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Love Is Very Important In Your Life- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Early service on Sundays, I have to roust out of
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: bed pretty early, which.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Is something I did this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Got out of bed and plenty of time, had some
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  Speaker 1: coffee and some good reading time, and looked up and
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  Speaker 1: I was running late. So I hurried in and started
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  Speaker 1: to shower and shame and get dressed, and I realized
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  Speaker 1: my shirt was all wrinkled, and I didn't have time
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  Speaker 1: to iron it. But something I used to do back
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  Speaker 1: in my college days and I still do when i'm traveling,
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  Speaker 1: is I hang the shirt in the shower, let the humidity,
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  Speaker 1: kind of if you don't know that, it's a nice
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  Speaker 1: little little trick. And so I did that this morning,
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  Speaker 1: only to get dressed and realize.
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  Speaker 2: That whole half of the shirt was soaked. Soaked, but
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  Speaker 2: I didn't have the time.
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  Speaker 1: I realized that I was already walking out the door,
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  Speaker 1: and so I thought, well, something else I used to
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  Speaker 1: do in my college days, I'll just hang it out
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  Speaker 1: the window when.
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  Speaker 2: I'm driving in.
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  Speaker 1: And so off I went, your Preacher, early this morning,
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  Speaker 1: barely sun up, I'm driving down Ralph Fair Road holding
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  Speaker 1: a shirt out the window. That only occurred to me.
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  Speaker 1: It was twenty six degrees. That's not going to dry
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  Speaker 1: very fast, and so I had to hold it out
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  Speaker 1: the whole time. My fingers got numb. And finally, when
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  Speaker 1: I reached the church, some women were driving by and
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  Speaker 1: they saw me get out of my T shirt. They
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  Speaker 1: commented after the first service, they wondered who that was
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  Speaker 1: getting out in his T shirt. Probably some vagabond who
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  Speaker 1: had spent the night. So I put the shirt on,
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  Speaker 1: only to realize that all the buttons were broken off
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  Speaker 1: because they've been pounding up against the car. And then
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  Speaker 1: when I tucked the shirt in, I realized I forgot
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  Speaker 1: my belt, So I'm half afraid to stand up.
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  Speaker 2: My pants might fall off.
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  Speaker 1: I've got a wet shirt, button's broken, a no belt.
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  Speaker 2: But besides that, I'm ready to go. And you made it.
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  Speaker 1: At least we're here, right, that's good. I'm happy to
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  Speaker 1: step back up to the plate.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 1: Between now and I guess mid July, you're stuck with me.
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  Speaker 1: Randy is on his well deserved break. Last spotting had
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  Speaker 1: him disappearing over the Mexican border with some bandits. Don't
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  Speaker 1: know if we'll ever see him again, but it's good
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  Speaker 1: to pick up in our study of the Believed Book,
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  Speaker 1: which is actually a topical Bible, taking the Bible and
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  Speaker 1: dividing it up into thirty major topics. What are the
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  Speaker 1: thirty most important topics in the Bible. We're using this
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  Speaker 1: as our tool, and we find ourselves on the chapter
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  Speaker 1: entitled love.
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  Speaker 2: Did you bring your believed book? Hold it up? I
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  Speaker 2: want to just see.
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  Speaker 1: I'm looking at eighty nine point two percent. That's really
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  Speaker 1: a good average. We'll keep that up. So way to go.
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  Speaker 1: Why don't we say a prayer as we talk about love.
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  Speaker 1: I think about the story of the elderly couple that
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  Speaker 1: were sitting out on their porch. He was overcome by
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  Speaker 1: a sudden wave of affection and he reached over and
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  Speaker 1: patted his wife on the leg. He said, honey, I'm
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  Speaker 1: so proud you. Well, she was hard of hearing what
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  Speaker 1: she said, I'm so proud.
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  Speaker 2: Of you.
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  Speaker 1: What he said, I'm proud of you. She said, I'm
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  Speaker 1: tired of you too. Sometimes it's hard to express our love,
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  Speaker 1: but we try anyway. As we pray today, we remember
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  Speaker 1: the CrossBridge Community Church. They're one of about fourteen churches
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  Speaker 1: here in the San Antonio in the South Texas area
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  Speaker 1: that are partnering with us in the Believed study, and
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  Speaker 1: so we pray for them and their Pastor Kirk Freeman.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pray together, Grand O' Heavenly Father, special blessing on
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  Speaker 1: the CrossBridge Community Church.
