Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Creating a Culture of Courage A Webinar for Pastors and Ministry Leaders- Minister Max Lucado

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Creating a Culture of Courage A Webinar for Pastors and Ministry Leaders- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Is it possible for a
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: person of faith to have unbreakable courage in today's world?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Is it possible for the people in your church or
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: ministry to stand strong as the waves of society work
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to weaken them? I used to brush off the comments
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: about the good old days as romantic nostalgia. Not any longer.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Over the last couple of decades, society has moved away
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: from godly values at a rapid rate. And what was
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: once unthinkable is acceptable today. People are shedding old beliefs
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: and grasping for new ones. The world around us is changing.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: What's more, the world within us is challenging. Increasing depression, addiction, stress,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: changes around us, challenges within us. And somewhere in the
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: middle of all that, you and the people you lead
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and shepherd are trying to hold on to your faith.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: You're trying to stay steady, trying to stay strong, trying
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to stay courageous. It's not easy. But you know, the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Bible is packed with stories of people who who swam
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: upstream in a downstream world. And Elijah's story is one
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: of them. Now prepare yourself for this guy. He was
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a bit rough around the edges. A lightning bolt in
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  Speaker 1: the night sky, a tornado on the open prairie, untethered
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  Speaker 1: to popular opinion and unconcerned with political correctness. A gadfly
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: in the throne room and a mayfly in history. Here
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: one moment, gone in a blaze of glory the next.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: When we meet him in scripture, he doesn't ease onto
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  Speaker 1: the stage. He bursts onto it. No background, no explanation,
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  Speaker 1: just a bold declaration in the presence of a corrupt king.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: As the Lord God of Israel lives forever, There will
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: be neither dew nor rain except at my word. What
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: an entrance. He stepped into a culture that had lost
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  Speaker 1: its way. The people had turned from God to idols
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: and truth had been traded for lies. And what was
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: wrong had become normal and what was right had become
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  Speaker 1: rare and And Elijah didn't wait for a better moment.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: He didn't wait for a more receptive culture. He stepped
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  Speaker 1: in as he was, where he was, trusting, trusting the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: God he served. And his biography serves as a description
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  Speaker 1: of the way God creates unbreakable courage. Right after that
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: bold declaration, God sent Elijah away, not to a platform,
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  Speaker 1: not to a crowd, but to a ravine called Kareth,
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  Speaker 1: a word meaning to cut off or cut down. Appropriate.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Elijah was cut off from society. He was cut down
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  Speaker 1: in humility. He had no temple for worship, no faith
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  Speaker 1: fraternity for strength. just a prophet, a brook, and some
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  Speaker 1: ravens bringing meat and bread. God enrolled him in a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: divine boot camp. Preparation by separation and meditation. Courage required
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: for the public moment is always formed in the private one.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Perhaps you find yourself in Kareth even now, isolated from
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  Speaker 1: family and friends, cut off from your calling. Or perhaps
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  Speaker 1: your isolation is less geographical and more ideological. You feel
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: alone in your opinions and concerns. And if you feel that,
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  Speaker 1: I'd guess the people you lead feel it too. Don't
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: resist your season of isolation. Embrace it for what it is,
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  Speaker 1: God's divine boot camp for you. Strength is developed in Kareth.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: And it is further developed in Zarephath. Zare what? Zarephath,
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  Speaker 1: a dirty village in a thirsty season. Drought took the
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: water and God took the prophet from the brook to
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  Speaker 1: the village. It was there that he met a widow
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: in Zarephath. And if the ravens didn't make sense, this
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  Speaker 1: makes even less sense. She told him, I don't have
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  Speaker 1: any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar
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  Speaker 1: and a little olive oil in a jug. I'm gathering
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  Speaker 1: a few sticks to take home and make a meal
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  Speaker 1: for myself and my son that we may eat it
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  Speaker 1: and die. She was one drop away. And God said,
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  Speaker 1: that's where I'm sending you. You know, God's provision doesn't
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: come through abundance. It comes through daily dependence. The jar
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  Speaker 1: of flour did not run out. The jug of oil
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  Speaker 1: did not run dry. Day after day, the three of them,
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  Speaker 1: the prophet, the widow, and her son, gathered around the
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  Speaker 1: table and had a miracle for a meal. Now what
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  Speaker 1: happened next was a gut-wrenching twist. The widow's son became
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  Speaker 1: ill and stopped breathing. All the provision, all the faith,
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  Speaker 1: all the hope, it seemed to collapse in a moment.
