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Love-and-Kisses-Msg-41-44 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Let me read for you several excerpts from this great
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Speaker 1: sixteenth chapter of Romans. The worship folder I mentioned earlier
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Speaker 1: contains an outline for the morning message that you'll want
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Speaker 1: to have handy. There are a couple of three points
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Speaker 1: along the way you'll want to take note of. It
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Speaker 1: will keep us on target and get us through these
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Speaker 1: very unusual sixteen verses of Romans sixteen a message we've
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Speaker 1: titled love and Kisses. Some of you are nervous about
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Speaker 1: the application of that message, so let me put your
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Speaker 1: mind at ease. You have nothing to worry about. May
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Speaker 1: I ask you to stand in respect for the Word
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Speaker 1: of God, which is alive and active, and sharper than
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Speaker 1: a two edged sword. Romans sixteen one. I commend to
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Speaker 1: you a sister of Phoebe, who is a servant of
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Speaker 1: the Church which is at Sencria, that you receive her
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Speaker 1: in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints,
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Speaker 1: and that you help her in whatever matter she may
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Speaker 1: have need of you, for she herself has also been
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Speaker 1: a helper of many, and of myself as well. Greet
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Speaker 1: Prisca and Aquilla, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who
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Speaker 1: for my life risked their own necks, to whom not
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Speaker 1: only do I give thanks, but also all the churches
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Speaker 1: of the Gentiles also greet the Church that is in
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Speaker 1: their house. Verse seven, Greet Andronicus and Junius, my kinsmen,
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Speaker 1: and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles,
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Speaker 1: who also were in Christ before me. Verse fifteen, Greet
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Speaker 1: Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympus, and
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Speaker 1: all the saints who are with them. Greet one another
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Speaker 1: with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
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Speaker 1: You may be seated abow with me as we pray,
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Speaker 1: thank your Father for doing things in our life that
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Speaker 1: no one else could have done. We were running in
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Speaker 1: the wrong direction, and you caught us and found us
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Speaker 1: and brought us. You brought us to yourself. Someday we'll
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Speaker 1: be home with you. Until then, we walk by faith
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Speaker 1: and not by sight. So we need help. We need
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Speaker 1: to be able to see by faith the invisible and
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Speaker 1: see it as if tangible. We need to be able
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Speaker 1: to sense your will though we don't hear a voice
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Speaker 1: in an audible manner, and then obey that leading though
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Speaker 1: we've never heard you sound forth from heaven. You often
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Speaker 1: speak to our hearts, like today You're going to speak
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Speaker 1: to us in these sixteen verses tucked away in the
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Speaker 1: ancient Letter to the Romans, and it will be like
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Speaker 1: a love letter to us in the twenty first century.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for making your words so personal. Speak today
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Speaker 1: to specific people. Speak today to those struggling in their marriage.
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Speaker 1: Speak to single parents today, Speak to the singles, to
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Speaker 1: the teenagers. Speak a word to those of us who
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Speaker 1: have been in the church all our lives. Break us
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Speaker 1: free from the brittle veneer of habit, so that today
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Speaker 1: becomes one of the most exciting experiences of our worship years.
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Speaker 1: Get us beyond the familiar, Get us into the depths
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Speaker 1: of your truth. We've waited in an ankle deep long enough.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for what you're doing in places will never be,
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Speaker 1: in towns whose names we can't even pronounce. You're doing
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Speaker 1: a great work in the lives of soldiers and marines
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Speaker 1: and sailors, and those in the Air Force who carry
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Speaker 1: on the fight, whose names we do not even know.
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Speaker 1: In prisons with inmates whose lives languish where hope is gone.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for continuing to do your work because your
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Speaker 1: people are generous. Here our hearts our father, as we
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Speaker 1: give you our gifts or our hearts are saying to you,
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Speaker 1: we love you, and we ask this in the name
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Speaker 1: of Jesus, everyone said. The church was never meant to
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Speaker 1: be impressive, or slick, or for that matter, efficient. Though
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Speaker 1: the early church was large, it was never called mega
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Speaker 1: a megachurch, though it was on the cutting edge of
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Speaker 1: its culture. It was never referred to as an emerging church,
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Speaker 1: though its arms were open wide for all who would
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Speaker 1: wish to fellowship. It was never called seeker friendly because
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Speaker 1: it was full of good and open and free communication.
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Speaker 1: There was a sense of belonging, but it was never
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Speaker 1: called high tech. All of those terms, all of those
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Speaker 1: labels are corporate words that unfortunately have found their way
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Speaker 1: into the twenty first century church and have caused us
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Speaker 1: to think about church as if it were a business
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Speaker 1: with a cross on top. But the church was never
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Speaker 1: originated to be any of that. The church was called
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Speaker 1: originally and is expected to be even in this twenty
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Speaker 1: first century, of family, a family of both weak and
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Speaker 1: strong individuals, of younger and middle aged and older, of
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Speaker 1: infants and children as well as those who are near death,
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Speaker 1: not an impersonal institution, a place where prejudice and politics
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Speaker 1: whole sway. How easy for us in a high tech
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Speaker 1: age to think of the church as needing to be
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Speaker 1: high tech. Several years ago I was traveling with a
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Speaker 1: number of pastoral interns and we chose one of the
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Speaker 1: better known churches to visit. The pastor knew we were coming,
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Speaker 1: was looking forward to our visit, along with several and
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Speaker 1: his staff, and we got there a little bit early.