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  Speaker 2: On Pastor Kirk, give.
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  Speaker 1: Him wisdom and strength as he leads. We pray for
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  Speaker 1: blessings upon our study.
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  Speaker 2: Today.
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  Speaker 1: Our speaker is a sinner who needs grace. Grant that
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  Speaker 1: we might see Christ, just Christ through Christ. We pray,
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  Speaker 1: and all the church said. Andrea Mosconi has followed the
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  Speaker 1: same routine for the past forty years. Every morning, this
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  Speaker 1: eighty four year old Italian dons a suit and tie,
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  Speaker 1: drives to the city hall in Cremona, Italy and enters
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  Speaker 1: the Violin Museum. There he stands before the elaborate multi
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  Speaker 1: locked case and he admires the most valuable musical instruments
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  Speaker 1: on the planet. There are three violins there, built by
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  Speaker 1: the Amani family, There's two by the Guaneris, but most
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  Speaker 1: of all, there are three violins and a cello crafted
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  Speaker 1: by the hands of the master himself, Antonio Stradivari. These
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  Speaker 1: musical instruments were built in this very town. Consequently, this
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  Speaker 1: very town has commissioned Andrea Moscone to be their caretaker
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  Speaker 1: he is the city's official music conservationists.
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  Speaker 2: A comparable task.
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  Speaker 1: Would be the caretaker of the Declaration of Independence or
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  Speaker 1: the curator of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Andrea Muscone is
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  Speaker 1: responsible for the maintenance of millions of dollars worth of
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  Speaker 1: wood and strings.
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  Speaker 2: So what does he do?
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  Speaker 1: Oh? He plays music. He says, the best way to
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  Speaker 1: care for these musical instruments is.
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  Speaker 2: To play them.
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  Speaker 1: That the wood gets tired. Left untouched, untuned and unstroked,
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  Speaker 1: the instruments begin to lose their vibrancy. And so mister
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  Speaker 1: Muscone's job description has two words.
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  Speaker 2: Play music.
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  Speaker 1: Every day but Sunday, every month but August. He starts
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  Speaker 1: early in the morning with the task of bringing the
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  Speaker 1: best out of these instruments. He carefully removes them one
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  Speaker 1: by one from their cases, and then he plays songs
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  Speaker 1: for seven or eight minutes. He fills the museum with
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  Speaker 1: beautiful music, and he treats these instruments with tender care,
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  Speaker 1: and then he's done, and then he comes back the
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  Speaker 1: next day.
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  Speaker 2: How would you like to have that job? You do?
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  Speaker 2: You do?
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  Speaker 1: No? You don't step into a museum in Italy every day,
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  Speaker 1: and you don't cradle a strata areas or handle a
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  Speaker 1: three hundred year old cello. You aren't a conservationist for
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  Speaker 1: musical instruments. Your assignment is far more important. You're a
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  Speaker 1: human being, and you bring out the best music in people.
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  Speaker 1: Let me talk about some of the treasures in your world.
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  Speaker 1: Some of them share your house, to share your name.
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  Speaker 1: You think of them as the guy who forgets to
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  Speaker 1: pick up the laundry or the woman who tends to
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  Speaker 1: be irritable.
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  Speaker 2: You don't think of them as treasures easily to understand why.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they can have bad breath and bad attitudes,
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  Speaker 1: pick up some bad habits, but you don't handled with care,
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  Speaker 1: they can put out some good music.
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  Speaker 2: And then there are.
