants him to take one more trip before Christmas.
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Speaker 1: Norma have learned the life of being normal. Consequently, they
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Speaker 1: don't receive a lot of special exemption, special treatment. They've
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Speaker 1: even heard what Joseph and Mary heard when they arrived
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Speaker 1: at the inn. You know, we're just a little crowded.
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Speaker 1: We don't have room for you. Had that been King
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Speaker 1: Joseph and Queen Mary, they might have heard a different response.
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Speaker 1: And maybe you've heard something That statement too. We don't
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Speaker 1: have room for you. We don't have time for you.
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Speaker 1: We don't have a job for you. We don't have
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Speaker 1: an opportunity for you. We don't have space for you.
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Speaker 1: And behind those words is the understanding. Because you're so normal.
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Speaker 1: Just normal. You indwell that common populace between rube and royalty.
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Speaker 1: Just common. That's why we love this story. Because if
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Speaker 1: Jesus chose a normal setting. And normal people through which
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Speaker 1: to be born. Dare we might. Dare we assume. Dare
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Speaker 1: we dream. That he might do it again. You see,
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Speaker 1: what if Jesus had in the womb of Joseph and,
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, in the womb of Mary. I know that much.
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Speaker 1: What if Jesus in the womb of Mary had shown
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Speaker 1: up with a bunch of pomp and circumstance? What if
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Speaker 1: Joseph and Mary had been wearing furs and riding in
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Speaker 1: a limousine and a bunch of bling bling and And
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Speaker 1: muckety-muck and celebration. What if God had turned Bethlehem into
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Speaker 1: something that looked like Hollywood on Oscars night? And Joseph
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Speaker 1: and Mary had arrived on a red carpet. And all
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Speaker 1: of the angels had come and stepped down to interview
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Speaker 1: Mary as she walked into Bethlehem. And they all said,
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Speaker 1: oh Mary, Mary, you look just simply divine. That was
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Speaker 1: a joke. Had Jesus arrived. Encircled. In pomp and circumstance.
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Speaker 1: We would be reading his story thinking. My. What a
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Speaker 1: wonderful way God entered the world. But since. Jesus chose. Jesus.
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Speaker 1: To enter the world. Cloaked in commonness. We commoners. Can
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Speaker 1: read the story and think. My. Might he be willing
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Speaker 1: to do it again. Through us. And in us. Just
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Speaker 1: common folk. Sometimes I think that the real splendor of
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Speaker 1: Christmas is the lack thereof. John, when he describes the
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Speaker 1: coming of Christ, comes at it from a different angle.
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Speaker 1: Luke takes us ground level. We follow Joseph and Mary
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Speaker 1: into Bethlehem. John, on the other hand, takes us up
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Speaker 1: to heaven. And with the pen of a poet, he
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Speaker 1: begins in John chapter 1 to describe the coming of Christ.
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Speaker 1: I'm reading in verses 1 through 3 of John 1.
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Speaker 1: And then I'm going to jump down to verse 14.
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Speaker 1: He says, in the beginning was the Word. And the
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Speaker 1: Word was with God. And the Word was God. He
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Speaker 1: was in the beginning with God. And all things were
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Speaker 1: made through him. And without him nothing was made that
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Speaker 1: was made. And then verse 14. And the word became
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Speaker 1: flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory.
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Speaker 1: The glory as of the only begotten father. Full of
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Speaker 1: grace and truth. How does John begin his gospel? The
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Speaker 1: same way the author of Genesis begins. began the bible
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Speaker 1: have you ever noticed in the beginning in the beginning
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Speaker 1: god created the heavens and the earth is this a
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Speaker 1: coincidence or is this john's intended message in the beginning
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Speaker 1: in the beginning The one who Mary held. The babe
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Speaker 1: in Mary's arms. The baby in the manger. Was in
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Speaker 1: the beginning. He was in the beginning. In the beginning
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Speaker 1: was Jesus. In the beginning was the word. The word
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Speaker 1: was God. The word was with God. And then verse
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Speaker 1: 3 he says. All things were made through him. All
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Speaker 1: things were made through him. Not by him. Did you notice?