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Speaker 1: So we walked in and sort of stood around the
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Speaker 1: back and were rather obvious as we were standing there,
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Speaker 1: and the head custodian walked up and began to talk
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Speaker 1: with us. It's great to visit, by the way, with
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Speaker 1: a custodian. You'll find out more about the church from
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Speaker 1: a custodian than you ever will from the pastor. So
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Speaker 1: we thought we'd talked to him for a while. We
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Speaker 1: asked him about a number of things, and for long
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Speaker 1: he was beginning to get around the subject of size.
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Speaker 1: So we said, how big is the church? He said, oh,
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Speaker 1: let's see, that's about twenty five hundred people a Sunday.
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Speaker 1: Use the p word. Church doesn't process people unless it's
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Speaker 1: become a high tech institution. That slick and impressive. You
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Speaker 1: process those names. You don't know. This isn't the waiting
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Speaker 1: room for some physician. This isn't a hospital where people
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Speaker 1: go that only have an insurance card to show. This
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Speaker 1: is a family. This is a place where people speak
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Speaker 1: words that are reliable, and they demonstrate a faith that
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Speaker 1: is invincible, and they model grace, grace that is tangible
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Speaker 1: and if you will, affection that is demonstrable, or it
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Speaker 1: should be. Now I'm gonna pause and warn you of
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Speaker 1: something because I know church people been hanging around him
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Speaker 1: over seventy years, so not you, But I've been hanging
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Speaker 1: around church people. I know what you're gonna think all
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Speaker 1: the way through this message. I'm so glad so and
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Speaker 1: so is here to hear this today. Or preacher, pay
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Speaker 1: attention to your own words. You're the one who needs them.
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Speaker 1: You're right, I need them more than anyone, and so
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Speaker 1: do you. So don't think about anybody but yourself. I'll
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Speaker 1: give you permission to do that. You're the one in
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Speaker 1: great need of hearing the message, because if you don't
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Speaker 1: see it that way, you will live your life full
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Speaker 1: of resentment against somebody else who isn't doing what I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna preach on today, and some of you today are
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Speaker 1: terribly resentful, so this will help you if you take
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Speaker 1: it personally. We're a lonely bunch, you know. I read
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Speaker 1: this past week about a man feeling very lonely and
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Speaker 1: down on his look in a sort of a low
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Speaker 1: district of the town. And he was walking along a
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Speaker 1: broken sidewalk, and he came to an old used bookstore,
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Speaker 1: and he looked through the big plate glass window and
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Speaker 1: he saw books on display. One read how to Hug.
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Speaker 1: He thought, if there's a book I need to read,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to get that book. He walked inside and
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Speaker 1: picked up this big book, and he found that it
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Speaker 1: was the tenth volume of an encyclopedia set covering the
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Speaker 1: subjects of how to hug. He felt, probably like a
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Speaker 1: lot of people feel when they come to a church.
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Speaker 1: They get an encyclopedic explanation, intellectual discussion, an exposition of
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Speaker 1: the subject of love, but they don't touch anyone else.
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Speaker 1: When we were designing our new building, we were told
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Speaker 1: that pews are not as popular today as chairs with arms,
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Speaker 1: because people don't like to touch each other. Man I
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Speaker 1: remember when he used to lay down on the pew
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Speaker 1: and stick my feet and the neighbors laugh. Maybe that's
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Speaker 1: why they stopped building pews. Far too long have Christians
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Speaker 1: been like a little room full of primary age girls
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Speaker 1: with flowers in their hands, plucking the pedals. He loves me,
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Speaker 1: he loves me not? He loves me, He loves me not.
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Speaker 1: The church was never meant to be like that. Size,
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Speaker 1: of course, works against us. That's why I've never been
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Speaker 1: enamored of size. Size tends to break down that sense
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Speaker 1: of belonging. And I thank you for tolerating the size
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Speaker 1: of Stonebriar Church. We never designed it to get big.
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Speaker 1: It got big because you wouldn't stay away, and we're grateful,
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Speaker 1: But it means we got to work hard at the
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Speaker 1: stuff I'm gonna talk about. Otherwise you're a nameless face
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Speaker 1: that if we're not careful, we'll begin to process. Let
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Speaker 1: me remind you of the value of affection. Just a
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Speaker 1: quick breeze through Romans twelve up to chapter sixteen. Look
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Speaker 1: at twelve verse nine. Just listen. If you don't have
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Speaker 1: a Bible, just listen to these words. Let love be
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Speaker 1: without hypocrisy. On hypocretoss is the Greek word non hypocritical.