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  Speaker 1: The instruments whose names you do not know, but they're
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  Speaker 1: just part of the daily fabric of your life. They
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  Speaker 1: kind of blend into the collage of humanity. The lady
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  Speaker 1: who checks out your groceries, the gentleman who takes your
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  Speaker 1: blood pressure, the it fella you call at the office
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  Speaker 1: when the computer goes down. They'd be embarrassed, be embarrassed
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  Speaker 1: to be thought of as a strata various. But truth
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  Speaker 1: of the matter is they were crafted by the greatest
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  Speaker 1: craftsmen in history, the Almighty God. And they are beautiful,
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  Speaker 1: and they are unique, and they are perfectly shaped, and
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  Speaker 1: maybe all they need to bring out the best music
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  Speaker 1: is someone to care for them, to be a moscone,
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  Speaker 1: to wake up and step into their world every day
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  Speaker 1: and say, God, what can I do to bring the
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  Speaker 1: best out of every person that I meet? And Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was once asked the question of all the commandments, which
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  Speaker 1: is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is this hero Israel, the Lord our God.
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  Speaker 2: Is one. Love the Lord your God.
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  Speaker 1: With all your heart, with all your soul, with all
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  Speaker 1: your mind, with all your strength. The second is this,
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  Speaker 1: love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater
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  Speaker 1: than these. How many commands were requested of Jesus? Did
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  Speaker 1: anyone notice which is the greatest command?
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  Speaker 2: They just one? One command? What is it? But how many?
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  Speaker 2: Did he give? Two? Always? She had just stuck with one,
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  Speaker 2: don't you? I mean?
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  Speaker 1: The first one was we can live with that. Love
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  Speaker 1: the Lord your God. That's just kind of ethereal, that's
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  Speaker 1: that's fuzzy, that's kind of left up to personal interpretation.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot of wiggle room in that easy maneuvering.
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  Speaker 2: Love the Lord your God. I can do that.
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  Speaker 1: Put a buck in the plate, show up at Easter,
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  Speaker 1: don't yell at the person who cuts me off in traffic.
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  Speaker 2: I can you know? I can love the Lord my God.
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  Speaker 2: I can do that.
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  Speaker 1: But then he goes and says, well, now here's here's
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  Speaker 1: what the second one. Here's here's how you do the
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  Speaker 1: first one. The second one is an interpretation of the
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  Speaker 1: first one. If you really love the Lord your God,
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  Speaker 1: then show it by loving your neighbor. Lord, have you
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  Speaker 1: seen my neighbor love your neighbor. I want to know
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  Speaker 1: if a person loves God, look at the way he
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  Speaker 1: treats people. Amish farmer was being interviewed by a reporter
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  Speaker 1: and the reporter said, are you a Christian? The Amish
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  Speaker 1: farmer took out a notepad and wrote down the name
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  Speaker 1: of his barber, his doctor, his best friend, and his wife.
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  Speaker 1: And the farmer said, I'm not qualified to answer that question,
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  Speaker 1: but these people are go ask them if I'm a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: We know we love God, we love people, and the
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  Speaker 1: way we love God is measured in the way we
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  Speaker 1: love people. As one man would write, how can you
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  Speaker 1: say you love God that you've never seen. If you
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  Speaker 1: can't find a way to love people that you see
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  Speaker 1: every day, startsy challenge right. To live above with those
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  Speaker 1: we love, Oh, how that will be glory. But to
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  Speaker 1: live below with those we know, Now that's another story.
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  Speaker 1: People are tough to deal with. So how do we well?
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  Speaker 1: Our text in First John, Chapter four, verses ten through
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  Speaker 1: twelve is the answer. Or if you have your believed book,
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  Speaker 1: look on page three thirty nine. The apostle John wrote
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  Speaker 1: these words, this is love. Not that we loved God,
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  Speaker 1: but that he loved us. And since his son as
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  Speaker 1: an atoning sacrifice for our sins, dear friends, since God
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  Speaker 1: so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
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  Speaker 1: No one has ever seen God. But if we love
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  Speaker 1: one another, God lives in us, and His love is
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  Speaker 1: made complete through us. There you go. We don't love
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  Speaker 1: people because they're lovable. We love people because God loves us.
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  Speaker 1: We don't love people because they're lovable. We love people
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  Speaker 1: because God loves us. If the love for others depends
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  Speaker 1: upon their lovability, I'm not sure if that's a word.
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  Speaker 1: We're in trouble because most people are not lovable all
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  Speaker 1: the time. I know I am, but most people are
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  Speaker 1: not lovable all the time. They get cranky, they get grumpy,
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  Speaker 1: they get self cinnered. But according to John, we can
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  Speaker 1: still love people who are hard to love. Why because
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  Speaker 1: we are too, and God has decided to love us.
