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Thriving | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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I wrote a sermon last night. I'll tell you, I've
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been preaching out of Hebrews and I said that
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my next sermon was going to be in Hebrews 12,
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but I was not, I didn't, I'm really feeling that
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one and I needed to sit and soak in that one
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another week. And so that one is going to be,
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I know you're so excited and have been waiting
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for it on the correction and discipline of the
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Lord. Yeah, it is. You should be excited. It
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means you're a son and a daughter. However, I've
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got another word for today. And here's, I'll
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tell you how I came to this place. I had a dream
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Friday night that I was about to preach on the
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word thrive. And so when I was informed last
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night that I needed a sermon, I was like, okay.
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Well, I dreamt that I was about to preach on
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thriving, so that's what I'm preaching on today.
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So today we are talking about thriving in Christ.
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How many of you would like to thrive and not
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wilt and die away? Right? And so in Proverbs
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chapter 11, and you know, I quote out of Proverbs
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11 often because this is the chapter that says,
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he who waters will himself be watered. Right?
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He who is generous will receive generosity. Well,
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later on in that chapter, we have this verse
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right here. Those who trust in their riches will
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fall. But the righteous will thrive like a green
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leaf. But the righteous will thrive like a green
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leaf. I don't know about you, but when I go into
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places and I see half -dead plants, I just can't
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get beyond it. It's so sad. This plant is not
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thriving. And I know it's not thriving because
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it's turning brown, right? I'm thinking of all
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the piles of leaves that have been in my yard
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from winter. I do not want to be a crispy, brown,
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easily crushed leaf. I want to be a green leaf.
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And so Proverbs gives us the key. Those who trust
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in your riches, well, you say, well, I'm not
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rich. I would interpret it as this. Those who
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trust in self, those who place their trust in
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self will fall. But the righteous, now listen,
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this is a verse that is in the Old Testament.
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And so if this were true in Old Testament life,
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when they were striving in themselves to be righteous,
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what does it mean for us? Us who are trusting
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in the righteousness of Christ. How much more
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can we flourish today? And so, we're going to
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be in the book of John here. So, how many of
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you have your Bibles and your notebooks? You're
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ready to go? Down here, our young adults have
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been giving each other a hard time about who
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brought their Bible and who didn't. Oh, I know,
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you stole mine from my bag. John chapter 10,
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verse 9. Jesus, and this is in the context of
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him being our good shepherd, it says, I am the
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door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved
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and will go in and out and find pasture. The
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thief does not come except to steal and to kill
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and to destroy. I have come that they may have
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life and that they may have it more abundantly.
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So let's just set the stage for a moment. Jesus
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says, I'm the door of salvation, right? And if
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you will come through me, there's no longer a
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veil before the Holy of Holies. Jesus has become
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that. that we enter through, right? And any are
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welcome through the veil of Christ. And so anyone
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who enters through Jesus will be saved. And what
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I love is this next portion. They will go in
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and out and find pasture. What is happening here?
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What it's referring to is as you go about your
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business, as you are going in, coming out, as
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you are going to church and going to work and
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doing family life, going to basketball games,
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going to the bank, going to Walmart, as you are
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going in and out, you will find pasture. It is
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no longer to say, come to church and find it.
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It is your life now. You are living within the
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pasture. You are one of his own. And so wherever
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you are, whatever you are doing, you are in his
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pasture, being cared for by the good shepherd.
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Isn't that good? So you're not alone at your
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difficult workplace. The Clarks don't get that.
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Theirs is a heaven on earth because they all
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work together, right? Along with Zach over there.