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Speaker 1: If you're gonna love, love to the face and love
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Speaker 1: to the back the same. If you're gonna love, tell
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Speaker 1: a person to their face you love them, and then
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Speaker 1: when they're not around, demonstrate that you love them. Don't
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Speaker 1: be hypocritical. There's too much of that in the Church.
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Speaker 1: Love without hypocrisy. Verse ten. Be devoted to one another
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Speaker 1: in affectionate love. This is a word for demonstrable love.
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Speaker 1: Demonstrable love. It's amazing how many people hold back from
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Speaker 1: even shaking hands with one another in this day and age.
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Speaker 1: Oh they're germs, well wear gloves. That's strange that we
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Speaker 1: would worship along people that we've never even shaken their hand.
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Speaker 1: Pass the warmth of our life into another. Let it
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Speaker 1: be un hypocritical. Look at chapter thirteen, verse eight. Owe
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Speaker 1: nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he
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Speaker 1: who loves his neighbor has full fill the law. You
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Speaker 1: know what. The Church has turned verse eight into a
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Speaker 1: verse on not getting into debt. We'll do anything to
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Speaker 1: keep from getting the point. Of course, debt needs to
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Speaker 1: be managed well and carefully. But the verses of hout
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Speaker 1: love don't go into debt in any way except in
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Speaker 1: a lifetime of love. Love one another, love one another,
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Speaker 1: love a neighbor, don't answer out loud. I wonder the
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Speaker 1: last time any one of our neighbors heard the word
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Speaker 1: love come out of our mouths, or any one of
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Speaker 1: our neighbors had any demonstration that we loved them. So
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Speaker 1: this is a neighbor that crosses beyond, It transcends the church.
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Speaker 1: It's neighbors. It's folks who don't know Jesus. I wonder
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Speaker 1: how many at work know that you love them. I
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Speaker 1: wonder how many it work you love. It's convicting, isn't it. Hey,
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Speaker 1: I've lived with it all week. I'm not going to
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Speaker 1: take all this guilt by myself gonna I'm gonna share
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Speaker 1: it with you. Look at verse thirteen of chapter fourteen.
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Speaker 1: Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine
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Speaker 1: this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block
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Speaker 1: in a brother or a sister's way. Isn't that good word?
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Speaker 1: Look at fifteen for if, because of food or whatever
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Speaker 1: just happened to be food in the first century, your
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Speaker 1: brother or your sister is hurt. You're no longer walking
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Speaker 1: according to love. It's not that you're free to do it.
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Speaker 1: You are free to do it, but love restricts your freedom.
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Speaker 1: There's a law that's higher than your freedom, just as
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Speaker 1: in this free country, there's a law that's higher than
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Speaker 1: you're wanting to or being able to drive as fast
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Speaker 1: as you wish. There are lights at the corner, there
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Speaker 1: are signs to be observed and obeyed. They build boundaries
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Speaker 1: around it so that freedom can exist without anarchy. Get
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Speaker 1: rid of the obstacles so your love will flow. Get
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Speaker 1: rid of your resentment, get it out of your system.
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Speaker 1: It's very unattractive. Look at chapter fifteen, verse five. Now,
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Speaker 1: may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you
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Speaker 1: to be of the same mind with one another. According
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Speaker 1: to Christ Jesus, verse seven, accept one. Another first step
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Speaker 1: of love is acceptance. Stop looking to see if they've
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Speaker 1: got a tattoo, or if the guy wears an ear ring,
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Speaker 1: or if you got spiked hair, or she doesn't have
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Speaker 1: the style of clothing that you think she ought to
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Speaker 1: be wearing. When you start carrying that much, start buying
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Speaker 1: her clothes, and then she will probably be willing to
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Speaker 1: listen to you. Stop worrying about the response of other people.
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Speaker 1: You've got a huge log in your own eye. Deal
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Speaker 1: with that, please. All of this is about authentic affection.
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Speaker 1: Now why do I say this? Because Chapter sixteen is
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Speaker 1: loaded with names, most of them meaning nothing to us.
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Speaker 1: You'll not read the names anywhere else. Most of them
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Speaker 1: you'll not see. You have a hard time pronouncing a
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Speaker 1: lot of them. I'm are Roman names, some are Greek names,
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Speaker 1: some Latin names, and they're hard to read. But you
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Speaker 1: know what, They're there for a reason. So let's make
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Speaker 1: this list of observations. Let's get our let's get our
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Speaker 1: outline out and get it ready. Let me give you
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Speaker 1: three things that these verses say, and then a couple
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Speaker 1: or three things they mean. And I think you'll see
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Speaker 1: the value of even a chapter like this. What do
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Speaker 1: the verses say? First, there are twenty seven people mentioned
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Speaker 1: by name. Please don't stop and start counting them. I've
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Speaker 1: done that five six times. I did it again this morning.
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Speaker 1: There are twenty seven names, just trust me on this.