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  Speaker 1: We are the recipients of an unexpected, undeserved, yet undeniable gift,
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  Speaker 1: and that is the love of God. You know, God
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  Speaker 1: loves you. Let God love you for just a moment,
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  Speaker 1: just inhale it.
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  Speaker 2: There you go.
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  Speaker 1: He's never gonna stop. He already knows everything you're gonna do,
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  Speaker 1: and he's never gonna stop loving you. Congratulations, my goodness,
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  Speaker 1: you are one loved person. I know life can be rough.
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  Speaker 1: I know you've messed up, but you have not. Lord.
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  Speaker 1: God's love for you doesn't always approve of what we do,
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  Speaker 1: but He's decided he's gonna love us anyway. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the love of God, I think it's the big news
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  Speaker 1: of the Bible. I mean, it's a great discovery that
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  Speaker 1: God made the world. But I think it's even more
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  Speaker 1: important to say God loves the world that he made.
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  Speaker 2: He loves us.
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  Speaker 1: And love is this aquifer out of which every spiritual
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  Speaker 1: blessing flows. The most famous verse in the Bible John
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  Speaker 1: three point sixteen, for God's soul love the world that
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  Speaker 1: he gave his one and only son, So love prompted action.
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  Speaker 1: Why did Christ die for us? Well, because he loves us.
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  Speaker 1: God shows his love and that Christ died for us.
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  Speaker 1: Why did Christ save us? Because he loves us. When
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  Speaker 1: the love of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us.
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  Speaker 1: Why are we raised with Christ because of God's love.
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  Speaker 1: God loved us so much that he gave us life
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  Speaker 1: when he raised Christ from the dead. What is it
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  Speaker 1: that binds us to heaven? It is the love of God.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing can ever separate us from God's love. So God's
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  Speaker 1: love is this pool, this aquifer out of which all
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  Speaker 1: of God's mercies flow. God loves you. In fact, God
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  Speaker 1: loves you with a sacrificial love. He loves you with
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  Speaker 1: a sacri official love. He loves you with the love
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  Speaker 1: that drives him not to an emotion, but to an action.
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  Speaker 1: We tend to equate love with emotions. Right, we would
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  Speaker 1: interpret John three point sixteen with for God so loved
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  Speaker 1: the world that he gave his one only son. We
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  Speaker 1: would change that to be for God so loved the
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  Speaker 1: world he had goosebumps or for God so loved the world,
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  Speaker 1: He lit candles and had a nice dinner with his creation.
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  Speaker 1: God so loved the world, He felt sweet feelings and
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  Speaker 1: walked in the meadow with Feelings are often a consequence
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  Speaker 1: of love, but not necessarily.
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  Speaker 2: Love is a verb.
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  Speaker 1: It does things. From Heaven's perspective, love is not a feeling.
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  Speaker 1: It's an action. It's an action. It's a decision to
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  Speaker 1: do what is in the best interest of another person.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: That's what love is. It's a decision to do what
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: is in the best interest of another person. So when
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  Speaker 1: you love somebody, you're saying, okay, going to do whatever
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: is in the best interest of that person. You can
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  Speaker 1: love somebody and not like them. I mean, you can
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  Speaker 1: love somebody and not want to go fishing with them.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: You can love somebody and they're not your chum chum,
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  Speaker 1: buddy buddy, but you love them. You can love somebody
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  Speaker 1: and really have no you don't get teary eyed when
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  Speaker 1: you see them. I'm not talking here about a romantic feeling.
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  Speaker 1: Oftentimes that is the consequence, but most of the time
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  Speaker 1: love is just a decision to do what is in
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  Speaker 1: the best interest of someone else. To act in such
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  Speaker 1: a way that they are beneficiaries of your love. You
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  Speaker 1: do what is in the best interest. For example, you're
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: John three sixteen might read like this. For the mother
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  Speaker 1: so loved the world, she got up in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the night with her crying baby.
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  Speaker 2: It's what love does.