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We're not talking about their place. It's a wonderful
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place. But maybe your place. I don't know. Sometimes
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our families are not places where it feels like
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the best place. He offers us pasture, care, protection,
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wherever we're at. And so this is what he has
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brought us into when we were saved, into the
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place of pasture. Now, it is right after that
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in the next verse that what we see are, what
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we see is really a tale of two goals. Okay, so
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everybody say a tale of two goals. You can write
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that in your notes, a tale of two goals. The
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first goal is the goal of your enemy. Your enemy
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has a goal. He is a thief. And he has one goal
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to steal, to kill, and to destroy. It's not enough
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to just steal from you. He wants to kill you
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and destroy everything about your life. He is
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ruthless. He doesn't care if it's fair or unfair.
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He doesn't care if he ruins your life because
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you were wounded as a child. He will walk right
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into that wounded place. He's not fair. And I
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think it's interesting that there's those three
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little words, he does not come, actually four,
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except. Does not come except. There is no other
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reason that the enemy would come to you except
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to steal, kill, and destroy you. He comes often
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and tries to lure us with promises of this and
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that. He's not trying to bless you. What he has
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is what Darren has. A tackle box full of lures.
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Darren's enjoying it because Edmund is of an
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age and has his own tackle box, so they compare
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lures together and show them off. Your enemy
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has a tackle box of lures. Oh, the fish aren't
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biting on this one. I'll try something else.
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I'll try it. Let's put a different lure on. He
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knows, and you know there are certain lures that
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work for certain fish, right? I mean, I'm not
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a fisherman. John likes catfish. So I'm assuming
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there are certain lures for catfish that you
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wouldn't use for crappie. Is that right? Yes.
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I don't know. I'm just saying, people. There
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are different lures, different bait. Some of
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you might be a catfish. I don't know. That means
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you're a bottom feeder, and I would try to aspire
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to something else. He has lures that he knows
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can hook you. It might not tempt your neighbor,
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that lure, but it sure will tempt you. And it
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looks all shiny and pretty and beautiful. He's
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out to eat you for breakfast. One goal. Now,
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that isn't something we have to be fearful of.
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And quite honestly, I don't give too much attention
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to my enemy. I would rather be fixated on my
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Savior, Jesus. So I'm not too focused on, oh
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my, is the enemy trying to do something? I'm
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not going to give attention to him. However,
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we do have to know how to deal with him. And
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in James 4, it says, submit to God. And when
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we do that, it says, resist the devil. And what
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will he do? Flee. He will flee from you. So yes,
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you have an enemy, and yes, he is trying to steal
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and to kill and destroy. And just because you
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come to Christ and become a Christ follower does
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not mean he's going to leave you alone now. No,
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he's going to increase his efforts to steal,
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to kill, and to destroy you because he's after
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making God mad. And so I love, as believers,
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Derek said that, how many of you have broken
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some generational chains, right? I love in Mark
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chapter 7, we have the account of the Gentile
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woman who's coming to Jesus with her demon -possessed
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daughter. And she's saying, Jesus, would you
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deliver her? And Jesus says, should I take from
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the bread, the children's bread? to give to you.
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Jesus was saying, I'm here for Israel. But she
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said, well, even the dogs at the master's table
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will eat the crumbs. Just give me a crumb, Jesus.
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And Jesus was so in awe of her faith that he
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did what she wanted. What we get from this passage,
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though, is that it is the children's bread to
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walk in deliverance. And when we come to Christ,
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What we need now is a good working of deliverance.
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We carry generational curses. We carry just things
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that have been passed down through the DNA of
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your family. He comes to break and establish
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a new bloodline. Addictions. Sin that have been
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places of iniquity that you just can't, the enemy
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just oppressing and putting shame upon you and
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accusation upon you. What you just might need
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is the bread for the children, a work of deliverance.
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And so if you want to thrive in Christ, listen,
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it's not a thing to be ashamed of because we
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all had to have a working of deliverance upon
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our lives. when we came to Christ. Every one
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of us needed a working of deliverance, and some
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of you today, you're like, why can't I thrive?
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Why can't I flourish? Well, you have an enemy
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that's trying to steal, kill, and destroy, and
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maybe you just need a working of deliverance.
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Maybe it's time for you to say, I'm stepping
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up, and I'm saying to the devil, nope, go. Resist
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him. Say no. Break all of those generational
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things. Break all of those bondages and oppression
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that are part of your past. And today, you can
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do that. You do not have to walk out those doors
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today still carrying that stuff. Jesus is in
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the deliverance business. And I'm so thankful
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for it because he's delivered me of a lot of
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things that I am so grateful to be walking in
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freedom from because it's my bread as a child
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of God. And so your enemy has a goal. He's out
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to steal. He does not want you thriving. He does
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not want you flourishing. He will do everything
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he can. He's like what my next -door neighbor
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used to be. Darren had planted yet another grapevine
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because he didn't think I had enough grape jelly
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to make. And so that would have been three. We
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have two. So he had planted along the fence line
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on one of our sides a new grapevine. Well, I
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had a neighbor who would mow our front grass.
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He loved to, and he would like kill all of the,
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along his borders. He always had like a space
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this big of no grass, just dirt. He didn't like
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to edge, I guess. And so numerous times we would
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have to say, no, we don't want you doing this
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to our yard. No, we don't want you doing this.
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Well, I caught him out with his poison spraying
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along my fence line. I said, he just. Killed
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my grapevine. And so I told Darren, because this
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is how I deal with it, you need to go talk to
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the neighbor. You need to go tell him to keep
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his poison on his side. I am not a poison person
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in my garden. We are all natural. Right here,
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right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so he had to go
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say, listen, you need to quit spraying your stuff
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around our yard. This is what the enemy does.
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He comes and he tries to spray toxin all over
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you. I'm going to say no. I'm saying no. I'm
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establishing a clear boundary with the blood
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of Jesus. Do you see the blood of Jesus? It is
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my boundary. The blood of Jesus is the no trespassing
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sign on properties, right? All of the people
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that own property and have no trespassing signs.
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What is that? That is a declaration of you cannot
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cross this boundary. And this is what the blood
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of Jesus is. When the enemy tries to steal, kill,
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and destroy, you stand upon the righteous blood
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of Christ that says, no, you cannot cross here.
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This space... belongs to Jesus. Amen? And so
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today, if you just feel like the enemy has been
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after you, oppressing you, we're going to pray
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with you before you leave today that you would
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walk out in freedom. And so take hope in that.
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Okay, our second goal we find here in our tale
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of two goals. So your enemy has one goal, but
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the good news is that your Savior has a goal
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also. And it is in direct opposition to the enemy's
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goal. What did it say that Jesus came to do to
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give life, and not just life, but how does he
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want to give it? More abundantly. He wants you
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to have abundant life. In Ezekiel 34, I want
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to read this. It's a little bit lengthy, so you
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might want to turn there in verse 25. And this
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is actually the chapter where he's rebuking the
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shepherds of Israel for not shepherding. And
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as pastors, it's always a passage that is a warning
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to us in our shepherding. But Ezekiel 34, starting
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in verse 25. This is God's heart towards Israel.
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I will make a covenant of peace with them and
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cause wild beasts to cease from the land. And
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they will dwell safely in the wilderness. And
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the joy of my family, they will sleep in the
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woods. Some of you would like to have a really
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nice fashionable cabin that you can sleep in
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in the woods. and Darren will be out in his tent
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on the side yard. I will make them and the places
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all around my hill a blessing, and I will cause
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showers to come down in their season. There shall
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be showers of blessing. Can we catch that there
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in their season? Sometimes it's not the season,
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and we want it to always be showers of blessing.
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But obviously there's seasons here. Then the
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trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and
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the earth shall yield her increase. They shall
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be safe in their land, and they shall know that
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I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of
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their yoke and delivered them from the hand of
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those who enslaved them. And they shall no longer
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be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of
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the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely,
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and no one shall make them afraid. I will rise
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up for them a garden of renown. I love that.
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And they shall no longer be consumed with hunger
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in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles
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anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord
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their God, am with them, and they, the house
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of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God.
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You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You
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are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God.
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Listen, this is one of those things he's talking
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about King David, and King David's promises were
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always futuristic. This is what we are moving
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toward one day when Christ returns and establishes
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the new heavens and earth. And so often we take
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these promises and we understand it, we perceive
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it through our Western perspective. The Western
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perspective that wants a clean, beautiful, comfortable,
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That's a Western perspective on the gospel. There
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are people around the world, Christians in the
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body of Christ right now. We talk about it a
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lot. We just sent over $2 ,000 to Cuba. Believers.
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Would you say, though, that their spirit man,
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inward man, are abundant life -living people?
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Yeah. It's very humbling for Americans to go
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to places like that who are destitute. And you
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would never say they're not living an abundant
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life. They have discovered a secret that is hard
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for Americans to grasp of what real true abundant
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life is. The Western perspective is so focused
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on the outward. When what Jesus is focused on
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is the inward. Your inward realm. Your inward
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world. Your mind. Your soul. This is the place
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where abundance lives and dwells. And this is
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the power of the gospel of Christ. Is that it
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doesn't... Matter the circumstances. That does
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not determine your ability to thrive and to flourish.
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I heard a story last week that I wanted to share.
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I was at a one -day dinner church conference.
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It's just churches that are places where you
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have dinner and tell a Jesus story. It's a different
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way of doing church. And so they were the founder
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of this movement that is now, dinner churches
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are everywhere. They're all over Europe as well.
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They started out in Seattle, Washington. And
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they were telling one of their victories of Mama
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Rosa. And Mama Rosa was a little Cuban woman.
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And she saw the sign on the sidewalk that said,
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free community dinner. So she wandered in. and
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was so excited to find that it was actually a
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church. And so there were a group of men, Spanish
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-speaking men, that were having trouble really
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grasping. I mean, they ate the food, but to hear
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the Jesus story, they couldn't grasp. So Mama
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Rosa quickly became the interpreter for them.
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And it wasn't just that she interpreted. She
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became Mama Rosa for a reason. She was keeping
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those guys in line. What have you been doing
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this week? She became a mother figure. So Mama
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Rosa said to the team one night, I want to cook
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a Cuban meal for you. I want you to come to my
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house. So they came to her house, and she cooked
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her Cuban meal and began to share her testimony
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of back when she was in her 20s living in New
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York. And she got pulled in to Satanism. in the
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occult, to such an extent that she had decided
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to become a high priestess in the occult. And
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so it was the day before, whatever their ceremony
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is to do that, the day before somebody, a lady
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in her apartment building, heard about it and
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said to her, well, what do you think God thinks
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about that? And she's like, I don't even believe
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in God. What does that mean? She believed in
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Satan, had no problem with that, but didn't believe
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in God. But that night, she was like, okay, God,
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well, if you have something to say about this,
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then you can say it. So before she had the ceremony,
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walked through it, she had a knock on her door.
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And there was a man on the other side of the
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door, and he said his name was Jesus. and he
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wanted to come in and talk with her and have
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coffee with her. So she invited him in, and for
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eight weeks straight, a knock came at her door.
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A man named Jesus said he wanted to come in and
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talk with her. What you have to understand is
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that she did not know who Jesus was. She just
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knew this man's name was Jesus. And so one day
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as she's leaving her apartment, she's like questioning,
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and I'm not clear on the details of this, but
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she was questioning who this Jesus was, and there
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was a nun there by her. There just so happened
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to be a nun there who began to tell her who Jesus
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was. And she was like, well, I don't know. I
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just know some man named Jesus keeps coming to
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my apartment. And the nun was like, okay, Rosa.
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She gave her life to the Lord, though. And so
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fast forward to dinner church. And Rosa has been
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helping now with the team. And there was one
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night that it was stormy and wet. And for those
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of you that help with food pantry, you can imagine
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this. You bring all of these people in, this
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massive humanity, and they're wet and steamy.
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And let's just say the aroma is not one you would
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put in your oil diffuser. And so one of the leader's
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wife is very petite. She kind of reminds me of
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Kathy Schmidt, you know? And she was like, could
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not take the smell. She was just like, Lord,
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I can't do this. And she leaned against a pole
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and pretty soon Rosa came up to her full of joy.
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And she said, do you smell it? Do you smell it?
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And she's like, yes, Rosa, I smell it. She said,
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that's what Jesus smelled like. She could remember
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that smell all those years later. And she went
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joyfully off to serve the people. because the
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aroma of Christ was filling the room. I tell
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that story because Rose's perspective on abundant
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life was not a sweet -smelling thing. For her,
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it was the unpleasant aroma of humanity. That
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was Jesus to her. And so I want us today to just
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be open to the possibility that maybe abundant
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life isn't what America has defined it as. What
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the Church of America has defined it as. But
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to say, Jesus, you're the one that gives abundant
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life. What does it look like for me? What does
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that mean for me? What does your abundant life,
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how is that expressed in my life? And the truth
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is, Psalm 92 .13, I think, says it beautifully.
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Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
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shall flourish in the courts of our God. For
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me, this is another way of stating his presence.
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When you are established in the presence of the
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Lord, in the courts of the Lord, you will flourish.
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That is the promise here. This is the place that
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you will flourish. There's a book written by
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C .S. Lewis called The Screwtape Letters. How
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many of you read The Screwtape Letters? Yeah.
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It's a good one. Satire. And it is telling. It's
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a little book. So if you haven't read it, it's
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an easy read. Our young people would probably
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enjoy it. But it's the story of a senior demon.
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screw tape. And he is training his nephew, Wormwood.
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And so they are letters between the two of them.
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Because what is he teaching Wormwood? He's teaching
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Wormwood how to steal, kill, and destroy. And
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so you find their interactions. Okay, here's
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what you need to do to trip them up. Here's what
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you need to do to deceive them, right? And so
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in one... of the letters, he says, do not be
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deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in
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danger than when a human, no longer desiring
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but still intending to do our enemy's will, will
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look surround upon a universe from which every
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trace of him, God, seems. to have vanished. Has
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anybody been in that place? You look around and
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you're like, where is God? I cannot see him.
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I cannot hear him. You look and it seems every
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trace has vanished. And when asked why he has
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been forsaken, still obeys. That's the greatest
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danger to the enemy. when it seems that there
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is nothing that would cause you to flourish,
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yet you continue to obey, you're flourishing.
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It doesn't feel like you're flourishing. But
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remember, we're after God's definition of flourishing
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and not our own. And so your ability to thrive
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is not dependent on your circumstance. if I could
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hammer that into us, your ability to thrive is
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not dependent on your circumstance. Your ability
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to have abundant life does not require the ideal
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outward circumstances. We have to learn to abide.
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We have to learn to abide in Christ wherever
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we are at, whatever the circumstance. And you
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will thrive. And you will flourish. It is so
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quiet in here today. John said it just a couple
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of chapters later. A branch can't bear fruit,
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can it? unless it abides in the vine. Neither
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can we bear fruit unless we abide in Christ.
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And I love that a lot of these are coming from
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the book of John, which was written by the disciple,
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the apostle John. And remember, just a few sermons
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ago, we talked about the sons of thunder. And
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John was a son of thunder. John was zealous.
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John wanted to call down fire from heaven. John
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wanted to be seated in the highest place in heaven.
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He was a son of thunder. And what he became was
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the beloved. right? I think the book of John
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is one of the most beautiful books because John
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got the intimacy of Jesus. John is the one that
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writes this about bearing fruit. John is the
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one who was reclining with Jesus at the table.
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He is the one whom Jesus loved, according to
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himself. In fact, after Jesus had resurrected
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and the disciples had gone back to fishing, remember?
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And so we have the account at the shore lake,
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the lakeshore, of Jesus cooking fish for the
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disciples. And so they've been out all night
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fishing and they see Jesus in the distance. And
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this is where he restores Peter three times.
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I think it's interesting, though, that the first
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person to recognize the man as Jesus was not
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Peter. It was John. John told Peter, hey, it's
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Jesus. And so I think John got something. And
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John knew. He knew a lot of suffering. But John
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got intimacy. John got abiding. John got that
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flourishing is found in his presence. Oswald
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Chambers, who wrote My Utmost for His Highest,
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said, There is no condition of life in which
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we cannot abide in Jesus. We must learn to abide
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in him wherever we are placed. And so I hear
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it all the time, well, if you just knew what
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I was going through. I know. And I'm not saying
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your stuff is easy. I'm not saying it's not hard.
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It is. But we must learn to abide in him no matter
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the circumstance. If you want to flourish. If
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you want to thrive. And so this morning, I'm
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going to ask the team to come back up. This morning,
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I want us, there are two groups specifically
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that we're going to have some time around the
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altar. And the first group are those of you that
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just feel like I need some deliverance. I just
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have felt the oppression of the enemy. I have
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felt him just attacking everywhere I turn, and
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I need some deliverance. Or I've had sin I just
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can't get rid of. I need some deliverance. Listen,
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we want to pray for you. It's like going to a
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doctor's office and leaving without the cure.
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Don't leave and not get prayer today. The second
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group here, there are some of us that need to
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get firmly planted in the pasture. The place
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of abiding. You've been letting your circumstance
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dictate whether you are going to abide or not.
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And today you have to kind of draw a line in
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the sand and say it doesn't matter. When we remove
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the choice, life gets easier. Abiding gets easier.
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If we depend on how we feel, I guarantee you,
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you'll never feel like abiding. You'll never
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feel like it. But we want you to be people that
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are thriving. We want you all to be green and
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flourishing and bearing fruit. And bearing fruit.
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We want you to look as green as these beautiful
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plants up here that are not real. The truth is,
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is that when I take care of my plants each week,
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my thriving healthy plants sometimes have brown
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leaves. And I go through and I pick them all
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off. And maybe some of you today need Jesus to
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just come and take some of the brown off of you.
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Some areas of life that have just gotten a little
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crusty and a little brown and you need Jesus.
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You need the Holy Spirit. to just come in and
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say, let's get rid of that. You don't need to
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have that on you anymore. And so it's going to
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take boldness. Maybe it's going to take courage.
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But we believe in altars around here. We believe
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in you moving by faith and taking a step outward
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and letting the body pray for you. Pray for you.
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I remember one time being at an altar. I wasn't
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even praying about generational things. And the
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evangelist came up and said, there's something
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through your family, and he named something,
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and we just need to cut that off. I had not thought.
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I was just like, yes, Lord, whatever. You need
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to cut off. Cut off. I don't want to carry that
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stuff. I don't want to carry toxicity. Let's
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deal with it so we can thrive and flourish with
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Jesus. Amen? And so if you'll stand with me this
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morning, we're going to worship. I'm going to
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ask if our elders and Dennis and Linda, I think
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Brian might be our only elder here today. I'm
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going to ask if Dennis and Linda and maybe Suzanne
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and Mike, if you'll just come on up here. These
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are people that want to pray with you. You can
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join in prayer as well. Come on up here so they
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can come up to you and receive prayer. And the
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rest of us, we just want to create an atmosphere
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of worship so that where deliverance needs to
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happen, it can happen. Where we need to recommit
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into the pasture and abiding place, we do that.
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And so whatever group you are in today, maybe
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you just need to spend time kneeling at the altar,
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recommitting. find a place to kneel and to do
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that. But let's not be content to carry brown
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stuff. Let's not be content to just being half
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abundant. Let's just say, Jesus, I want all the
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abundant life that you have to give to me today.
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Amen? And so as the team begins to lead us in
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worship, if that's you, I want you just to come
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on down and receive prayer as we worship together.