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Speaker 1: In fact, there are eight more mentioned in twenty one
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Speaker 1: to twenty three. So do the math. We got a
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Speaker 1: bunch of names listed here, all of whom means something
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Speaker 1: to the writer Paul. It's a remarkable memory, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: He's sitting in Corinth. He's giving this infram to Tertius,
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Speaker 1: the scribe. By the way, he's mentioned also in verse
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Speaker 1: twenty two, Tertius who writes this letter, So he's writing
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Speaker 1: down names. Probably Tertius doesn't know a lot of these people.
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Speaker 1: These are people that meant something to Paul. You know
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Speaker 1: what I think. I think they're Paul's prayer list. By
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Speaker 1: the way, you keep people on your prayer list, don't you.
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Speaker 1: You've got names there, don't you. Surely you do. And
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Speaker 1: not just your circle, but outside. You are praying for
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Speaker 1: those that you used to gossip about, aren't you. You
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Speaker 1: are turning that into prayer, aren't you. Not an ugly
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Speaker 1: thing is said about any of these people, though all
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Speaker 1: of them are depraved, all of them are sinful. What
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Speaker 1: a great what a great list. They're all entries in
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Speaker 1: Paul's journal. Second thing, I noticed that there are twenty
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Speaker 1: one titles. Twenty one titles given in these sixteen verses
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Speaker 1: added to the names. Let me show you. I command
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Speaker 1: to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of
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Speaker 1: the church. The word is deacon. Believe that Phoebe was
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Speaker 1: one of the early deacon essents she was a servant
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Speaker 1: at the church. Look at verse three. Greet Prisca and Aquilla.
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Speaker 1: She's otherwise called Priscilla. Maybe Paul knew were well enough
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Speaker 1: to now have a nickname. Prisca. Cynthia is often Cindy.
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Speaker 1: Susan is often Susie or Sue. Maybe Priscilla's Prisca. But
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Speaker 1: a great couple. By the way, did you notice they're
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Speaker 1: fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Verse five is intriguing. Look
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Speaker 1: at this greet the church that's in their house. Greet
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Speaker 1: epi Us, my beloved, who is the first convert in
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Speaker 1: Christ from Asia? Isn't that great? You know why? It's
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Speaker 1: been on a number of years since he's come over
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Speaker 1: into Asia. He still remembers the first one you led
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Speaker 1: to Jesus. Do you remember the first one you led
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Speaker 1: to Christ? Is her name or his name on your
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Speaker 1: prayer list? You didn't just leave him on the doorstep,
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Speaker 1: did you? You still stay in touch with him? I
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Speaker 1: bet Epinatus had received some postcards from Paul on occasion.
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Speaker 1: I want to think they kept up a friendship. There
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Speaker 1: are several kinsmen. Look at verse seven. Greet Andronicus and Junius,
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Speaker 1: my kinsmen, My fellow prisoners. Man, you ever been in prison,
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Speaker 1: don't answer out loud. You never forget fellow prisoners. You
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Speaker 1: never forget those that are incarcerated with you in a
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Speaker 1: dungeon with Paul Andronicus Gunius kinsman, I'm intriggered by that.
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Speaker 1: Were the family members, they were certainly fellow Jews. He
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Speaker 1: would use the word for that. In fact, verse seven
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Speaker 1: says they were in Christ before me, so they were
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Speaker 1: believers before Paul's conversion. Isn't that great? This isn't just
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Speaker 1: a list. These are people who are respected and well,
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Speaker 1: they're loved. They mean something to the writer. Now, the
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Speaker 1: third observation I want to make is that there are
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Speaker 1: nineteen references to greetings of some kind. Greet her or
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Speaker 1: greet him. I commend to you, Phoebe. These are all
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Speaker 1: affectionate turney. There's a lot of emotions. There are a
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Speaker 1: lot of memories flood the mind of the apostle. As
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Speaker 1: he tells Tertius, add the name Andronicus Andronicus Junius, remember
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Speaker 1: them well and not just greet them. But verse sixteen
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Speaker 1: tells the readers to go a step further, greet one
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Speaker 1: another with a holy kiss. Some of you are looking
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Speaker 1: at me like, don't go there, don't make me do that. No,
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Speaker 1: the kid has an interesting history, and you'll find this
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Speaker 1: intriguing as I have. In the early Church, it wasn't
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Speaker 1: uncommon and still is common in the Middle East. Further,
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Speaker 1: to be a kiss on the cheek. However, if you
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Speaker 1: look closely, now they don't kiss. They just kind of.
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Speaker 1: But in those days they kissed one another on the cheek,
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Speaker 1: he says, keep it up. In the passing of time
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Speaker 1: it turned into an embrace, and embrace and a little
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Speaker 1: kiss on the head, not on the cheap hang on.
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Speaker 1: As time passed they chose to put their lips on
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Speaker 1: the same object. And today when you travel you'll see
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Speaker 1: quote sacred sites that people kiss. Take it from a traveler,
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Speaker 1: don't ever kiss a sacred site. H really nasty as
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Speaker 1: you get there. And then they chose to kiss a
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Speaker 1: scroll of scripture. And then in passing of time, there
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Speaker 1: was a sheath or a slab of leather that they
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Speaker 1: kissed as one would go to war. And then it
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Speaker 1: turned into a piece of wood that was passed up
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Speaker 1: and down the congregation about that. We're passing the kiss
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Speaker 1: wood today. And finally it was a piece of paper
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Speaker 1: that kissed, and ultimately they no longer touched outside your family.