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Speaker 1: There's a difference. If all things were made by him,
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Speaker 1: then he would take things and assemble them, preexistent things,
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Speaker 1: assemble them into something. No, all things were made through him,
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Speaker 1: which suggests he took nothing and made it into something.
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Speaker 1: He became the very force in which things began to exist.
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Speaker 1: He didn't just reassemble that which existed. He, by divine fiat,
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Speaker 1: called into existence something out of nothingness. In the beginning
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Speaker 1: was the Word. This Jesus was in the beginning. And
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Speaker 1: all things were made through Him. He was, we might
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Speaker 1: call Him the Genesis Word. Paul said He was the
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Speaker 1: firstborn over all creation. Paul said He's the one Lord,
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom
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Speaker 1: we have been given life. So here's the picture of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: the one who was in the beginning, the one through
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Speaker 1: whom everything was made. And then John says... That word
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Speaker 1: became flesh. He became one of us. What no theologian
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Speaker 1: could imagine. What no rabbi ever dreamed. Jesus did. God
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Speaker 1: became flesh. And he dwelt among us. He became Emmanuel.
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Speaker 1: God with us. Remember the promise of the angel? Behold,
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Speaker 1: the virgin shall be with child and bear a son.
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Speaker 1: And they shall call his name, what? Emmanuel. Which is translated,
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Speaker 1: God with us. Emanu in Hebrew means with us. El, E-L,
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Speaker 1: is abbreviated form of Elohim. The name for, a name
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Speaker 1: for God. God. So Jesus comes as the with us God. Emmanuel,
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Speaker 1: the with us God. Not the near us God or
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Speaker 1: the around us God or somewhere in the zip code God,
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Speaker 1: but the with us God. The artist became a paint
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Speaker 1: drop on his own canvas. The potter became mud on
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Speaker 1: his own God became a fetus and placed himself in
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Speaker 1: the most normal of circumstances. In the womb of a girl.
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Speaker 1: Covered himself in placenta and descended through the birth canal
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Speaker 1: into the calloused hands of a Jewish carpenter. Now why
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Speaker 1: is this important? Why is this important? Because if God
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Speaker 1: would become flesh and dwell among them and be the Emmanuel,
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Speaker 1: we can believe that God is with us even now.
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Speaker 1: And that not for a moment, not for a moment,
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Speaker 1: dare you think that you are too normal, too ordinary,
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Speaker 1: too common To miss out on the presence of God.
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Speaker 1: And that God has not chosen. To limit his presence.
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Speaker 1: To sanctuaries and saints. That are in a stained glass window.
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Speaker 1: But that God has chosen. To come among the normal people.
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Speaker 1: Who are just crazy enough to believe he will. Normal.
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Speaker 1: I don't think Joseph and Mary. Had the. that we
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Speaker 1: parents have today, and that is the advantage of ultrasound technology.
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Speaker 1: But many parents today, including Deanlin and me, when our
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Speaker 1: three daughters were born, we wanted to get an advanced
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Speaker 1: glimpse of our child. And so we had an ultrasound taken.
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Speaker 1: Do you know what that is? They get a picture
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Speaker 1: of the baby. It's not much of a picture. But,
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Speaker 1: you know, there's no waving and no smiling. It looks
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Speaker 1: more like a Doppler radar storm forecast, which it may be.
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Speaker 1: And at least we had to have somebody. It's probably
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Speaker 1: better now. This was years ago. The first two daughters
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Speaker 1: born in Brazil. We had to have the doctor help
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Speaker 1: us out. and look at the picture, and you know,
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Speaker 1: get the interpretation. And he started pointing things out. He said, well,
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Speaker 1: there's a leg, and oh, there's another leg, and there's
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Speaker 1: a hand, and there's a pierced nose, and oh no,
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Speaker 1: that was a later photo. Sorry, getting them confused. But
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Speaker 1: the words we wanted to hear were the words he
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Speaker 1: said at the end he backed away from the picture
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Speaker 1: and he said well everything looks said the same thing
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Speaker 1: to you normal it looks normal Allow this to hit
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Speaker 1: you for just a moment. Had Joseph and Mary had
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Speaker 1: an ultrasound conducted on Jesus, the Son of God, the
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Speaker 1: doctor would have looked at everything and said, head, torso, legs, hands. Well,
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Speaker 1: looks normal. Normal. A normal baby is going to be
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Speaker 1: born But you will call Him Emmanuel. Because wrapped in
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Speaker 1: the cloak of commonness is God. And God is with us.
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Speaker 1: He loves to come to normal people. He loves to
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Speaker 1: come through normal circumstances. In fact, I dare say, if
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Speaker 1: you will listen, you'll begin to hear the music around
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Speaker 1: you Of the with us God. Why would he do this?
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Speaker 1: The only reason that makes sense to me is this one.
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Speaker 1: And that is he must really think highly of you.
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Speaker 1: He must think you're something special. I mean. He must
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Speaker 1: really be fond of you. If He is so willing
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Speaker 1: to come into your world, to talk to you, to
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Speaker 1: be with you, to dress like you, to appear like you,
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Speaker 1: to become flesh, so that someday you can go into
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Speaker 1: His world, He must really think highly of you. Have
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Speaker 1: you ever thought about what that journey was like? For
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Speaker 1: God to become flesh. I know John reduces it down
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Speaker 1: to a sentence. He says that the Word became flesh.
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Speaker 1: But that is an immense journey, isn't it? What would
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Speaker 1: that be like for the God of creation to become
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Speaker 1: a resident of Nazareth in a carpenter's home? On the
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Speaker 1: campus of the Crown Ridge Campus of the Oak Hills Church,
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Speaker 1: If you notice, you might see some black-tailed squirrels. There
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Speaker 1: are quite a few families of them around here. So
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Speaker 1: many that sometimes we include them in our weekend attendance figures.
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Speaker 1: When my office was on this campus, I made good
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Speaker 1: friends with a family of black-tailed squirrels. Because right outside
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Speaker 1: my office window, they occupied, and I guess they still do,
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Speaker 1: they occupied a tree. They made a home out of
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Speaker 1: a tree. And I could, anytime I looked out my window,
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Speaker 1: it seemed there they were, up and down that tree,
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Speaker 1: up and down that tree, out and about, in and out,
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Speaker 1: up and around that tree. I really liked those squirrels.
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Speaker 1: We became good friends. Some days I watched them all
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Speaker 1: day long. I didn't do any work. I just sat
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Speaker 1: there and I just watched the squirrels up and down.
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Speaker 1: One day I think one of them winked at me.
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Speaker 1: I winked back. We hadn't pet names for each other.
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Speaker 1: It was a very kind and cordial relationship. We were
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Speaker 1: good neighbors. But never once, you're going to find this
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Speaker 1: hard to believe, but never once did I consider or
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Speaker 1: wish that I could become a squirrel. I really liked them.
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Speaker 1: But never once did I offer a prayer, God, make
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Speaker 1: me a squirrel. Give me a long black furry tail.
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Speaker 1: Make me little with tiny sharp teeth and claws. I
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Speaker 1: never once prayed that. You know why? Because I saw
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Speaker 1: what squirrels ate. Do you know what squirrels eat? Squirrels
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Speaker 1: never go to Whataburger. Squirrels never have steak. Squirrels don't
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Speaker 1: know what Blue Bell ice cream is. They eat these dirty,
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Speaker 1: yucky nuts. And that's all they eat. It's pathetic. And
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Speaker 1: do you know where squirrels live? They live in a
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Speaker 1: hole in the tree. You think I'm going to give
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Speaker 1: up what we get to live in for their world?
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Speaker 1: You think for a second I'd give up the Texas
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Speaker 1: sky or the Texas prairie or I'd give up a
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Speaker 1: chance to see Grand Canyon or the Pacific Ocean and
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Speaker 1: confine my life to just a little hole in a tree?
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Speaker 1: Heaven forbid. And they don't know. They think the whole
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Speaker 1: world is just about 500 square yards between a parking
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Speaker 1: lot and a sidewalk. They never go beyond that. I
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Speaker 1: would ask them. Go venture out in life. Explore things.