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  Speaker 1: You've been there, you've seen God work, and then something happens.
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  Speaker 1: You can't explain. The other shoe drops. Something breaks. Something ends.
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  Speaker 1: Something dies. Someone dies. Elijah didn't offer easy answers. No,
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  Speaker 1: he carried the boy to the upper room, laid him
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  Speaker 1: on his bed, and stretched himself out on the boy
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  Speaker 1: three times, crying out, Lord my God, let this boy's
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: life return to him. You know, there are occasions in
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  Speaker 1: which we rest in prayer, and there are other occasions
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  Speaker 1: in which we wrestle in prayer. Elijah wrestled, and God answered.
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  Speaker 1: The boy breathed again. Maybe it's time for us to
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  Speaker 1: do the same. When something in your life feels dead
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  Speaker 1: or dying, don't panic.
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  Speaker 2: Pray.
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  Speaker 1: Don't withdraw. Wrestle. Fervent prayer changes the heart of the
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  Speaker 1: one who prays. And a changed person is exactly what
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  Speaker 1: God needed for what came next. Three years into the drought,
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  Speaker 1: God gave Elijah a fresh word. Go and present yourself
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  Speaker 1: to King Ahab and I will send rain on the land. Now,
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  Speaker 1: what followed is one of the great moments in scripture.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah called for a showdown on Mount Carmel. 450 prophets
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  Speaker 1: of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah on one side,
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  Speaker 1: and Elijah on the other, alone, but not really alone,
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  Speaker 1: standing by himself, but surrounded by the angels of God.
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  Speaker 1: The false prophets called on Baal from morning till noon.
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  Speaker 1: They danced and flailed and cut themselves. It was frenzied, frantic, hysteria,
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  Speaker 1: piteous pleadings, but there was no voice. No one answered.
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  Speaker 1: No one paid attention. In the decisive moment, Baal ended
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  Speaker 1: up being a no-show. Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: drenched the sacrifice with 12 buckets of water, stepped forward
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  Speaker 1: and prayed. Heaven opened and fire fell. It consumed the sacrifice,
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  Speaker 1: the water, the rocks, even the dust. And for the
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  Speaker 1: first time, In three generations, the nation of Israel cried out,
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  Speaker 1: The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!
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  Speaker 1: In your life, you may feel outnumbered. You may feel surrounded.
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  Speaker 1: But the equation is never you versus them. It's you
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  Speaker 1: plus God. And God is enough. Now, you might expect
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  Speaker 1: to see Elijah move forward with unshakable confidence, but He doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: A threat comes from Jezebel, and suddenly the man who
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  Speaker 1: stood on Carmel is running through the wilderness, collapsing beneath
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  Speaker 1: a juniper tree with blistered feet and weary limbs, praying
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  Speaker 1: that he might die. I've had enough Lord. Take my life.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Seasons of sadness come to even the most steadfast saints.
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  Speaker 1: Our hero felt like giving up. But God refused to
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  Speaker 1: give up on Elijah. What did God do? Lecture Elijah?
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  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 1: He let him sleep. He fed him and then he
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  Speaker 1: spoke to him. God meets us in our weakness and
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  Speaker 1: he knows how to restore the weary. Refreshed and rejuvenated,
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  Speaker 1: Elijah returned to his mission. He went face to face
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  Speaker 1: with evil leaders of his day. Leaders who dabbled with
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: sin and temptation as if they were harmless pets or
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  Speaker 1: something that we can control. Wrong on both counts. Unbreakable
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  Speaker 1: courage happens when we refuse to indulge the ways of sin.
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  Speaker 1: Unbreakable courage happens when we imitate those who remained faithful
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: in Elijah's time. They are described as the ones whose
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  Speaker 1: knees had not bowed down and whose mouths had not
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  Speaker 1: kissed an idol. What a phrase. Don't kiss the idol.
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  Speaker 1: Don't cozy up to what can destroy you. Because that's
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  Speaker 1: how it happens. Not all at once, but slowly, quietly.
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  Speaker 1: Compromise here, justification there. Until one day you realize you
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  Speaker 1: drifted farther than you ever intended. Elijah didn't drift. He
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  Speaker 1: took evil seriously. Even when the culture around him did not.
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  Speaker 1: Courage says no. Courage draws a line. Courage refuses to
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  Speaker 1: make peace with what opposes God. Finally, the story ends
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  Speaker 1: the way only Elijah's story could end. He ministered, walking
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  Speaker 1: from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan, visiting
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  Speaker 1: the schools of the young prophets, teaching the next generation
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  Speaker 1: of spiritual leaders, and then suddenly a chariot of fire
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  Speaker 1: And horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah and Elisha.
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  Speaker 1: And Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Such
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  Speaker 1: a fitting exit. The man lived like a whirlwind. He
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  Speaker 1: bolted onto the stage and then disappeared from it with
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  Speaker 1: the same pupil-popping speed. In the process... He taught us
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  Speaker 1: not only how to live each day with courage, but
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  Speaker 1: also how to face our final days with faith. And
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  Speaker 1: that brings me to you, pastors and ministry leaders. Your
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  Speaker 1: people are in this battle right now. And they need
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  Speaker 1: to know that unbreakable courage is still possible. That's why
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  Speaker 1: I wrote this book and Bible study. To help you
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  Speaker 1: cultivate a culture of courage wherever you serve. to stand
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  Speaker 1: on your faith when the world shifts, to pray when
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  Speaker 1: life breaks, to endure when exhausted, to never compromise, and
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  Speaker 1: to finish well. By the end of his life, Elijah
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  Speaker 1: had confronted two evil kings, weathered a season of depression,
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  Speaker 1: trained a school of prophets, and left an indelible imprint
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  Speaker 1: on the world. He was ever outnumbered, but never outmaneuvered.
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  Speaker 1: He lived an uncompromised faith in the midst of a
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  Speaker 1: compromised generation, not by escaping the culture, but by engaging it.
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  Speaker 1: The biggest takeaway takes us all the way back to
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  Speaker 1: his first words. As the Lord, the God of Israel lives,
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  Speaker 1: whom I serve. The God of Israel lives. The monarchy
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  Speaker 1: was a mess initially, but the God of Israel lived.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah was all alone in his belief, but the God
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  Speaker 1: of Israel lived. The faith of his forefathers had been
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  Speaker 1: turned upside down, but the God of Israel lived. And
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  Speaker 1: because he lives, unbreakable courage is possible.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
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  Speaker 2: somewhere out there. That's enough for me. I don't need
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  Speaker 2: to hold you near me.
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  Speaker 3: Don't need promises to keep. Just the thought that you
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  Speaker 3: are breathing Somewhere in this world I see Even if
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  Speaker 3: I'm not beside you Even if you never know There's
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  Speaker 3: a quiet kind of comfort Just in knowing you still
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  Speaker 3: glow I don't need.
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  Speaker 2: Forever I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to feel the same.
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  Speaker 3: Just as long as you're still out there calling softly
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  Speaker 3: through my days. You don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
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  Speaker 3: know you're living in a world I'm not alone. I
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  Speaker 3: won't chase you through the distance. Won't disturb your chosen life.
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  Speaker 3: I'll just keep you in my silence like a star
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  Speaker 3: that shines at night.
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  Speaker 2: Through the dark and through the blue.
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  Speaker 4: I still think of you. You don't have to be
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  Speaker 4: my home.
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  Speaker 3: It's enough to know you're living in a world I'm
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  Speaker 3: not alone.
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  Speaker 2: I don't need to be your light I don't need
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  Speaker 2: to cross.
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  Speaker 3: Your mind All I need is just the truth That
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  Speaker 3: you're somewhere.
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  Speaker 2: Still alive You don't have.
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  Speaker 4: To stay with me You don't have to feel the same.
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  Speaker 3: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly.
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  Speaker 4: Through my days You don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: know you're living In a world I'm not alone.