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Speaker 1: It's doubtful any one of you have ever kissed anyone
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Speaker 1: else in this gathering. I understand t. S. Eliot wrote
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Speaker 1: in his book The Cocktail Party. The reason the cocktail
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Speaker 1: glass has become so important is that the communion cup
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Speaker 1: has lost its meaning. Let me tell you where people
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Speaker 1: find real close fellowship. That's the local bar. They don't
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Speaker 1: go there because they're drunk. They go there because they're lonely. Oh,
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Speaker 1: there are drunks that show up there, but most of
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Speaker 1: them are there to have somebody to talk to that
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Speaker 1: won't rat on them later. It's taken the place of
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Speaker 1: what the church used to be. Vance Packard, a sociologist
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Speaker 1: of yesteryear, described America a nation of strangers. In a
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Speaker 1: rather recent Gallup poll, four out of ten Americans admitted
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Speaker 1: to frequent feelings of loneliness. Some of you in this
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Speaker 1: gathering today, truth be told, spend your evenings very lonely.
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Speaker 1: Author dave's Stone writes times have changed, and so have
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Speaker 1: people these days, as he quotes from Time magazine, these days,
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Speaker 1: thanks to the electric garth dodge door openers, you can
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Speaker 1: drive straight into your home, never risking contact with your neighbor,
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Speaker 1: risking contact. He's right. We used to build a front
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Speaker 1: porch with a swing. Now we build a back deck
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Speaker 1: with a privacy fence, trevelby eight feet high, with a
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Speaker 1: lock on the inside. No one else has a key.
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Speaker 1: Children get this. Children see this. They see the incongruity
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Speaker 1: in all of this. Clara Knall, a young single mother
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Speaker 1: from Oklahoma City, once described what she called one of
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Speaker 1: the worst days of her life. Her washing machine broke down,
27:44
Speaker 1: her head ached terribly. The mail carrier brought a bill,
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Speaker 1: and she had no money to pay. Almost to the
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Speaker 1: breaking point, she said, I wearily lifted my one year
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Speaker 1: old into his hot chair, leaned my head down again
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Speaker 1: the tray, and began to cry without a word. My
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Speaker 1: son took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck
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Speaker 1: it in mind. Children, get it. We're a lonely, broken,
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Speaker 1: struggling body of people, and it's the best kept secret
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Speaker 1: in the midst. Let down your guard, reach out to
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Speaker 1: one another. If you don't, we'll get slick and big
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Speaker 1: and impressive and high tech, and we'll start processing people
28:51
Speaker 1: long as I'm a passed through this church. We're not
28:54
Speaker 1: gonna process people. We're gonna keep shaking hands, greeting you,
29:00
Speaker 1: doing our best to remember names, and admitting it when
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Speaker 1: we can't remember, and caring about each other. Well, we'll
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Speaker 1: leave the kiss for later. I'll come back to it
29:18
Speaker 1: right now. Let's find out what these verses mean this first.
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Speaker 1: The body of Christ has variety in unity. The body
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Speaker 1: of Christ has variety in unity. There are so many
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Speaker 1: different types, so many different types of people. I've looked
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Speaker 1: at every one of them at length. There are singles,
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Speaker 1: of course, as well as couples. There are households as
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Speaker 1: well as widows. Named here. Nine of these people are widows,
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Speaker 1: I should say, or women. Nine of them are women.
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Speaker 1: In fact, you find this interesting. Look at verse twelve.
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Speaker 1: It is look at these names, greet Trifina and Triphosa.
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Speaker 1: I think they were twins. But if you're having twins,
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Speaker 1: don't name them. Tryphena and Tryphosa please. There are slaves
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Speaker 1: as well as royalty, as best I'm able to determine
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Speaker 1: about thirteen in that category. So much behind the stories.
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Speaker 1: See the name Nehrus Nehrus Verse fifteen. You'd pass over
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Speaker 1: the name and go right onto the other one that
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Speaker 1: you can't pronounce, but let's pause for a moment. In
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Speaker 1: ancient days, an event occurred which shocked Rome. Two of
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Speaker 1: the most distinguished people in the city were condemned for
30:51
Speaker 1: being Christians. They were Flavius Clemens, who had been consul
30:57
Speaker 1: of Rome the word means a governor, a chief magistrate,
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Speaker 1: and his wife, Domatilla. Flavius and Domatilla. She was of
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Speaker 1: royal blood. In fact, one of her children she was
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Speaker 1: a granddaughter of Vespatian, a former emperor, and the niece
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Speaker 1: of Domitian, the reigning emperor at the time, and one
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Speaker 1: of her sons was up designated as a successor in
31:23
Speaker 1: the imperial power. Flavius was executed and Domatilla was banished
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Speaker 1: to an island died a martyr because of their faith
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Speaker 1: in Jesus. Here's my point. The name of their chamberlain,
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Speaker 1: Flavus and Domitilla. The name of the chamberlain was Nehrus.