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Speaker 1: See the world. And they look at me with these
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Speaker 1: beady eyes. Like there's no other world. I don't want
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Speaker 1: to become a squirrel. And how far of a journey
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Speaker 1: would that be? For me to become one of them.
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Speaker 1: As soon as you find an answer to that question.
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Speaker 1: Multiply it by about a billion. And you'll have a fraction.
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Speaker 1: Of what it meant. For the Lord Jesus. To become flesh.
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Speaker 1: And dwell among us. For he who was never bound
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Speaker 1: by time. To suddenly live in a world that is
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Speaker 1: marked by time. For he who could be anywhere at
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Speaker 1: any time. To voluntarily reduce himself for 33 years. To
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Speaker 1: as far as his feet would go. For he who
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Speaker 1: is never tired to fall asleep. He who is never
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Speaker 1: hungry to look for something to eat. To feel everything
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Speaker 1: that you and I would feel. So that we would
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Speaker 1: believe that he really is Emmanuel. God with us. God
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Speaker 1: with us. God is with us. I'm not sure you're
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Speaker 1: believing me. God is with us. He's with you in
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Speaker 1: your sickness. He's with you in your finances. He's with
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Speaker 1: you in your fears. And on those nights that you
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Speaker 1: awaken and your heart is beating from some indiscernible fear,
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Speaker 1: God is with you. And on those days that you're
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Speaker 1: frustrated by the traffic or aggravated by the boss, God
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Speaker 1: is with you. He is with you. The one who
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Speaker 1: made the stars is with you. God is with you.
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Speaker 1: You know what that is? That is present tense, isn't it?
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Speaker 1: Not God was with you, or God will be with you,
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Speaker 1: or God could be with you, or God would have
27:39
Speaker 1: been with you if... But God is with you. That's
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Speaker 1: called present tense. That means God is present. So don't
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Speaker 1: be tense. You can relax. God is with you. Beside you.
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Speaker 1: Ahead of you. Behind you. Above you. Next week I'll
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Speaker 1: show you how God is in you. God is in.
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Speaker 1: So are you normal? Congratulations. God comes to the world.
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Speaker 1: Through people like you. And if you'll listen carefully. Even
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Speaker 1: in the most normal of moments. Listen carefully. You might
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Speaker 1: hear the music. And this. God with us God. Wants
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Speaker 1: to talk to us. And he wants.
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Speaker 3: So, Thank you.
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Speaker 1: Thank you.
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Speaker 3: Thank you.
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Speaker 1: Thank you.
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Speaker 3: You don't have to be mad. You don't have to
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Speaker 3: stay close.
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Speaker 1: As long as you're somewhere out there. That's enough for me.
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Speaker 4: I don't need to hold you near me. Don't need
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Speaker 4: promises to keep. Just the thought that you are breathing.
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Speaker 4: Somewhere in this world I see. Even if I'm not
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Speaker 4: beside you. Even if you never know.
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Speaker 1: I don't need forever.
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Speaker 4: I just need you to exist. You don't have to
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Speaker 4: stay with me.
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Speaker 5: You don't have to feel the same Just as long
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Speaker 5: as you're still out there Calling softly through my days You.
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Speaker 3: Don't have to look my way.
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Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home It's.
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Speaker 4: Enough to know you're living In a world I'm not
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Speaker 4: alone I won't chase you through the distance Won't disturb
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Speaker 4: your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my silence
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Speaker 4: like a star that shines at night. Through the dark
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Speaker 4: and through the blue.
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Speaker 6: I still think of you. You don't have to be
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Speaker 6: my home. It's enough to.
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Speaker 5: Know you're living in a world.
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Speaker 1: I'm not alone.
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Speaker 4: I don't need to be your light I don't need
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Speaker 4: to cross your mind All I need is just the
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Speaker 4: truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
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Speaker 7: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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Speaker 7: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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Speaker 7: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
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Speaker 7: to look my way You don't have to.
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Speaker 3: Be my home It's.
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Speaker 4: Enough to know you're living
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Speaker 1: In a world I'm not alone