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  Speaker 1: It's an action. It's not something that makes you get
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  Speaker 1: all weepy and emotional. I guess bitten me and I
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  Speaker 1: was getting up all those nights. I'm just kidding, Diana,
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  Speaker 1: and I'd know you did it for God so loved.
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  Speaker 1: For the boss so loved his employees that he listened
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  Speaker 1: patiently to their complaints. For the father so loved his
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  Speaker 1: teenager that he disciplined him for his misbehavior. So yes,
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  Speaker 1: love can result in some happy feelings, but it can also
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  Speaker 1: result in some honest confrontation, some difficult decisions, some tough love.
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  Speaker 1: This is what God's loved us for us, right. God's
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  Speaker 1: love does not pretend we haven't sinned. Quite the contrary,
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  Speaker 1: God loves. God's love calls our sin to the surface.
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  Speaker 1: He tells us who we are. He doesn't gloss over
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  Speaker 1: the fact that we're sinners, that he loves us so
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  Speaker 1: much that he deals with our sin so God's love.
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  Speaker 1: Heavenly love does what is in the best interests of someone.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes that creates a feeling. Many times it doesn't, But
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  Speaker 1: it's simply a decision to do what is best.
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  Speaker 2: So we go back to the verse. Look at this.
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  Speaker 2: This is love.
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  Speaker 1: Not that we love God, but that he loved us.
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  Speaker 1: But he sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: our sins. Dear friends, Since God so loved us, we
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  Speaker 1: also ought to love one another.
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  Speaker 2: No one has ever seen God.
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  Speaker 1: But if we love one another, God lives in us,
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  Speaker 1: and his love is made complete in us. We'll look
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  Speaker 1: it there. God is saying, I will love people through you.
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  Speaker 1: If you attempt to love others, I'll live in you,
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  Speaker 1: and I will love through you, and my love will
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  Speaker 1: be made complete through you. Hello, it's not up to
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  Speaker 1: you anymore. Remember I know I say this a lot.
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  Speaker 1: But when God you give your heart to God, he
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  Speaker 1: returns the favor, and he gives his heart to you.
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  Speaker 1: If you are in Christ, Christ is in you. So
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  Speaker 1: the very love that was strong enough to send Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ to the earth to take on our sin and
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  Speaker 1: die for our sins has been deposited in you.
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  Speaker 2: That means when you go to work. God goes to work.
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  Speaker 1: When you walk through AHB, God walks through AHB.
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  Speaker 2: When you sit in a dental chair.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, even God is sitting in the dental chair because
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  Speaker 1: the presence of God has entered.
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  Speaker 2: And so you used to say I can't love that person.
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  Speaker 1: Now you say, I have a hard time loving that person,
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  Speaker 1: but I've got God inside me, and God can love
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  Speaker 1: that person. So God, would you help me love that person?
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  Speaker 1: And He will answer that prayer. He says that because
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  Speaker 1: I love you now, I have lived in you, and
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  Speaker 1: as you try to love somebody, my love will be
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  Speaker 1: made complete.
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  Speaker 2: I will complete this.
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  Speaker 1: You start it, I will complete it. Consequently, there's no
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  Speaker 1: person on the face of the earth who cannot receive
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  Speaker 1: your love.
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  Speaker 2: Hello.
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  Speaker 1: You grew up thinking, oh, I'm never gonna love people
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  Speaker 1: of that ethnic background. You grew up thinking I'm never
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  Speaker 1: gonna love that jerk. You grew up thinking, well, I'll
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: never have an appreciation for the homeless or the radically rich.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: You've grew up with these categories, thinking Okay, I can
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: never love that person. That changed the day you gave
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: your heart to Christ, because the very love of God
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: is deposited in you. Now and you're no longer the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: person you used to be. You have the presence of
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: the almighty God in you, and so you wake up
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: in the morning and.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: You say, oh, thank you, Lord, I'm loved. I'm loved.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Now, help me being Andrea Muscone in my world. Help
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: me bring out the very best in others. I'm not
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: gonna be like those who mark off large groups of
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: people who have no love at all. I may not
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: have the feeling. Remember it's a decision to do what
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: is in the best interest of somebody else. So you
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: may not have the uligui feelings toward the person who
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: cuts you off in traffic, but you're still gonna see, Okay,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: he's a bad driver, but he's still created by God.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to treat that person with respect. I'm
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: going to honor them. I'm going to do my very
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: best to bring the best out of every person that
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I see. And all of a sudden, your world changes.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Instead of walking through a world of nameless mannequins, you
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: realize you're walking through a museum of masterpieces, and you're common.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Everyday mondays become trips of joy because that's not a
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: functionary person who's checking you out at the grocery store.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: That's a daughter of God, specially gifted called by God.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: That's not just an old grumpy fellow sitting across from
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: the breakfast table you call husband. Yeah, he could use
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: a shave, of course, But just wait till you see
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: him in about a thousand years after we has been
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: glorified by God, and he's walking in the New Kingdom,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: and he's reigning even over the angels. He is a
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: work of God. Yes, in progress, for certain, as we
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: all are right. But you're beginning to see with the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: eyes of God. Remember Sewod Corinthians five p. Seventeen. If
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, and
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: all things have passed away.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Behold, all things have become new.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: It's time for a paradigm shift. Prepare yourselves for a
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: new way of thinking. Begin to see people the way
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: God sees them, and the God who lives inside you
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: will begin to excite you. Instead of dreading to walk
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: into the office every day, you're gonna say, oh boy,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: I get to walk into God's museum, and I'm gonna
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: see every person. I'm gonna love them, I'm gonna care
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: for them, I'm gonna listen to them. I'm gonna serve them.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Instead of seeing people as clients, instead of thinking you've
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: got to sell things to people, instead of thinking these
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: are just my students, You're gonna begin to say, well, oh,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: I'm surrounded by the very masterpieces of God. You walk
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: even into a convalescent home, you say, Oh Lord, what
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: beauty is in this place? You walk into a kindergarten
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: class and say, Oh Lord, what potential is in this room?
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Everything changes when you begin to see people the way
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: God sees them. The Apostle Paul said, from this time on,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: we do not think of anyone as the world does.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: We think of people differently, and as.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: You and I do this, the world's going to be
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: a better place.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: One of our Oak Hills members is a student at
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the University of Texas in Austin.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Last week, Hailey.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Watts was about to enter a Starbucks in order to
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: study for a big test.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: The exam was that very afternoon. She needed to get ready,
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: but as she.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Walked into the Starbucks, she saw a homeless man sitting
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: on the curb. She didn't have any money to give him,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: but she had something even better. She had her time,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: so She sat down next to him and entered into
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a conversation and they talked. By the time they finished
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: their chat, she only had a few minutes to study,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: so she hurried and back into the Starbucks and found
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: a place to sit and prepare. And while she was studying,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: a man handed her a note. Unbeknownst to her, he
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: had been watching. He had been sitting in the Starbucks,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: and he saw what was happening outside, and he was
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: so moved by what she did and what he saw
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: that he wrote a poem right there and he handed
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: it to her. It reads like this, I'm so humbled
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: by this exchange, this movement. The world is moving closer
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to Heaven. People touching, truly touching, sharing, open and caring,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: unreserved and unafraid, willing to listen or Linda, Hen, what
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: was it really we were so afraid of. I've witnessed
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: a miracle, a blessing, and I wait, hope in the
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: day that these miracles and blessings become the no longer necessary.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: That's how love works. One act of love prompts another
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: and prompts another. The music of love, sacrificial love can
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: change the world. By the way when Haley got to
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: the class the test had been canceled, So students, you don't.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Have to study.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: That's good news, isn't it? Just love people? Suppose we
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: follow Haley's lead. Suppose we decide to bring the best
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: out of people. As I wrap this message up, would
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: you take just a minute and make a mental list
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: of five people that comprise your world, just their names,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: five people that you see on a regular basis.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Can you do that? I'm not in a hurry.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: You got it? Five names? Are you not right now
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: thinking about the most valuable commodity in your life? Is
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: there anything more valuable than relationships? Think about it this way.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: When you're down to your last day of life, when
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: there's only a few more grains of sand than the
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: hour glass of your time on earth, and you're on
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: your deathbed and death is knocking at your door, what
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: are you gonna want? Well, you turn to your caregiver
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and say, could you please wheel me out into the
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: garage so I can reach up and touch my new
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: car and get comfort from its chrome fender. Are you
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: going to turn to your husband and say, honey, go
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: and get me the bank balances, the checks. I want
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: to just see how much money we have. It just
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: brings me such comfort. I want to I want to
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: hold that bank balance up against my heart. Are you
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: gonna say, honey, go get my framed PhD diploma down
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: off the wall, bring it in here so I can
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: put it up against my head and I can just
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: it makes me feel so good. No, what are you
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: gonna want? You're gonna want to hear their voices. You're
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: gonna want to hold their hands. You're gonna want to
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: say I love you, and you're gonna want to hear
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: them say I love you. If relationships will be what
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: matters most, then should relationships not be what matters most?
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: Now?
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: You want to die a rich person, then invest in relationships.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: If relationships will be what matters most, then should relationships
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: not be what matters most? Now? I know of a
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: CEO here in our city who retired after about forty years,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: been married nearly fifty. His wife doesn't know him anymore.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: Alzheimer's has taken another victim. She doesn't recognize him or anyone. Still,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: he has lunch with her every day. He loves his golf,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: but he'll even interrupt a golf game if it's lunchtime.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: And he did recently, and one of his friends it
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: was honest enough to.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Say, do you have to leave? Does she know who
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: you are?
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: As if to say she won't know the difference, he responded, No,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: she doesn't know who I am, but I know who
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: she is. Do you know who those people are? They
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: are created by God. They are finally tuned. Well, maybe
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: they're not finally tuned instruments. Maybe what they need is
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: a moscone, somebody to give him some attention, some loving care,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to bring the best out of them. You do that,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: and I do that, won't the world be a better place?
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: I agree? So this is our prayer, Father, that the
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: people that you've brought into our world, that we could
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: begin to see them differently. We repent, We're sorry because
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I sure haven't always done that, and I would ask
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: that you help me and help all of us to
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: do that. Which want to see people the way you
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: see them, Every person a potential miracle. Would you help
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: us to see people the way you see them, in
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: the sense that we can truly do what's in their
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: best interest, even if we don't like them, or if
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: we're irritated by them. If we could just act in
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a way that's in their best interests, just like you
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: did with us, and do with us what's in their.
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: Best interest at a.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: A and.
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: Loving you alone feels so beautiful, and yet.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: It hurts the most.
• 33:36
  Speaker 5: You became my quiet sunress, the dream I never dared
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: to say. Every smile you gave so freely took my
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: breath a little away. I held this love like fragile glass,
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: so precious, soft and true, But every beat inside my
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: heart was only reaching out to you.
• 34:04
  Speaker 6: Unspoken.
• 34:05
  Speaker 7: Love is sweet and painful, like honey mixed with rain.
• 34:12
  Speaker 7: Let's tend the whole bial so tightly while it.
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: Slowly breaks me.
• 34:19
  Speaker 7: Loving you from just one side now leaves my soul
• 34:23
  Speaker 7: in silent blue.
• 34:26
  Speaker 6: Because the deeper that I follow along the lonelier I do.
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: I can blame my heart for choosing someone it could
• 34:40
  Speaker 5: never keep, so I smiled through hidden heartache.
• 34:45
  Speaker 7: Hell love you quietly spoke in. Love is sweet and painful,
• 34:53
  Speaker 7: like honey mixed with rain.
• 34:56
  Speaker 6: Let's tend the whole bial so tightly slowly breaks me.
• 35:03
  Speaker 7: Loving you from just one side now leaves my soul
• 35:08
  Speaker 7: in silent pool.
• 35:10
  Speaker 6: Because the deeper that I follow only I do. Maybe
• 35:34
  Speaker 6: loving you in silence.
• 35:37
  Speaker 7: This is the closest dye can stay, though leaves behind
• 35:42
  Speaker 7: the sorrow that may never fast away. I spoken loud's
• 35:52
  Speaker 7: sweet and painful honey mixed with rain, A tender whole
• 35:59
  Speaker 7: vial tightly wally slowly breaks.
• 36:04
  Speaker 6: Me, loving you from just from side. Now leave my
• 36:09
  Speaker 6: soul in silence, Loo, because the deeper that I follow
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: love the lowly
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Her to