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Speaker 1: Is it possible that Nehrus the slave knew Christ and
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Speaker 1: had something to do with the making into Christians of
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Speaker 1: Flavius the ex consul and Mattia, the princess with royal blood.
32:04
Speaker 1: Maybe idle speculation, But on the other hand, that maybe
32:09
Speaker 1: who he was. Never discount the importance of your witness
32:21
Speaker 1: ne Rus. Perhaps was the reason those two had come
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Speaker 1: to Christ, and Paul knew him in whatever way we're
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Speaker 1: not told. So, the body of Christ has variety and unity. Second,
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Speaker 1: the body of Christ has servants in obscurity. I love
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Speaker 1: this point. The Body of Christ has servants in obscurity.
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Speaker 1: We mentioned Phoebe, who is a servant of the Church,
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Speaker 1: and please observe verse two. Receive her in the Lord
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Speaker 1: in a manner worthy of the saints, and help her
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Speaker 1: in whatever matters she may need. She may have need
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Speaker 1: of you, for she herself has made the helper of many,
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Speaker 1: and of myself as well. Don't you wonder how? Don't
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Speaker 1: you wonder what Phoebe did? Did she make his clothing?
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Speaker 1: Did she prepare some of his meals? Did she help
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Speaker 1: him with his appointments? Did she hide him when some
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Speaker 1: were searching to kill him or hurt him? Servanthood represents
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Speaker 1: one thing, hard work. Slaves of ancient days and servants
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Speaker 1: of today are known for one thing. Mainly, not notoriety,
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Speaker 1: not a role of significance in the eyes of the
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Speaker 1: general public, but work. Again and again you will read
33:51
Speaker 1: of work, hard work. A lady named Mary verse six
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Speaker 1: worked hard for you verse twelve. The twins are called workers,
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Speaker 1: and the Lord and following them Pursus is named only here,
34:10
Speaker 1: and pursus work to the point of exhaustion, the Greek
34:13
Speaker 1: says into verse twelve. Even a couple, Priscilla and Aquilla,
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Speaker 1: are called fellow workers. In Christ. If you are a
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Speaker 1: serving individual in the church, don't complain about the work.
34:33
Speaker 1: That's what serving means. The work of ministry is carried
34:38
Speaker 1: on by hard working individuals, hard working servants of Christ.
34:46
Speaker 1: Counseling is hard work. People needs represent hard work. The
34:53
Speaker 1: choir and all of its ministry hard work, practicing for
34:59
Speaker 1: that kind of piano solo, hard work, preparing sermons hard work.
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Speaker 1: But you're not here to be impressed with hard work.
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Speaker 1: You're here to thank God for the servants as I am.
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Speaker 1: And by the way, this is a good time for
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Speaker 1: me to say this, since nine of the people listed
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Speaker 1: are women. Nine in the list of twenty seven Paul
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Speaker 1: names are women. John Stott, in his book on Romans
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Speaker 1: listen to this. The prominent place occupied by women and
35:32
Speaker 1: Paul's entourage shows that he was not at all the
35:37
Speaker 1: male chauvinist of popular fantasy. Does it also throw light
35:43
Speaker 1: on the vexed question of the ministry of women, as
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Speaker 1: we have seen among the women Paul Greets four were
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Speaker 1: hard workers in the Lord's service. Priscilla one of Paul
36:00
Speaker 1: those fellow workers, Junior a well known missionary, Phoebe a deaconess.
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Speaker 1: Now let me give a word to fellow Texan men.
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Speaker 1: May I, since I am one with you, I love Texas.
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Speaker 1: I was born here, plan to die here, not soon,
36:21
Speaker 1: but I have planned to die here. I have Texas
36:25
Speaker 1: friends all over. And I came from another state back
36:29
Speaker 1: to Texas and was shocked to hear and to see
36:33
Speaker 1: evidence of male chauvinism, even in the church, to hear
36:38
Speaker 1: the ugly comments and jokes and put downs of women,
36:43
Speaker 1: how unattractive men for us to do that, let's stop
36:50
Speaker 1: that happy. It doesn't come from the spirit of God.
36:54
Speaker 1: It comes from learned prejudice. The work of ministry would
37:01
Speaker 1: grind to a quick halt if it weren't for women
37:04
Speaker 1: serving the body of Christ. Funny when you get overseas
37:10
Speaker 1: and you look into a tribe in some bush and
37:16
Speaker 1: there's a woman preaching. Nobody in the tribe worries that
37:20
Speaker 1: it's a woman preacher. They're just grateful there's somebody preaching
37:23
Speaker 1: the gospel. Do I believe in women preachers? Well, not normally,
37:29
Speaker 1: but I would have to tell you the scripture does
37:33
Speaker 1: say let things be done decently and in order. But
37:40
Speaker 1: before you get to decent in order, you've got it.
