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The Good Life- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: You're going to win this war on worry. The day
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Speaker 1: is coming when.
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Speaker 2: Anxiety is going to be less.
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Speaker 1: Peace is going to be greater.
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Speaker 2: The day is coming in which there's going to be
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Speaker 2: a sense of satisfaction in just what God has done
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Speaker 2: for you. We have a passage that we're building this
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Speaker 2: series on anxious for Nothing, and it's found in the
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Speaker 2: Book of Philippians. And we're just unpacking this passage this summer,
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Speaker 2: one phrase at a time. The words are going to
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Speaker 2: appear on the screen. If you'd like to say them
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Speaker 2: with me, you can. In fact, if you know it
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Speaker 2: by memory. I want to encourage you to close your
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Speaker 2: eyes and give it a go. Let's all fill our
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Speaker 2: lungs with air and our hearts with hope. Sit up
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Speaker 2: straight the words like you mean it.
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Speaker 1: You're ready.
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Speaker 2: Rejoice in the Lord always Again, I will say, rejoice.
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Speaker 2: Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord
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Speaker 2: is at hand. Be anxious for nothing with thanksgiving. Let
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Speaker 2: your requests be made known to God. And the peace
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Speaker 2: of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
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Speaker 2: and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever thing's as
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Speaker 2: we continue this study of anxiety, we thought it a
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Speaker 2: that we mentioned make a word about the decision of
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Speaker 2: the Supreme Court from this week regarding gay marriage. It
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Speaker 2: seems like it has stirred many questions and rightly soul
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Speaker 2: and caused no short amount of anxiety at Oak Kills.
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Speaker 2: Our commitment remains the same. Our doors are open to
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Speaker 2: any person, any person from any background who is seeking
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Speaker 2: God to find love, find hope, find eternal life. Our
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Speaker 2: understanding of marriage has not changed. We see the biblical
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Speaker 2: definition of marriage is one man, one woman for life,
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Speaker 2: and that we will continue to teach and that we
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Speaker 2: will intend to and continue to encourage. We encourage strong
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Speaker 2: covenant based marriages, marriages that are triangular in the sense
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Speaker 2: of husband and wife and God. We believe that a
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Speaker 2: marriage exists to help us understand who God is, to
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Speaker 2: reveal more and more of the mystery of God. We
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Speaker 2: do not believe that a marriage exists for our own
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Speaker 2: comfort or satisfaction, but that there is something in a
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Speaker 2: marriage that reveals the Gospel itself. And so we're going
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Speaker 2: to maintain that, We're going to continue teaching that We're
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Speaker 2: also going to continue leaning into our sovereign God and
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Speaker 2: believing that everything works together for good for those who
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Speaker 2: love him and are called according to His purpose. We're
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Speaker 2: also reminding ourselves that we are citizens of Heaven first
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Speaker 2: and foremost, and that we have made an allegiance to
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Speaker 2: a king, and his name is Jesus Christ. We're pursuing peace.
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Speaker 2: We're wanting to do all we can to create peace
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Speaker 2: with all people, and during these changing times, will continue
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Speaker 2: to hold on to the unchanging hand of God.
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Speaker 1: Amen. So Lord, we pray.
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Speaker 2: Amen, we do pray, Heavenly Father. Right now, we just
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Speaker 2: pray for our nation. We know that nations come and go,
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Speaker 2: and that your scripture says that they're all like dust
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Speaker 2: in your palm. There are so many of them that
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Speaker 2: have come and gone since the beginning of time. We'll
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Speaker 2: tell you the Lord, we love this nation, we really do.
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Speaker 2: And we're so in debt to what you have done
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Speaker 2: for us in this country. Our hearts are concerned, but
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Speaker 2: we know yours is not. We know your sovereign, We
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Speaker 2: know your plan is perfect, and so we trust you.
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Speaker 1: We beg you have mercy on.
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Speaker 2: The leaders and decision makers of our country. Please let
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Speaker 2: Thy kingdom come, Let that will be done. Forgive our
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Speaker 2: speaker today his sins are too many to count. Help
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Speaker 2: us to see Christ, just Christ, and through Christ we pray.
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Speaker 2: And all the Church said, Well, the widest this river
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Speaker 2: in the world is not the Mississippi. It's not the Amazon,
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Speaker 2: it's not the Nile. The widest river in the world
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Speaker 2: is a body of water called the river.
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Speaker 1: If only.
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Speaker 2: Millions of people stand on the banks of the if
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Speaker 2: only river, casting longing eyes across the water, thinking, if only,
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Speaker 2: and they're convinced that the good life.
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Speaker 1: Is on the other side of the river.
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Speaker 2: If only I were thinner, if only I were richer,
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Speaker 2: if only I had that promotion, if only I were
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Speaker 2: married to him, if only I were married to her,
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Speaker 2: if only I weren't married at all, If only the
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Speaker 2: kids would come, if only the kids would leave. Everything
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Speaker 2: is just one if only away. Is there an if
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Speaker 2: only that celebrating you from happiness? Is there an if
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Speaker 2: only that today separates you from happiness? A promotion, an operation,
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Speaker 2: an election, a pay raise. Are you thinking that if
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Speaker 2: only that would happen, I would finally be happy. Well,
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Speaker 2: if the answer is yes, we have just found one
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Speaker 2: source of your anxiety. Because you've based your happiness on
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Speaker 2: either a possession or a circumstance, neither of which is
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Speaker 2: very reliable. But if you base your happiness on a
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Speaker 2: possession or a circumstance and if only, then you're going
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Speaker 2: to focus on that possession, and focus on that circumstance
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Speaker 2: and do whatever it takes to get it, only to
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Speaker 2: be disappointed when it can't deliver, and you end up
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Speaker 2: in a cyclical thing of getting that promotion or getting
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Speaker 2: that possession, or getting that if only, or changing your circumstance,
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Speaker 2: only to realize it didn't do what I thought it would,
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Speaker 2: so I have to go after something else, and life
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Speaker 2: wouldcomes this rabbit trail hunt of one turn after another,
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Speaker 2: happy then disappointed, happy then disappointed. No wonder you're anxious.
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Speaker 2: The apostle Paul has a better idea. He suggests, really
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Speaker 2: that happiness happens not when circumstances change, but when our
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Speaker 2: attitude toward our circumstances does.
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Speaker 1: That happiness happens.
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Speaker 2: Not when our circumstances change, but when our attitude toward them,
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Speaker 2: our outlook toward them changes. This is part of what
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Speaker 2: he teaches us in this Prescription for anxiety, when he says,
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Speaker 2: be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and
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Speaker 2: supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God,
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Speaker 2: and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
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Speaker 2: guard your hearts and minds. In Christ Jesus. Last week
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Speaker 2: we pointed out that the path to peace is paved
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Speaker 2: with prayer. Say that sentence, real fast. The path to
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Speaker 2: peace is paved with prayer, urgent prayer, careful prayer, steady prayer.
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Speaker 2: As the Apostle Paul told the church in Ephesus, he said,
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Speaker 2: prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. So pray long
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Speaker 2: and hard. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Every time
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Speaker 2: worry raises its ugly head, what do we do? We
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Speaker 2: pray it back? We respond in prayer, formal prayers, spontaneous prayers,
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Speaker 2: prayers at school, prayers at chapel, prayers and a commute,
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Speaker 2: all types of prayers, prayers over the cradle, prayers at
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Speaker 2: the table, prayers in the kitchen. We're always praying. So
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Speaker 2: anxiety is best treated with prayer. But not just any
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Speaker 2: form of prayer. The Apostle says. This prayer needs to
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Speaker 2: be sprinkled or sugared with gratitude, with thanksgiving. He says,
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Speaker 2: as you pray, as you pray, offer prayers of thanksgiving.
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Speaker 2: Anxiety has dealt with when we realize that even in
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Speaker 2: bad times, things aren't as bad as we think they are,
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Speaker 2: and gratitude causes us to remember that God has already
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Speaker 2: made great provision for us. Gratitude takes us out of
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Speaker 2: the off of the river bank of if only and
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Speaker 2: leads us into the fertile valley of already. We go
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Speaker 2: from if only to already. The anxious heart says, if
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Speaker 2: only I had this. The grateful heart says, oh, I
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Speaker 2: already have this. Inside your heart, there is a bucket,
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Speaker 2: and this bucket is full of everything you need to
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Speaker 2: cope with life. And sometimes you feel like that bucket
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Speaker 2: is empty, and you go to God and you say, God,
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Speaker 2: please fill my bucket. Gratitude happens when you look in
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Speaker 2: that bucket and you say, oh, God has already given
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Speaker 2: me things. I just thought it was empty. But look
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Speaker 2: at all the things, Look at all the blessings I
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Speaker 2: already have. Can I invite you to look in your
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Speaker 2: bucket for just a moment. I want you to think
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Speaker 2: about all the good things that are going on right
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Speaker 2: now in your life. This in a suggestion, This is
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Speaker 2: a command from your preacher. No, really, think for just
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Speaker 2: a second, what are some wonderful things that are happening
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Speaker 2: in your life? Just get them going in your mind.
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Speaker 2: Maybe good health, family, children, spouse, a good job. What
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Speaker 2: are some good things that are happening. Let that kind
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Speaker 2: of settle down into your heart, and then look at
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Speaker 2: your heart and realize what just happened. As gratitude increased,
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Speaker 2: anxiety diminished, didn't it? When gratitude comes in, anxiety grabs
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Speaker 2: his satchel and walks out the back door. Anxiety will
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Speaker 2: not share a heart with gratitude, and gratitude always trumps anxiety.
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Speaker 1: So the quickest way to deal with.
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Speaker 2: An anxious spirit is to treat it with gratitude. The
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Speaker 2: quickest way out of the valley of anxiety is that
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Speaker 2: little trail called I am thankful. You can get out
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Speaker 2: of anxiety more quickly than you ever imagined by learning
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Speaker 2: to stop and say thank you, Lord, thank you for
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Speaker 2: what you have given to me. So our first point
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Speaker 2: that we take out of this particular passage is treat
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Speaker 2: each anxious thought with a grateful one. Treat each anxious
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Speaker 2: thought with a grateful one. The apostle Paul shows us
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Speaker 2: how to do this. In the same letter of Philippians
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Speaker 2: where we get the cure for anxiety, he gives us
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Speaker 2: this call to contentment. He says, I have learned to
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Speaker 2: be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is
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Speaker 2: to be in need, I know what it is to
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Speaker 2: have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content
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Speaker 2: in any in every situation, whether well fed or hungry,
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Speaker 2: whether living in plenty or in want, I can do
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Speaker 2: all things through Christ, who gives me strength. The apostle says,
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Speaker 2: I've learned a secret, and the secret is how to
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Speaker 2: be happy in every single situation. Now remember he's in
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Speaker 2: a jail cell. He has no guarantee he's ever going
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Speaker 2: to be released. And then he says, I'm as happy
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Speaker 2: as I could be. I have learned a secret. Wouldn't
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Speaker 2: you like to know this secret? A secret, by definition,
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Speaker 2: is something that not everybody else knows.
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Speaker 1: Hmm.
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Speaker 2: Can I let you in on the secret? Would you
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Speaker 2: like to learn the secret of contentment?
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Speaker 1: Here it is.
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Speaker 2: It comes to us in two phrases. Paul's Secret of
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Speaker 2: contentment included two ideas. First of all, his peace did
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Speaker 2: not depend upon possessions. His peace did not depend upon possessions.
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Speaker 2: It couldn't be purchased, it couldn't be parked in a garage.
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Speaker 2: He didn't have to pay mortgage payment on it. His
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Speaker 2: peace did not depend upon a position, he said, I've
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Speaker 2: learned the secret of being satisfied with what the things
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Speaker 2: I have. I know how to live when i'm poor.
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Speaker 2: I know how to live when I have plenty. Does
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Speaker 2: your happiness depend on what you drive? Does it depend
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Speaker 2: upon what you wear? Does it depend upon what you deposit?
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Speaker 2: Does it depend upon what you spray on? If so,
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Speaker 2: you're setting yourself up for anxiety, because we all know
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Speaker 2: that what you drive, what you wear, what you deposit
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Speaker 2: changes from day to day, from week to week. Heaven
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Speaker 2: does not know you by what you own, so you
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Speaker 2: shouldn't know you by what you own, either. Jesus said,
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Speaker 2: life is not defined by what you have. Even when
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Speaker 2: you have a lot. Heaven does not look at you
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Speaker 2: and say, oh, that's the family in the new house.
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Speaker 2: Oh look that's that lady with a nice car. Heaven
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Speaker 2: doesn't do that. Heaven looks at you. God looks down
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Speaker 2: upon you and says, that's my child, my child, and
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Speaker 2: whom my spirit dwells for whom Jesus Christ died, Heaven
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Speaker 2: does not look upon you and think about the stuff
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Speaker 2: you have. Why, because this stuff is destined, destined for
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Speaker 2: the trash ben every bit of it. You've heard the
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Speaker 2: story perhaps of the hillbilly who was invited to the
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Speaker 2: ranchers mansion for a tour. When the hill billy went
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Speaker 2: into the rancher's mansion, he was just white eyed. He
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Speaker 2: had never seen any He didn't even know how to act.
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Speaker 2: He wasn't a real sophisticated guy. And as the rancher
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Speaker 2: took him on a tour, showing him all these famous
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Speaker 2: paintings and this old furniture and these beautiful fountains, that
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Speaker 2: poor hill billy didn't even know how to respond until
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Speaker 2: one time they went into one room and the rancher said, oh,
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Speaker 2: this is my favorite favorite room. This furniture is so
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Speaker 2: expensive and antique. I mean it goes back to Louis
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Speaker 2: the fourteenth. And the hill billy said, well, I can
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Speaker 2: relate to that. My couch goes back to Sears on
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Speaker 2: the thirteenth.
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Speaker 1: It all goes back. Eventually, it all goes back.
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Speaker 2: Caskets do not come with safety deposit boxes. You don't
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Speaker 2: take it with you, the jewelry, the clothing. It all
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Speaker 2: stays here. So why would you bank your peace dependent
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Speaker 2: upon what you have? The apostle Paul said, you know,
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Speaker 2: I've learned to be equally happy when I have a
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Speaker 2: lot and when I don't have much.
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Speaker 1: This was his secret.
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Speaker 2: His secret was that the list he considered was not
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Speaker 2: a list of possessions, but a list of gifts from God.
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Speaker 2: His list included things like I'm forgiven by God, I'm
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Speaker 2: known by God, I'm cherished by God, I'm eternally destined
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Speaker 2: to be with God. That was his list, and no
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Speaker 2: one could touch that list. Consequently, he was happy regardless
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Speaker 2: from what he had. There's a second part of his secret,
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Speaker 2: and that is his happiness did not depend on happenings.
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Speaker 2: His happiness did not depend on a happening. Circumstances, whether
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Speaker 2: good or bad, did not affect him. Because his happiness
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Speaker 2: did not depend on a circumstance. They could put him
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Speaker 2: in jail in Philippi, He'd still sing praises in the
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Speaker 2: middle of the night. They could put him in jail
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Speaker 2: in Rome and he would just write letters that were
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Speaker 2: still studying.
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Speaker 1: Two thousand years later, Nero.
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Speaker 2: Could sentence him to death, and that was okay, because,
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Speaker 2: according to Paul, for me to live as Christ and
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Speaker 2: for me to die is even better.
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Speaker 1: It's profit, it's gain.
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Speaker 2: Circumstances could not take away his joy because Circumstances could
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Speaker 2: not take away his Christ. Circumstances could not take away
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Speaker 2: his joy because circumstances could not take away his Christ
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Speaker 2: also said this, to me, the only important thing about living.
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Speaker 1: Is Christ, and dying is game.
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Speaker 2: I think that one verse summarizes the beautiful life of
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Speaker 2: the Apostle Paul more than any other. To me, the
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Speaker 2: only important thing about living is Christ, and dying is
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Speaker 2: benefit because I get to know him more. You talk
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Speaker 2: about a beautiful worldview this thing for just a second.
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Speaker 2: If that verse were written to describe your life, if
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Speaker 2: you use that verse to describe your life, how would
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Speaker 2: you fill in the blank. To me, the most important
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Speaker 2: thing about living is what goes right there. To me,
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Speaker 2: the most important thing, how would you fill in that blank?
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Speaker 1: To me?
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Speaker 2: The most important thing about living is my career. To me,
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Speaker 2: the most important thing about living is retirement. To me,
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Speaker 2: the most important thing about living is to be healthy.
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Speaker 2: To me, the most important thing about living is my family.
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Speaker 2: Now just listed all four things that are very good
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Speaker 2: right A career, a family, to be healthy, retirement. Those
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Speaker 2: are wonderful gifts, but we've all been around the block
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Speaker 2: enough to know they can't sustain us. I mean, you
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Speaker 2: can do your best to be healthy and still get sick.
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Speaker 2: You can do your best to be retired and the
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Speaker 2: economy still goes south. You can do your best to
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Speaker 2: have a profession and still things happen. The apostle Paul
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Speaker 2: found satisfaction because he decided that the most important thing
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Speaker 2: to him was knowing Jesus Christ, and that was the
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Speaker 2: only untouchable treasure on the planet. And so he set
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Speaker 2: himself about this one task of knowing Jesus Christ. Then
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Speaker 2: if those other things happened, wonderful. If they didn't happen,
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Speaker 2: that was okay, because he was not counting upon them
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Speaker 2: to do for him what only Christ could do. So
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Speaker 2: he woke up every day thinking, Okay, I've got another
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Speaker 2: day to know more about Christ, to explore him, to
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Speaker 2: think about him, to ponder him. When he put his
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Speaker 2: head on the pillow at night, he think, oh, I
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Speaker 2: learned so much about Jesus today. I can't wait for
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Speaker 2: tomorrow to learn more about Christ, and so ironically, the
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Speaker 2: happiest person in Rome was not Nero in the palace,
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Speaker 2: but the apostle Paul in the prison. Why because he
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Speaker 2: set himself about the task of knowing Jesus Christ, and
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Speaker 2: his circumstances could not take away his Christ. Christ was
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Speaker 2: his fountain. Christ was his source. Christ was his identity.
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Speaker 2: He didn't count on another person, He didn't count on
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Speaker 2: an accomplishment. His whole being was wrapped up been knowing
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Speaker 2: one thing, to know Jesus Christ. To me, he said,
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Speaker 2: the most important thing is knowing Jesus Christ. I think
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Speaker 2: the apostle Peter could have said the same thing. We're
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Speaker 2: going to close this message by looking over at the
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Speaker 2: day the apostle Peter decided to start following Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: Just to remind you, Peter was a excuse me, a
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Speaker 2: follower of Christ before Paul, because Peter met Jesus when
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Speaker 2: Jesus was still on the earth. Paul met Jesus on
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Speaker 2: the Damascus Road after this, after the resurrection. But Peter
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Speaker 2: became a follower of Jesus Christ on the day that
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Speaker 2: Peter had gone fish less the night before, which was
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Speaker 2: an occupational hazard because Peter was a fisher month. He
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Speaker 2: didn't fish for the fun of it. He fished to
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Speaker 2: feed his family. But he'd gone all night without catching
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Speaker 2: a single fish. They threw the net out into the
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Speaker 2: water all night long, pulled in the net. They didn't
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Speaker 2: even catch a minnow. That's a hard night for a fisherman.
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Speaker 2: So he had his boats up on the beach. He
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Speaker 2: had his nets out, and he was cleaning them, and
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Speaker 2: down the beach Jesus began speaking. The crowd gathered around,
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Speaker 2: and the crowd so pressed up against Christ well that
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Speaker 2: Christ was backing into the water. So Jesus looked down
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Speaker 2: the beach at Peter, who was cleaning the nets next
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Speaker 2: to his boat, and said, can I borrow your boat
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Speaker 2: for a minute. Peter said yes, pushed out into the water.
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Speaker 2: Jesus climbed in and Peter's boat became Jesus's pulpit, which
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Speaker 2: was fine with Peter until after the sermon, when Jesus said, okay, Peter,
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Speaker 2: let's go fish again, this time out into the deeper water.
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Speaker 2: Peter did not want to go fish. Anybody want to
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Speaker 2: speculate why, Well, he was tired. He had been up
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Speaker 2: all night. He knew that you caught the most fish
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Speaker 2: at night, when it was cool.
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Speaker 1: He didn't want to be.
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Speaker 2: Embarrassed in front of the people who would be watching.
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Speaker 2: He had all kinds of reasons. It already cleaned the nets.
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Speaker 2: He was ready to go home and get some sleep.
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Speaker 2: But something in the way Jesus talked to him, Something
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Speaker 2: in what Jesus said convinced Peter to try one more time.
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Speaker 2: And Jesus heard Peter say, Okay, if you say so,
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Speaker 2: we will. And out they went. And no more had
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Speaker 2: they cast their nets into the sea than what happened.
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Speaker 2: They caught so many fish they could barely get the
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Speaker 2: fish into the boat. They had to wait for another
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Speaker 2: boat to come, and they filled up the first boat,
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Speaker 2: and then they filled up the next boat. They were
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Speaker 2: up to their knees in fish. They were flush with fish.
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Speaker 2: Fish were everywhere, fish were all around them.
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Speaker 1: This was huge.
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Speaker 2: I listened to a lesson the other day from a
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Speaker 2: preacher named Judah Smith. He raised the possibility this might
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Speaker 2: have been the greatest catch in the history of the
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Speaker 2: Galilean Sea. It for sure was the greatest catch in
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Speaker 2: the history of Peter's life. This is the most fish
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Speaker 2: he had ever caught. Suddenly he had two boats full
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Speaker 2: of fish. Can you imagine what he could have done
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Speaker 2: with all those fish. I mean he could sell all
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Speaker 2: those fish and have some money in the bank. He
23:31
Speaker 2: could put a down payment on that pickup truck we'd
23:34
Speaker 2: been wanting to buy. He could take the wife on
23:38
Speaker 2: a vacation. He could buy our little bling bling. I mean,
23:43
Speaker 2: suddenly he had some money. Not only that, if he
23:49
Speaker 2: could convince Jesus to join his fishing crew. I mean,
23:56
Speaker 2: that's like having Bill Gates as your buddy. I mean,
24:00
Speaker 2: that was guaranteed income. If he could get Jesus to
24:04
Speaker 2: come back and fish with them every day and work
24:06
Speaker 2: his little mojo on the water, then boy, he would
24:10
Speaker 2: have income for life. All he had to do was
24:14
Speaker 2: convince Jesus to join up with him. But did you
24:17
Speaker 2: know that before he could ask Jesus to join up
24:20
Speaker 2: with him, you know what Jesus did.
24:23
Speaker 1: Does anybody already know?
24:25
Speaker 2: Jesus asked Peter and his brothers to follow him. Jesus
24:31
Speaker 2: looked at Peter and he said to Simon, there is
24:35
Speaker 2: nothing to fear. From now on, you'll be fishing for
24:39
Speaker 2: men and women. They pulled their boats up on the
24:45
Speaker 2: beach left them. That's in all and followed him. What
24:58
Speaker 2: did they see in Jesus that would cause them to
25:01
Speaker 2: turn their back backs on two boats of fish? What
25:06
Speaker 2: did they see in Jesus that would cause them to,
25:10
Speaker 2: without hesitation, without any question, to say, boy, I'd much
25:16
Speaker 2: rather follow him than have all of them. That there's
25:20
Speaker 2: something about him. There's something about knowing him. There's something
25:25
Speaker 2: about walking in his shadow and following his steps. There
25:29
Speaker 2: is something about him that makes all of that the
25:32
Speaker 2: greatest catch in the history of our lives, the greatest
25:35
Speaker 2: catch perhaps in the history of the Sea of Galilee,
25:38
Speaker 2: guaranteed income. I would rather have moments with him than
25:42
Speaker 2: days and days of them. What did they see in Jesus? Boy,
25:47
Speaker 2: I'd love to find out. I believe that there is
25:55
Speaker 2: something in Jesus Christ. There is something about him, that
26:01
Speaker 2: he has the ability of touching a person's life in
26:04
Speaker 2: such a deep and profound way, that everything else, your
26:08
Speaker 2: greatest accomplishments, your greatest days on the salesforce, your greatest promotion,
26:14
Speaker 2: that everything else suddenly seems like two boats full of
26:17
Speaker 2: dead fish compared to following him. I believe that Jesus
26:22
Speaker 2: Christ right now will give to you a satisfaction a happiness,
26:28
Speaker 2: a joy, a peace that is deeper than anything you
26:33
Speaker 2: have ever imagined. I believe that he is a fountain
26:37
Speaker 2: of living water that will never be exhausted. I believe
26:41
Speaker 2: that he is a source of wisdom and strength that
26:45
Speaker 2: will never be expired. I believe that he has grace
26:48
Speaker 2: for every sin, he has answers for every question, and
26:53
Speaker 2: he has an authenticity, a realness to him that can
26:59
Speaker 2: captivate your heart. Art.
27:01
Speaker 1: I believe that he.
27:02
Speaker 2: Can do for you what no possession can do, what
27:05
Speaker 2: no promotion can do, what no election can do, what
27:10
Speaker 2: no circumstances can do. I believe he can, and I
27:14
Speaker 2: believe that's what the apostle Paul said. He said to me,
27:18
Speaker 2: the only thing worth living for is Jesus Christ, the
27:21
Speaker 2: only thing. I believe That's what Peter discovered, that the
27:26
Speaker 2: only thing worth living for was not more boats of fish,
27:30
Speaker 2: but it was something in the presence of Jesus Christ.
27:34
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about religion, folks.
27:37
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about a system of rules and regulations
27:40
Speaker 2: and dos and don'ts. I'm talking about a living relationship
27:44
Speaker 2: with the living Jesus Christ. I'm talking about Jesus Christ,
27:48
Speaker 2: who I believe right now is seated on a throne
27:52
Speaker 2: in the deepest part of the universe, overseeing the affairs
27:56
Speaker 2: of the whole world, and that he is leading history
27:59
Speaker 2: to a wonderful outcome for those who catch their lot
28:03
Speaker 2: with him. I believe he is real. I believe he
28:06
Speaker 2: is good. I believe there is a devil who wants
28:09
Speaker 2: to interrupt. I believe he lies to you. I believe
28:12
Speaker 2: he's trying to sucker you and sucker me into short
28:15
Speaker 2: term solutions for long term problems. And he's trying to
28:18
Speaker 2: get us to base our happiness on circumstances and stuff,
28:22
Speaker 2: and he's selling lies. But right now, Jesus Christ says,
28:26
Speaker 2: I'm walking up and down the river of if only,
28:30
Speaker 2: and your happiness is not going to be found over there,
28:33
Speaker 2: but your ultimate real happiness is found in knowing me.
28:40
Speaker 1: I hope you.
28:41
Speaker 2: Find that prince charming, I really do. I hope you
28:45
Speaker 2: marry the perfect wife. I hope you do. I hope
28:48
Speaker 2: you get all the promotions I really do. I hope
28:51
Speaker 2: you drive the car of your dreams. I really do.
28:56
Speaker 2: But I just want you to know that if you
28:58
Speaker 2: have those, they will not give you what you really want.
29:02
Speaker 2: They can't. No human being can give you what you want.
29:09
Speaker 2: They can try. But if you're counting on a wife,
29:12
Speaker 2: you're counting on a husband, or if you're counting on
29:14
Speaker 2: a friend or counting on kids to meet the deepest
29:17
Speaker 2: need of your.
29:18
Speaker 1: Life, you're going to be disappointed. But if you count
29:22
Speaker 1: on Christ, Jesus, the King of Kings.
29:25
Speaker 2: The Lord of lords, who was here before the world began,
29:28
Speaker 2: will be here long after this version of the world
29:30
Speaker 2: is gone. I promise you, dear child of God, you
29:33
Speaker 2: will connect with the reason you're on this earth, and
29:36
Speaker 2: you will find something that will take care of you
29:38
Speaker 2: and sustain you for the rest of your life.
29:42
Speaker 1: Has anyone else found that to be true? If so,
29:45
Speaker 1: say amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.
29:49
Speaker 2: Here it is in a sentence. What you have in
29:53
Speaker 2: Christ is greater than anything you don't have in life.
29:58
Speaker 2: What you have in Christ is greater than anything you
30:01
Speaker 2: don't have in life. Mean, God give you everything in life,
30:05
Speaker 2: but listen to me. If He doesn't give you anything
30:07
Speaker 2: else in life, then what you have you have enough.
30:11
Speaker 2: You have enough for unbridled peace and unbridled happiness.
30:14
Speaker 1: Right now, it's yours. It's yours. Just make it your
30:19
Speaker 1: aim to know him.
30:21
Speaker 2: Be grateful, thankful for what you have, and let that
30:25
Speaker 2: gratitude say goodbye to your anxiety. Amen, Lord, please now
30:31
Speaker 2: help us to just receive this word, receive your teaching.
31:02
Speaker 3: At Loving you alone feels so beautiful, and yet.
33:15
Speaker 1: It hurts the most.
33:20
Speaker 3: You became my quiet sunrise, the dream I never dared
33:26
Speaker 3: to say.
33:28
Speaker 4: Every smile you gave so freely took my breath.
33:32
Speaker 1: A little away.
33:35
Speaker 4: I held this love like fragile glass, so precious, soft
33:40
Speaker 4: and true, but every being inside my heart was only
33:45
Speaker 4: reaching out to you.
33:49
Speaker 2: Unspoken.
33:50
Speaker 4: Love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain.
33:56
Speaker 3: Let's end the whole by.
33:58
Speaker 4: All so sadly, walle It slowly breaks me loving you
34:04
Speaker 4: from just one side. Now leave my soul in silent blue.
34:10
Speaker 4: Because the deeper that I fall alone, the lonelier I do.
34:19
Speaker 4: I can't blame my heart for choosing someone it could
34:24
Speaker 4: never keep, So I smiled through hidden heartache. Hello, love
34:31
Speaker 4: you quietly spoke in. Love is sweet and painful.
34:37
Speaker 1: Like hon e mixed with rain.
34:40
Speaker 4: That's in the whole pile so tightly, Whali, slowly it
34:46
Speaker 4: breaks me loving you from just one side. Now leave
34:51
Speaker 4: my soul in silent blue. Because the deeper that I
34:56
Speaker 4: fall alone, the lonely I do.
35:18
Speaker 1: Maybe loving you in.
35:20
Speaker 4: Silence this is the closest I can stay, though leaves
35:26
Speaker 4: behind the sorrow that may never fast away. Spoken love
35:36
Speaker 4: is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain, a tender, whole, wild,
35:44
Speaker 4: so sightly Wally slowly breaks me. Loving you from just
35:51
Speaker 4: one side now leaves my soul in silence. Because the
35:57
Speaker 4: deeper that I follow, the lowly
36:05
Speaker 1: Had to