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God's Loving Pursuit - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: We never imagined we would live to see a day
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  Speaker 1: like this. We never imagined that we would endure a
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  Speaker 1: global pandemic. We never envisioned yet another downturn so severe
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  Speaker 1: in the economy that it's being compared to the 1930s.
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  Speaker 1: We who had hoped that the sin of racism had
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  Speaker 1: finally been put behind us learned that we were wrong,
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  Speaker 1: and the ugly sin of racism reared her head yet again,
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  Speaker 1: and we're dealing with it even still. Add to that
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  Speaker 1: the overcrowded conditions of hospitals, the hostility in the political system,
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  Speaker 1: The sense of isolation and helplessness that many people feel.
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  Speaker 1: The fear that comes with the possibility of either losing
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  Speaker 1: your job or having just lost your job. The concern
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  Speaker 1: about looking into a school year, having absolutely no idea
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  Speaker 1: what that school year is going to look like. The
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  Speaker 1: fact that so many of the predictable routines of our
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  Speaker 1: lives have been taken away from us, the scaffolding of spring, summer, fall, winter,
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  Speaker 1: and what happens during those days completely changed. It's hard
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  Speaker 1: to imagine. It's hard to imagine that a person wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be tested, discouraged, and frustrated, and even depressed as they
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  Speaker 1: try to deal with this time. My friend, I want
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  Speaker 1: to encourage you. I want you to know that the
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  Speaker 1: Lord is with you. I want you to know that
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  Speaker 1: he knew this was coming. He knows it's happening and
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  Speaker 1: he knows how he's going to bring it all to
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  Speaker 1: an end. He's using all of this to call people
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  Speaker 1: to himself and he's calling you and me to a
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  Speaker 1: deeper walk with him. The scripture says that in the
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  Speaker 1: end times, the love of many will grow cold. Many
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  Speaker 1: people will be discovered to be not true passengers on
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  Speaker 1: the ship of faith, but just stowaways, short timers. Do
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  Speaker 1: not let yourself be one of those. Let your love
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  Speaker 1: go deep. Let your love go deep. Let your faith
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  Speaker 1: be strong. Now to do that, dear friend, what you
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  Speaker 1: did last year to nourish your faith is not enough
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  Speaker 1: for this year. It's just not enough. You were accustomed
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  Speaker 1: perhaps to church programs, maybe to a a busy church
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  Speaker 1: sanctuary or a full church auditorium to being supplemented and
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  Speaker 1: strengthened by hanging out with other Christians. And many of
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  Speaker 1: those sources of strength are just simply not there. And
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  Speaker 1: now I would encourage you, don't allow yourself to slide
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  Speaker 1: away and let your faith grow, let your faith become lukewarm.
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  Speaker 1: Do whatever it takes. Dig deeper. Keep your Bible open.
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  Speaker 1: Keep your knees bent. Keep your connection with other Christians strong.
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  Speaker 1: Find some way of service. Don't allow yourself to go inward.
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  Speaker 1: Don't grow alone on an island, but stay strong in
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  Speaker 1: your faith. God is going to get you through this.
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  Speaker 1: He's going to get us through this. And he's going
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  Speaker 1: to get his church through this. His church has seen
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  Speaker 1: things like this since the very beginning. Why? The very
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  Speaker 1: earliest challenge of the church was what is called the diaspora.
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  Speaker 1: As the church, because of persecution in Jerusalem and surrounding areas,
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  Speaker 1: was pressed. They had to run. They had to escape.
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  Speaker 1: And the gospel, consequently, was taken around the world, was
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  Speaker 1: taken into the Mediterranean, taken into what is now called Turkey,
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  Speaker 1: taken into Ethiopia, places that the gospel needed to go
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  Speaker 1: went because of trouble, because of stress. I believe that
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  Speaker 1: right now, the gospel is going around the world in
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  Speaker 1: a way faster than any of us can imagine because
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  Speaker 1: people realizing that they've been untethered from sources of encouragement
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  Speaker 1: and diversion and pleasure, are finally looking to God. And
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  Speaker 1: they're looking online. They're opening their Bible. They're opening books.
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  Speaker 1: They're listening to messages. I believe we're going to see
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  Speaker 1: a great harvest come out of this. But in the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: it really falls to us to stay strong, to hang
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  Speaker 1: in there. Pray for your church. Pray for Oak Hills.
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  Speaker 1: Pray for Travis. Pray for the leaders. Pray for the elders.
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  Speaker 1: They're facing uncharted waters and they're doing so brilliantly and faithfully.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so proud of them and I love them. And
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  Speaker 1: I stand with you for them. I stand with you
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  Speaker 1: for them. May God give them wisdom and strength. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not going to fall into that camp of Monday morning
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  Speaker 1: quarterbacks that are always questioning whatever church does. I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to trust the Lord to speak through our leaders and
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  Speaker 1: to guide us into the right path forward. And in
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  Speaker 1: the meantime, we keep our Bible open. We keep ourselves encouraged.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know of a better place to go
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  Speaker 1: for encouragement than the most famous psalm in the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: the 23rd Psalm. As we look at it again today,
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  Speaker 1: let's read it together. The Lord is my shepherd. I
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  Speaker 1: shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
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  Speaker 1: green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He
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  Speaker 1: restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
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  Speaker 1: for his name's sake. And yea, though I walk through
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  Speaker 1: the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
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  Speaker 1: no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and
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  Speaker 1: your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before
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  Speaker 1: me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my
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  Speaker 1: head with oil, and my cup runs over. Surely, goodness
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  Speaker 1: and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
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  Speaker 1: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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  Speaker 1: Most heavenly Father, Please have mercy upon our speaker. His
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  Speaker 1: sins are many. And help us to see Jesus and
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  Speaker 1: just Jesus. Have mercy upon all who hear this word,
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  Speaker 1: wherever they be in the world. Lift them up in
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  Speaker 1: the distant lands of Croatia, Australia, in the nearby towns
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  Speaker 1: of Selma and Bernie. Wherever they are, wherever we are,
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  Speaker 1: we pray, Father, a special blessing upon all who hear
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  Speaker 1: the word. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Eric Hill had everything that you would need for a
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  Speaker 1: bright future. He was 28 years old and a recent
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  Speaker 1: college grad with an athletic frame and a contagious smile.
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  Speaker 1: His family loved him. Girls took notice of him. Companies
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  Speaker 1: had contacted him about working for them. But although Eric
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  Speaker 1: appeared composed without, he was actually tormented within, tormented by
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  Speaker 1: voices that he could not silence, bothered by images he
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  Speaker 1: could not avoid. So hoping to get away from them all,
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  Speaker 1: he got away from it all. And on a February
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  Speaker 1: day in 1982, Eric Hill walked out the back door
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  Speaker 1: of his Florida home and he never came back. His
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  Speaker 1: sister Debbie remembers seeing him leave, actually seeing his tall
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  Speaker 1: frame amble down the interstate. But she assumed he would return.
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  Speaker 1: He always had before, but he didn't. She had hoped
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  Speaker 1: he would call, but he didn't. She thought she could
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  Speaker 1: find him, but she couldn't. Exactly where Eric journeyed, only
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  Speaker 1: he and God know, and neither of the two, have
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  Speaker 1: ever given that information. And what we do know is
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  Speaker 1: that at some point, Eric heard a voice. And in
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  Speaker 1: that voice was an assignment. And that assignment was to
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  Speaker 1: pick up garbage alongside Interstate 10 in San Antonio, Texas.
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  Speaker 1: To the commuters on Interstate 10, his lanky beard and
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  Speaker 1: his bearded face and his lanky form became a familiar sight.
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  Speaker 1: He made a home out of a hole in a
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  Speaker 1: vacant lot. He made a wardrobe out of split trousers
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  Speaker 1: and a torn sweatshirt. An old hat deferred the summer sun.
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  Speaker 1: And a plastic bag he would wrap around his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: to keep him warm in the winter. His weathered face
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  Speaker 1: and stooped shoulders made him look twice his 44 years
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  Speaker 1: of age. But then 16 years on the side of
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  Speaker 1: the road will do that to you. That's how long
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  Speaker 1: it had been since Debbie had seen her brother. She
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  Speaker 1: might never have seen him again were it not for
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  Speaker 1: two events. The first was the construction of a car
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  Speaker 1: dealership on Eric's vacant lot. It was a CarMax that's
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  Speaker 1: on Interstate 10 to this day. The second was a
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  Speaker 1: severe pain in his abdomen. The dealership took his home.
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  Speaker 1: The pain nearly took his life. EMS found him curled
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  Speaker 1: up in a ball on the side of the road,
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  Speaker 1: clutching his stomach. The hospital ran some tests and determined
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  Speaker 1: that Eric had cancer, terminal cancer. Another few months and
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  Speaker 1: he would be dead. With no known family or relatives,
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  Speaker 1: he would die alone. His court-appointed attorney couldn't handle this thought.
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  Speaker 1: Surely somebody is looking for Eric, he reasoned. And so
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  Speaker 1: the lawyer got online and looked and looked and looked
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  Speaker 1: for anybody in search of a brown-haired adult male with
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  Speaker 1: the last name Hill. It took a long time, but
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  Speaker 1: he finally found someone. He found Debbie. His description seemed
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  Speaker 1: to match her memory, but she had to know for sure.
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  Speaker 1: So Debbie came to Texas. She and her husband and
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  Speaker 1: two children rented a hotel room and set out to
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  Speaker 1: see Eric. By now he had been released from the hospital,
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  Speaker 1: but the chaplain knew where he was hanging out, and
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  Speaker 1: they found him sitting against a building not far from
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  Speaker 1: the interstate. As they approached, he stood. They offered fruit.
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  Speaker 1: He refused. They offered juice. He declined. He was polite,
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  Speaker 1: but he was unimpressed, and he did not recognize this
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  Speaker 1: lady who who claimed to be his family. His interest perked, however,
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  Speaker 1: when Debbie offered him a pin to wear, an angel pin.
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  Speaker 1: He said yes. And his first time to be touched
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  Speaker 1: by a family member in 16 years happened when he
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  Speaker 1: allowed Debbie to pin the angel on his shirt. Debbie
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  Speaker 1: had intended to stay a week, but a week passed.
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  Speaker 1: She stayed. Her husband returned home. She stayed. Spring became summer.
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  Speaker 1: Eric improved a bit. She stayed. Debbie rented an apartment
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  Speaker 1: and began homeschooling her kids and reaching out to her brother.
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  Speaker 1: It wasn't easy. He didn't recognize her. He didn't really
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  Speaker 1: want anything to do with her. One day he cursed her.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't want to sleep in her apartment. He didn't
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  Speaker 1: want her food. He didn't want to talk. He liked
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  Speaker 1: his vacant lot. He wanted his job. Who was this
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  Speaker 1: woman anyway? But Debbie refused to give up on Eric.
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  Speaker 1: She understood that he didn't understand. So she stayed. I
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  Speaker 1: met her. I met Debbie. I would come to meet Eric,
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  Speaker 1: though only briefly. I even said a word at his funeral.
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  Speaker 1: I met Debbie at church one Sunday. Yes, she visited
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  Speaker 1: the Oak Hills Church many years ago. When she shared
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  Speaker 1: her story, I asked her what you might have wanted
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  Speaker 1: to ask. I said, how do you keep from giving up?
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  Speaker 1: And she said, simple. He's my brother. The story of
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  Speaker 1: her great pursuit reminded me of another that That heart
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  Speaker 1: of hers reminded me of another heart, another kind heart
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  Speaker 1: who left home in search of the confused, another compassionate
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  Speaker 1: soul who couldn't bear the thought of a brother or
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  Speaker 1: sister in pain. So like Debbie, he left home. Like Debbie,
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  Speaker 1: he found his sibling. And when Jesus found us, we
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  Speaker 1: responded like Eric. Our limitations kept us from recognizing the
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  Speaker 1: one who came to save us. We even doubted his presence.
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  Speaker 1: We've been known to curse him. Yet how does he respond?
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  Speaker 1: How does he deal with our doubts? Well, I'll tell
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  Speaker 1: you what. He follows us. As Debbie followed Eric, God
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  Speaker 1: follows us. He pursues until death. We, at least some
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  Speaker 1: of us, finally see him as our father, our savior.
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  Speaker 1: His spirit is our source of inner strength. And he
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  Speaker 1: will follow us still all the days of our lives.
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  Speaker 1: Can we talk for just a few moments about God's
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  Speaker 1: pursuit of you? The psalmist David wrote these wonderful words.
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  Speaker 1: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
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  Speaker 1: of my life. And I will dwell in the house
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord forever. This must be one of the
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  Speaker 1: sweetest phrases ever penned. Can we read it from a
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  Speaker 1: few other translations? Goodness and love unfailing. These will follow
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  Speaker 1: me all the days of my life. And I shall
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  Speaker 1: dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
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  Speaker 1: Or this one. I know that your goodness and love
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  Speaker 1: will be with me all my life. And that your
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  Speaker 1: house will be my home as long as I live.
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  Speaker 1: And this one. Your beauty and love chase after me
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  Speaker 1: every day of my life. I am back home in
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  Speaker 1: the house of Yahweh for the rest of my life.
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  Speaker 1: To read the verse is to open a box of jewels.
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  Speaker 1: Each word sparkles and begs to be examined in the
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  Speaker 1: face of our doubts. Goodness and mercy all the days
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  Speaker 1: dwell in the house of the Lord forever. These phrases
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  Speaker 1: sweep in like a SWAT team on the doubts of
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  Speaker 1: our heart. I want to look at the first word. Surely,
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  Speaker 1: surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. David didn't say
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  Speaker 1: maybe goodness and mercy shall follow me or possibly goodness
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  Speaker 1: and mercy shall follow me or I'm hoping. that goodness
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  Speaker 1: and mercy shall follow me. He could have used one
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  Speaker 1: of those other phrases, but he didn't. David believed in
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  Speaker 1: a sure God, a God who makes promises and provides
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  Speaker 1: a sure foundation. You know, David would have loved the
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  Speaker 1: words of one of his great, great, great, great, great grandsons,
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  Speaker 1: the apostle James, who wrote, spoke of God with whom
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  Speaker 1: there is never the slightest variation or shadow of end.
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  Speaker 1: Our moods may shift, but God's doesn't. Our minds may change,
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  Speaker 1: but God's doesn't. Our devotion may falter, but God's doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: Even if we're faithless, 2 Timothy 2.13 says he cannot
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  Speaker 1: betray himself, so he'll remain faithful. He's a sure God.
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  Speaker 1: And because he's a sure God, surely goodness and mercy
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  Speaker 1: shall follow me all the days of my life. And
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  Speaker 1: what follows the word surely? Goodness and mercy. Goodness and mercy.
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  Speaker 1: You see, if the Lord is the shepherd who leads
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  Speaker 1: the flock, goodness and mercy are the two sheepdogs that
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  Speaker 1: guard the rear of the flock. Goodness and mercy. Not
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  Speaker 1: goodness alone for we are sinners in need of mercy.
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  Speaker 1: Not mercy alone for we're fragile in need of goodness.
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  Speaker 1: We need them both. As one man wrote, goodness to
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  Speaker 1: supply every want, mercy to forgive every sin, Goodness to provide,
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  Speaker 1: mercy to pardon. Goodness and mercy. The celestial escort of
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  Speaker 1: God's flock. And if that duo doesn't reinforce your faith,
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  Speaker 1: try this phrase. All the days of my life. All
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  Speaker 1: the days of my life. What a huge statement. Look
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  Speaker 1: at the size of it. Goodness and mercy follow the
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  Speaker 1: child of God each and every day. All the days.
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  Speaker 1: Think of the days that lie ahead. What do you see?
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  Speaker 1: Days at home with only toddlers. God will be with you.
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  Speaker 1: Days in an unemployment line. God will be with you.
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  Speaker 1: Days of loneliness. God will take your hand. Days in
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  Speaker 1: a hospital bed. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you there.
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  Speaker 1: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you. Not some, not most,
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  Speaker 1: not nearly all, but all the days of my life.
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  Speaker 1: And what will he do during these days? Well, here's
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  Speaker 1: my favorite word. He will follow us. He will follow us.
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  Speaker 1: Is that not a surprising way to describe God? We're
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  Speaker 1: accustomed to a God who remains up there in one place.
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  Speaker 1: A God who sits enthroned in heaven and rules and
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  Speaker 1: reigns and ordains. Indeed, he is. But David envisioned a
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  Speaker 1: mobile and active God. A God who follows us, who
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  Speaker 1: pursues us. Dare we do the same? Dare we envision
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  Speaker 1: a God who follows us? Dare you? Dare you envision
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  Speaker 1: a God who follows you, who tracks you down, who
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  Speaker 1: wins you over, who follows you with goodness and mercy
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  Speaker 1: all the days of your life? Friend, this is the
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  Speaker 1: God we find in the Bible. Look at this. Look
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  Speaker 1: with me at the passion of God for just a moment.
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  Speaker 1: You've got to go no further than the third chapter
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  Speaker 1: of the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis,
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  Speaker 1: before you find God in the role of a seeker.
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  Speaker 1: Adam and Eve are hiding in the bushes, partly to
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  Speaker 1: cover their bodies, partly to cover their sin. But does
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  Speaker 1: God wait for them to come to him?
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  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3 and verse 9.
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  Speaker 3: His words.
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  Speaker 1: The words of God, ring in the garden. Where are you?
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  Speaker 1: Where are you? And with that question, God began a
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  Speaker 1: quest for the heart of humanity that continues up through
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  Speaker 1: and to the moment you hear these words. Where are you?
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  Speaker 1: God says. He comes following us, pursuing us. Moses can
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  Speaker 1: tell you about it. He was 40 years in the
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  Speaker 1: desert when he looked over his shoulder and he saw
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  Speaker 1: a bush blazing. God had followed him into the wilderness.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah can tell you about it. He was a fugitive
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  Speaker 1: on a boat when he looked over his shoulder and
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  Speaker 1: saw the clouds brewing. God had followed him onto the ocean.
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  Speaker 1: The disciples of Jesus knew the feeling of being followed
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  Speaker 1: by God. They were rain soaked and shivering when they
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  Speaker 1: looked over their shoulders and saw Jesus walking toward them
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  Speaker 1: on the storm, through the storm. God had followed them
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  Speaker 1: into the storm. A woman who goes unnamed in the
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  Speaker 1: region of Samaria knew the same. She lived all alone
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  Speaker 1: in her life and she was alone at the well
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  Speaker 1: when she looked over her shoulder and saw Messiah speaking
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  Speaker 1: and God had followed her. through her pain. John the
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  Speaker 1: apostle was banished on Patmos and he looked over and
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  Speaker 1: saw the skies began to open. God had followed him
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  Speaker 1: into exile. Remember Lazarus, three days dead in a sealed tomb.
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  Speaker 1: He heard a voice. He lifted his head and looked
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  Speaker 1: over his shoulder. There was Jesus standing, telling him to
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  Speaker 1: stand up. God had followed him right there into the grave.
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  Speaker 1: Peter had denied his Lord, gone back to fishing. When
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  Speaker 1: he heard his name and looked over his shoulder, And
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  Speaker 1: saw Jesus cooking breakfast tacos. God had followed him in
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  Speaker 1: spite of his failure. God is the God who follows.
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  Speaker 1: He's the God who follows. Let me ask you, friend.
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  Speaker 1: Have you sensed him following you? Have you? Have you? Well,
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  Speaker 1: I know we often miss him. Like Eric, we don't
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  Speaker 1: know our helper when he's near. But still he comes.
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  Speaker 1: Is he coming to you? Is he speaking to you
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  Speaker 1: through the kindness of a stranger? Through the forgiveness of
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  Speaker 1: a spouse? Through the love of a parent? Through the
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  Speaker 1: joy of a child? Through a word well spoken or
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  Speaker 1: a touch well timed? Or even through a sermon right now?
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  Speaker 1: Do you sense him coming to you? Calling to you?
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  Speaker 1: Wooing you? Whispering? Calling you? Saying, I'm calling you back.
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  Speaker 1: I'm calling you back. Do you sense him coming for you?
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  Speaker 1: If so, would you do this? Would you just release
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  Speaker 1: your doubts? Just release your doubts. Set them down. Be
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  Speaker 1: encumbered by them no longer. You're not a candidate for insecurity.
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  Speaker 1: You're no longer a client of timidity. You can trust God.
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  Speaker 1: He has given his love to you. Why don't you
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: give your fears to him? Give your doubts to him.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Not easy to do, you say? I know, but it's
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: not impossible. And it's not as difficult as you might think.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Try these ideas and then I'll be done. Just trust
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the promise of the shepherd. Trust the promise of the shepherd.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: First of all, don't consult your feelings. Don't consult your feelings.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: You feel that you're all alone? That's a lie. Scripture
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: says God is with you. Your feelings have no impact
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: on God's presence. On the days you don't feel close
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: to God, then just don't consult your feelings. One of
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: the most common questions that I get asked is, how
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: do I behave on the days that I don't feel
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: close to God? I say, well, just take your feelings
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: outside and give them a good talking to. Your feelings
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: are not reliable. I don't always feel close to God.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: But scripture says, he is with me every day. And
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: he will be with me every day. Surely, goodness and
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Your feelings don't get a vote. They don't. And during
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: these days of some distress, of course, you don't feel
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: all peppy and enthusiastic and faithful and energetic. That's okay.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Cut yourself some slack. Don't consult your feelings. And then
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: number two. Measure your value through God's eyes, not your own.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: To everyone else, Eric Hill was just a homeless drifter.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: But to Debbie, he was a brother. You know, there's
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: times in our lives we feel like we're gangrels, homeless, disoriented,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: hard to help, hard to love, like drifters. And in
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: those seasons, just remember this fact. You're in God's family.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: You're in God's family. And he loves you. And his
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: love doesn't come and go like the love of humans.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: His love never changes. Why does he love you? Because
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: of your family. And because of your family, he'll follow
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: you all the days of your life. And then thirdly
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: and lastly, see the big picture, not the small. You see,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Eric's home was taken. His health was taken. But through
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: the tragedy, his family was returned to him in the
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: big picture. In the big picture. What started off as
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: a burden became a wonderful blessing. Now, I know it's
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: been rough over the last few days and weeks and months.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: I get that. And maybe your home and your health
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: have been threatened. And I'm not saying that's easy. But
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: could it be that through this, you're going to find
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: your family, your spiritual family as well. You'll find your
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: heavenly father, a father who will follow you all the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: days of your life. By the way, the last chapter
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: of Eric's life was his best one. Days before he died,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: he recognized Debbie as his sister. And in doing so,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: he discovered his home. I can remember meeting him, visiting
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: him and her in the hospital. And he looked at
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: her with that familiarity that you have when you're looking
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: at a family member's face. We will see our Heavenly Father.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: I know that many of us have doubted Him. Like Debbie,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: even though we have doubted Him, God has followed us.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Like Eric, we've been quick to turn away. But Debbie,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: she was slow to anger and so is God. He's
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: slow to anger. He's determined to stay. Like Eric, we
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: don't always accept God's gift. But Debbie... still gave gifts
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: to Eric and God still gives them to us. And he, well,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: he gives us his angels and he doesn't just give
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: us his angels as a pin on a lapel, but
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: placed on our path to protect us and to guide us.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: And most of all, he gives us himself. Even when
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: we choose our hovel over his house, when we choose
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: our trash over his grace, he still follows us, never
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: forcing us, never leaving us, patiently persistent, faithfully present. using
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: all of His power to convince us that He is
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: who He is and that He can be trusted to
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: lead us home because His goodness and mercy shall follow
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: us all the days of our life. We understand, right,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: that our Heavenly Father is doing more than just recruiting
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: a flock for this earth, but He's recruiting a flock,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: summoning to Himself a people with whom he can reign
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: throughout eternity. Everything, everything is working together to invite you
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: to be a part of that forever flock, that forever family.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Could I urge you, my friend, if you've never said
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: yes to him, please do. Please do. Don't wait another day.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Don't wait another day. No one knows when he's returning.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: But boy, these activities, these circumstances, these events of these
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: days make us take a good long look into the
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: eastern sky to see if he isn't about to call
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: us home. And I want you to be home with him.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Say yes to him. Pray with me, if you would.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Just say this. Say, Lord, I call upon you as
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: my Savior and Shepherd. Please forgive my sins. I call
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: out to you as the Lord of all. I confess
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: you as the Lord of my life. Through Christ I pray.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: For those of you who prayed that prayer, God bless
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: you and welcome to the family of God. And welcome
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: to the church. We would love the opportunity to connect
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: with you, to encourage you, to help you understand the Bible,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: to help you belong to a church family, and to
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: participate in your baptism. Reach out to us so we
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: can reach out to you. God bless you. In Jesus' name, amen.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: Everything I used to live for Faded slowly out of
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: sight Now my days just circle around you Like I'm
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: lost without a light All.
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: The noise just turns to silence When your memory comes
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: through And the world I once was chasing Now feels
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: small And shaped like.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: You My whole world is only you Every thought keeps
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: breaking through You're so close inside my mind But so
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: far in real.
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: Life I can feel you everywhere In the things we
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: never shared All.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: This love I'm going through Never reaches you.
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: Every image feels so real now Like you're standing next
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: to me But the truth is in the silence You
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: were never meant to see My whole.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: World is only you Every thought keeps breaking through You're
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: so close inside my mind But so far in real
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: life I can feel you everywhere In the things we
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: never shared All this love I'm going through Never reaches
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: you If you felt it for a moment Would it
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: change the way you stay.
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: Or would I still be the shadow that just fades away?
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: My whole world is only you.
• 32:15
  Speaker 6: But your world's a different view I'm just someone passing
• 32:22
  Speaker 6: by In your open sky Still I hold.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: On to what's true Every heartbeat calls for you All
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: this love I always knew Will never reach you Ooh
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: Ooh