37:42
Speaker 1: Let it be done. Many a mission organization would stop
37:47
Speaker 1: if it weren't for courageous women holding forth the truth.
37:53
Speaker 1: Stay at it, husbands, you finish the sentence, Okay, Every
38:01
Speaker 1: once in a while, a word of appreciation is really
38:04
Speaker 1: in order. Third, and finally, the body of not finally
38:12
Speaker 1: the third. The body of Christ has a steam in humility.
38:17
Speaker 1: That's next, esteem in humility. Let me show you something.
38:22
Speaker 1: Go back to Prisca and Aquilla, one of my favorite couples.
38:26
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you a quick travelog. I won't make
38:28
Speaker 1: it turn back. In Acts eighteen, Paul meets Aquilla the
38:32
Speaker 1: fellow tent makers, and Paul begins to live with him.
38:35
Speaker 1: Stay with me. They're in Corinth. They live together. Paul
38:39
Speaker 1: mentors Priscilla and his fellow tent maker Aquilla. They minister together,
38:45
Speaker 1: and the church at Corinth gets underway. When Paul leaves
38:48
Speaker 1: Corinth after a number of years, brief years but and
38:52
Speaker 1: quickly passing really a little over eighteen months, he's on
38:54
Speaker 1: his way to Ephesus. Scripture says at the end of
38:57
Speaker 1: Acts eighteen, he took with them with him Aquila and Priscilla.
39:01
Speaker 1: So Aquila and Priscilla traveled with him and came to Ephesus.
39:05
Speaker 1: Paul was at Ephesus only briefly, according to Acts eighteen,
39:10
Speaker 1: and then he's on his way to down to Jerusalem
39:12
Speaker 1: and leaves Equillan Priscilla, and so they're there to help
39:15
Speaker 1: found the church. They've been mentored by Paul. They have
39:19
Speaker 1: some way along, some manner along the way, risked their
39:24
Speaker 1: neck for him, according to this passage said only here,
39:28
Speaker 1: and then he leaves them at Ephesus. They helped found
39:30
Speaker 1: the church at Ephesus, and then Apolos travels through and
39:34
Speaker 1: they hear an incomplete theology in Apollos's Ministry in twenty
39:38
Speaker 1: four to twenty eight describes a Polus, and they pulled
39:41
Speaker 1: him aside and mentored him and sent him back to Corinth,
39:44
Speaker 1: where he ministers and goes on as a magnificent spokesman
39:49
Speaker 1: for Christ. It's Aquilla and Priscilla. But all you read
39:53
Speaker 1: about him here is that they are They are fellow
39:57
Speaker 1: workers name They didn't carry around a little business card
40:02
Speaker 1: set a Quill and Priscilla because of us paul lives.
40:06
Speaker 1: They didn't do that, or Quill and Priscilla. We mentor
40:09
Speaker 1: to Paula's let me pass along something to you who
40:17
Speaker 1: tend to be impressed with yourselves. When you get to
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Speaker 1: be my age, you can say things like that, and
40:24
Speaker 1: it's just people accepted. Proverbs twenty seven to two says,
40:29
Speaker 1: let another praise you, and not your own mouth. A
40:32
Speaker 1: stranger and not your own lips. Guard against any self praise. Servants.
40:39
Speaker 1: Don't brag on themselves or their work. Stop doing that
40:44
Speaker 1: in case that happens to be one of your more
40:47
Speaker 1: prominent activities. The message we read, don't call attention to yourself.
40:54
Speaker 1: Let others do that for you. The Net Bible has
40:57
Speaker 1: the footnote self praise can easily become a form of pride,
41:01
Speaker 1: even if it begins with trivial things. It does not
41:05
Speaker 1: establish a reputation. Reputation comes from what others think about you.
41:10
Speaker 1: Be like Priscilla and Aquilla. They don't even have business cards.
41:16
Speaker 1: They just risk their neck for Paul. The great exploits
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Speaker 1: for Christ are never known and never make the headlines.
41:26
Speaker 1: They never appear on brass plaques or on statues. They
41:33
Speaker 1: are done in obscurity. So let me pass along an
41:41
Speaker 1: ABCD memory chart. Okay, this is the way to help
41:46
Speaker 1: make this happen in case you still are struggling with
41:49
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. A accept the variety, Accept the variety.
41:57
Speaker 1: I've made my greatest mistakes in minnesotre by first impressions.
42:04
Speaker 1: Usually they are skewed, especially if the person I'm looking
42:08
Speaker 1: at is very, very different. It's easy to think that
42:12
Speaker 1: because they and then you finish the sentence, that they
42:15
Speaker 1: don't really love Christ like they should accept people and
42:20
Speaker 1: the variety of people as they are. Second, become a servant.
42:24
Speaker 1: Work on servanthood. If you wonder what a good project
42:27
Speaker 1: would be for this year, take servanthood. Serve behind the scenes,
42:31
Speaker 1: Serve without calling attention to it, Serve without keeping a record,
42:36
Speaker 1: Just serve, just give, just serve. Become a serf. Third,
42:42
Speaker 1: cultivate esteam for others in the body, even if you
42:46
Speaker 1: don't agree with him. That can happen even if you're
42:50
Speaker 1: not necessarily in their group. Esteem them, they're a part
42:55
Speaker 1: of the family. Fourth, demonstrate your love ab E. I
43:06
Speaker 1: was teaching a Bible class number of years ago, and
43:08
Speaker 1: I had a group about this size in a midweek
43:11
Speaker 1: service at a church. And I noticed, as I was
43:15
Speaker 1: going on in my teaching that the back door kind
43:17
Speaker 1: of blew open, and in walked a couple of real studs.
43:21
Speaker 1: The guy had a sleeveless shirt on and tattoos running
43:25
Speaker 1: down one arm, and the other one had a Harley
43:28
Speaker 1: jacket on in a Nazi helmet. The guy with a
43:31
Speaker 1: sleeveless shirt had on sunglasses that he never took off.
43:34
Speaker 1: And they sat right in the back and when they
43:37
Speaker 1: sat down, you could hear this, and people turned around.
43:40
Speaker 1: They folded their arms and they stared just like this,
43:46
Speaker 1: look right at me. Well, I didn't know them, and
43:52
Speaker 1: meeting was over, and crowd kind of mingling together, and
43:56
Speaker 1: they made a bee line right down here. The guy
43:59
Speaker 1: with the help it walked up to me. He said,
44:02
Speaker 1: your name, Swindle? I said me, I'm Max Lucato. I
44:09
Speaker 1: have a church down San Antonio down there. Smiled up
44:18
Speaker 1: h I said, yeah, I'm I'm a swindle. He said, uh,
44:29
Speaker 1: you're the guy on the radio. You got talks on radio.
44:32
Speaker 1: I said, yes, sir, it's me. He says, something I've
44:37
Speaker 1: been wanting to do for a long time to you,
44:40
Speaker 1: and he dropped his helmet. I'm thinking, where are the ushers?
44:47
Speaker 1: And he gave me a bone crushing hug, lifted me
44:51
Speaker 1: off the floor as he talked to me and said, Chuck,
45:01
Speaker 1: don't ever quit. You told me about Jesus, and I
45:08
Speaker 1: told him about Jesus, and I want you to know
45:14
Speaker 1: I love you. And I thought, thank god, that's what
45:19
Speaker 1: he wanted to do. Thank God. Then he let me
45:25
Speaker 1: back down. The other buddy came up another one of those.
45:30
Speaker 1: My back has not been the same since then. What
45:40
Speaker 1: a great moment. I had them all misfigured in my mind.
45:46
Speaker 1: I didn't even think they cared. They'd driven about sixty miles.
45:49
Speaker 1: They'd heard of this little class we had and wanted
45:53
Speaker 1: to be there. He had led by the way, led
45:56
Speaker 1: his buddy to Christ, brought him with him My kind
46:01
Speaker 1: of guys. You bow your heads please. I really hope
46:10
Speaker 1: you won't leave thinking about anybody but yourself. Where you
46:18
Speaker 1: are on this spectrum of authentic forgiving, accepting love, and
46:29
Speaker 1: about time you lay down the hatchet. By the time
46:35
Speaker 1: you let it go, will never be what we could
46:44
Speaker 1: be without true love, most powerful force on the planet.
46:58
Speaker 1: If you've never known Jesus personally, you need to know
47:02
Speaker 1: that his love for you is just like that. He
47:05
Speaker 1: takes you as you are, and he a little by
47:10
Speaker 1: a little start on the inside and change you into
47:12
Speaker 1: who he is, and you'll love the change. But it
47:17
Speaker 1: gets started by a act of faith, believing in Jesus.
47:27
Speaker 1: We got a prayer room here for you that has
47:30
Speaker 1: folks in there that know what they're talking about, and
47:32
Speaker 1: they'll they'll love you and accept you as you are,
47:37
Speaker 1: regardless of your story their shock proof. Lord, teach us
47:46
Speaker 1: again and again and again and again. Since we're people
47:50
Speaker 1: of habit, teach us over and over and over and
47:54
Speaker 1: over what a waste of time it is to put
48:00
Speaker 1: people's faces on our dartboard and to mentally see them
48:04
Speaker 1: as enemies when in fact we're going to spend eternity
48:08
Speaker 1: with them. And Lord, while we're thinking about this, teach
48:14
Speaker 1: us how to love those that are awfully unlovely. Then
48:20
Speaker 1: we'll really understand what it means when you tell us
48:23
Speaker 1: you love us. Deliver us from processing people keep us
48:32
Speaker 1: from being slick, big and impressive. Keep us a family
48:41
Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Everybody said Amen.
48:49
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Love and Kisses, was copyrighted in two
48:53
Speaker 2: thousand and eight, twenty ten, and twenty twenty five, and
48:56
Speaker 2: the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty five by
48:59
Speaker 2: Charles Arswin Dall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication
49:05
Speaker 2: of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited