Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Spot-On Advice from a Seasoned Coach

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Spot-On Advice from a Seasoned Coach · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: How grateful we are to have in our own language,
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Speaker 1: bound conveniently in a book, the whole Word of God.
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Speaker 1: How grateful we are for that. The Lord tells us
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Speaker 1: in the letter Paul wrote to Timothy that all Scripture
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Speaker 1: is given by the inspiration of God. Not an inspiration
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Speaker 1: like one would have when writing a piece of music
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Speaker 1: or a few lines in a book, but a God-breathed-out,
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Speaker 1: miraculous kind of inspiration. In fact, that is the word used.
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Speaker 1: All scripture is God-breathed. Theopneustos. Theos. Neustos. God-breathed. And not
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Speaker 1: only has he given it to us, but he has
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Speaker 1: promised us that it is profitable to grow us up
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Speaker 1: and make us into the women and men we long
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Speaker 1: to be. And without this guide, we are awash. We
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Speaker 1: live our lives adrift, looking for a North Star which
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Speaker 1: never appears. eternally, apart from what appears in this great
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Speaker 1: book we call the Scriptures. We're engaged in a wonderful
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Speaker 1: study of a letter Paul wrote to the people of Colossae.
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Speaker 1: Back in the first century, Paul was never there. The
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Speaker 1: name of the church never appears in the book that
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Speaker 1: Sort of traces the journeys that Paul took. But we
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Speaker 1: know that he knew people who were from there. And
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Speaker 1: from them he learned of the needs there in that
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Speaker 1: little church. And he wrote them with their needs in mind.
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Speaker 1: In our study, we have come now to the third chapter.
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Speaker 1: And I invite you to locate that. Understand when Paul
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Speaker 1: wrote it, he did not write the letter in chapters
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Speaker 1: and verses that's been provided by people who assist us
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Speaker 1: so that we can find our place in the scriptures easily.
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Speaker 1: But he moved right out of what we call chapter
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Speaker 1: 2 right into chapter 3 with the same idea continuing
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Speaker 1: like you would write a letter from one paragraph to
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Speaker 1: the next. We're looking at the first 14 verses of
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Speaker 1: Colossians chapter 3 and I've given you an outline you
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Speaker 1: may want to place in your lap when we get
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Speaker 1: started in a few moments and use it as a
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Speaker 1: guide to keep us on target. Once you find your place,
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Speaker 1: please stand with me for the reading of the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. This is
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Speaker 1: the Word of God. Since you have been raised to
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Speaker 1: new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities
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Speaker 1: of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor
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Speaker 1: at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven,
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Speaker 1: not the things of earth. For you died to this life,
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Speaker 1: and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
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Speaker 1: And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, to
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Speaker 1: the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So,
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Speaker 1: put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you.
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Speaker 1: Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and
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Speaker 1: evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is
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Speaker 1: an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of
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Speaker 1: these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used
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Speaker 1: to do these things when your life was still part
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Speaker 1: of this world, but now is the time to get
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Speaker 1: rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
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Speaker 1: Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off
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Speaker 1: your old nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on
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Speaker 1: your new nature. And be renewed as you learn to
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Speaker 1: know your creator and become like him. In this new life,
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Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile.
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Speaker 1: Circumcised or uncircumcised. Barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is
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Speaker 1: all that matters. And he lives in all of us.
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Speaker 1: Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves,
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Speaker 1: you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness,
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Speaker 1: and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive
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Speaker 1: anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so
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Speaker 1: you must forgive others above all Clothe yourselves with love,
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Speaker 1: which binds us all together in perfect harmony. Our desire
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Speaker 1: this morning is that our eyes would be open to
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Speaker 1: what's been printed on these pages. Our minds would be
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Speaker 1: able to grasp what the print on the pages means.
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Speaker 1: And then our hearts would be ready to put that
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Speaker 1: into action. And as you can already see, there's a
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Speaker 1: lot of homework here for us to carry out. Please
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Speaker 1: be seated. You know, it occurs to me as we
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Speaker 1: were sitting and listening to the music of our choir singing,
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Speaker 1: We Are the Church, O Christ. You are our head
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Speaker 1: and we are the body. It occurs to me in
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Speaker 1: light of what we just read, which is written to
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Speaker 1: God's people, the universal church, that you could be misled
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Speaker 1: if you're not a Christian. You could easily fall into
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Speaker 1: the trap of thinking because I'm around people who love
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Speaker 1: to sing like this and enjoy, obviously enjoy each other
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Speaker 1: and find great delight in worship, I'm in. So the
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Speaker 1: offering time comes and you start thinking a C. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I really need to give a what today because I'm
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Speaker 1: not living like I should and maybe that'll help God
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Speaker 1: smile on me since I'm a part of this group.
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Speaker 1: You're really not. I'd love to have you. We all
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Speaker 1: would love to have you in the family, but that
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Speaker 1: happens by faith in Christ. It's that simple. It doesn't
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Speaker 1: happen because you sing with other people or you come
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Speaker 1: to the church where his name is proclaimed or because
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Speaker 1: you give. So let's kind of keep it simple. You're
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Speaker 1: without Christ. Don't even think about giving. Think only about receiving.
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Speaker 1: God's given you a gift, and he was once nailed
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Speaker 1: on a cross. The cross is now empty because he's
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Speaker 1: come down from the cross, having paid the complete penalty
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Speaker 1: for all our sins, past, present, and future. And then
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Speaker 1: when you come to know Christ, which is a simple
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Speaker 1: matter of trusting in the Lord Jesus, you can have
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Speaker 1: the absolute delight of giving and giving and giving and giving. Yourself,
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Speaker 1: your service, your time, your money. In fact, that's why
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Speaker 1: folks around you are so happy. They know what it
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Speaker 1: means to be changed from a taker to a giver.
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Speaker 1: We'd so love to have you. Before you leave this
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Speaker 1: place today, a member of his great church, family of God.
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Speaker 1: Let's be still before him. Let's close our eyes. Let's
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Speaker 1: be still. In the silence of this room, our Father,
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Speaker 1: we acknowledge your presence. Our head, the Lord Jesus, watches
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Speaker 1: over all of those of us who worship. His angels
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Speaker 1: are on tiptoe, learning what worship on this earth is,
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Speaker 1: which they do not participate in, having not been redeemed
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Speaker 1: as we have been. But they serve you and they
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Speaker 1: learn from us. And we are still before you today
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Speaker 1: learning again that you are God. You are the God
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Speaker 1: of our disappointments as much as the God of our dreams.
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Speaker 1: God of our successes, As much as the God of
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Speaker 1: our failures. The God of our gains and the God
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Speaker 1: of our losses. The God of our laughter and the God.
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Speaker 1: Of our grief. May our souls be still. Before you.
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Speaker 1: Our sovereign. God. What a pleasure it is to give
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Speaker 1: you our gifts. With them come our hearts and our lives.
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Speaker 1: Give us the kind of determination to live for you
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Speaker 1: as those five widows had, having said farewell to their
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Speaker 1: husbands in that land far away. Be still, my soul.
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Speaker 2: The Lord is on your side. We worship you, Father.
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Speaker 2: In the name of Christ, we pray. Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: True or false? Here we go. True or false? Experience
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Speaker 1: is the best teacher. Now wait, wait. I'm already hearing
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Speaker 1: true from a lot of folks here. Think about it.
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Speaker 1: Is experience really the best teacher? Well, you want to cook.
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Speaker 1: So you get all the stuff together, you watch a
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Speaker 1: few TV shows and you Start mixing it all up.
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Speaker 1: And you cook it. Nobody wants to eat it. Because
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Speaker 1: you didn't cook it with somebody helping you know how
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Speaker 1: to cook. You get in the sailboat. You're all alone.
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Speaker 1: It looks so exciting. Sails furled. You're out in the ocean.
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Speaker 1: Then they call the Coast Guard. Because you didn't have
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Speaker 1: anybody to tell you how to sail the boat. You
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Speaker 1: needed a guide. If you're going to lay a brick
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Speaker 1: wall or if you're going to build a fence or whatever,
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Speaker 1: you're going to cultivate your athletic skills. You need a guide.
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Speaker 1: How about driving? Driving. I learned to drive out in
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Speaker 1: the country. The neighbor behind us had a tractor and
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Speaker 1: I got on it. I'm glad there wasn't a fence
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Speaker 1: nearby because I went all over the place. And then
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Speaker 1: I thought, well, I could do this in a car.
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Speaker 1: I couldn't. And my mother thought she could teach us,
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Speaker 1: but she spent all her time screaming. And so my
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Speaker 1: dad decided he should be the one to teach. You've
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Speaker 1: got to have a guide if you're going to know
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Speaker 1: how to drive. So guided experience is the best teacher, right?
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Speaker 1: Whether you're young or older, we all need coaches. That's
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Speaker 1: the word now. Coaches. People who help us out. I
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Speaker 1: came across a great letter from a kid who is
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Speaker 1: a tenderfoot scout. And he has a coach and a
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Speaker 1: scoutmaster named Walt. This kid's name is Cole. And Cole
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Speaker 1: writes his parents this letter from scout camp while they're
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Speaker 1: away for a two-week trip. Dear mom and dad, our
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Speaker 1: scoutmaster told us to write our parents in case you
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Speaker 1: saw the flood on TV and are worried. We're okay.
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Speaker 1: Only one of our tents and two sleeping bags got
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Speaker 1: washed away in the flood. Luckily, none of us got
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Speaker 1: drowned because we were all up on a mountain looking
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Speaker 1: for Chad when it happened. Oh yeah, please call Chad's
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Speaker 1: mother and tell her he's okay. He can't ride her
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Speaker 1: because of the cast. I got to ride in one
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Speaker 1: of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We
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Speaker 1: never would have found him in the dark if it
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Speaker 1: hadn't been for the lightning. Our scoutmaster, Walt, got mad
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Speaker 1: at Chad for going on a hike all alone without
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Speaker 1: telling anyone. Chad said he would tell him, but it
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Speaker 1: was during the fire, so he probably didn't hear him.
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Speaker 1: Did you know that if you put gas on a fire,
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Speaker 1: the gas can will blow up? The wet wood didn't burn,
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Speaker 1: but one of the tents did. David's going to look
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Speaker 1: weird until half his hair grows back. We'll be home
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Speaker 1: on Saturday if Scoutmaster Walt gets the car fixed. It
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Speaker 1: wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay.
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Speaker 1: When we left, Scoutmaster Walt said that with a car
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Speaker 1: that old, you have to expect something like that to
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Speaker 1: break down. That's probably why he can't get any insurance.
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Speaker 1: We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if
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Speaker 1: we get it dirty and if it's hot. He lets
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Speaker 1: us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with
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Speaker 1: 10 people in the same car, so he lets some
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Speaker 1: of us ride in the trailer. And the highway patrolman
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Speaker 1: stopped us and talked to Walt about some things, so
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Speaker 1: we don't do that anymore. Scoutmaster Walt is a neat guy.
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Speaker 1: He's a good driver. In fact, he's teaching Terry how
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Speaker 1: to drive on the mountain roads where they don't have
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Speaker 1: much traffic. Did you know you don't need guardrails on
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Speaker 1: roads that don't have much traffic? All we see up
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Speaker 1: there are logging trucks. This morning, all the guys were
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Speaker 1: diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake.
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Speaker 1: Scoutmaster Walt wouldn't let me because I can't swim. And
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Speaker 1: Chad was afraid he'd sink because of his cast. So
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Speaker 1: he let us take the canoe by ourselves across the lake.
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Speaker 1: It was great. You can still see some of the
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Speaker 1: trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Walt isn't
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Speaker 1: crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about
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Speaker 1: our losing the life jackets. He has to spend a
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Speaker 1: lot of time working on the car, so we're trying
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Speaker 1: not to cause any trouble. Guess what? We have all
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Speaker 1: passed our first tenderfoot first aid merit badges. When Dave
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Speaker 1: drove on the lake and cut his arm, we got
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Speaker 1: to see how a tourniquet worked. Wade and I threw up,
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Speaker 1: but Scoutmaster Waltz said it probably was just food poisoning
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Speaker 1: from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick that
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Speaker 1: way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad
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Speaker 1: he got out and became our Scoutmaster. He said he
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Speaker 1: sure figured out how to get things done while he
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Speaker 1: was in a slammer doing time. I have to go now.
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Speaker 1: We're going to go downtown, mail letters, and buy bullets.
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Speaker 1: That's one of my favorite lines. We're going to go
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Speaker 1: buy bullets. But don't worry about everything, Mom. Don't worry.
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Speaker 1: We're all fine. Love, Cole. If my son ever wrote
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Speaker 1: me that letter, after killing Walt, I would rescue my son.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that amazing? So I need to change my opening comments.
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Speaker 1: Qualified guidance. with experience is the best teacher, which brings
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Speaker 1: us to Coach Paul. Man, you maybe never heard of
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Speaker 1: him call that, but that's what he was. He was,
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Speaker 1: we call him a mentor, which is our big time
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Speaker 1: name for it. He's a coach. He spent his time
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Speaker 1: guiding people into the direction they should go in life.
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Speaker 1: And he's gifted to do that, not only by how
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Speaker 1: he lives his life, And what he says to them
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Speaker 1: when he's around them, but what he writes. And here
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Speaker 1: we have preserved for us in this inspired book, the
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Speaker 1: letters Paul wrote from one group of people to another.
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Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing? Even though we don't know one of
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Speaker 1: these people, even though most of us would never be
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Speaker 1: in one of these places, when you read through the
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Speaker 1: coach's words, it's like he's been reading your mail. It's
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Speaker 1: like he's been all over your life. watching, noticing things
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Speaker 1: that need to be tweaked, other things that need to
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Speaker 1: be stopped, a few things that need to get started,
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Speaker 1: and along the way, even what to wear in the process.
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Speaker 1: Let me show you how this is all put together.
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Speaker 1: Like a great coach, he starts with their brains, with
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Speaker 1: their heads. He tells them where to look, what to
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Speaker 1: focus on, verses 1 to 4. He tells us, as
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Speaker 1: well as them, what to think about. Okay? What to
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Speaker 1: think about. And then, having told them that, he realizes
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Speaker 1: the stuff they're going through there in that first century
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Speaker 1: difficult place, just like The Lord knows what we're going through,
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Speaker 1: where we are today. And in verses 5 through 9,
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Speaker 1: he tells us what to get rid of. Because like
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Speaker 1: a good coach, if we don't get rid of these things,
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Speaker 1: we'll never play the game right. So we've got to
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Speaker 1: get rid of some stuff in order to take on
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Speaker 1: some things. Now, there needs to be a transition between
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Speaker 1: getting rid of and taking on some things. And that's
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Speaker 1: why we have verses 10 and 11. Here are some
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Speaker 1: things that help us know how to start over. We
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Speaker 1: start over in a whole new direction, having lived another way. Well,
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Speaker 1: all the habits and all the things we used to do,
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Speaker 1: we're now turning around and we're going in another direction.
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Speaker 1: And once we get in that direction, here's what we're
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Speaker 1: supposed to wear. Isn't that amazing? He covers that base,
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Speaker 1: verses 12 to 14. After telling us what to think about,
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Speaker 1: telling us what to get rid of, telling us how
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Speaker 1: to start over in this new life, the coach adds,
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Speaker 1: here's what you wear. These are the garments that will
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Speaker 1: get you into a whole new frame of life that
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Speaker 1: you've never known before. So let's kind of click that off, okay? One, two, three, four.
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Speaker 1: Verses one to four, here's what to think about. Since
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Speaker 1: you've been raised to new life with Christ. Now, if
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Speaker 1: you weren't here the last time and you didn't hear
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Speaker 1: what we had to say about new life in Christ,
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Speaker 1: chapter two, you don't know what that's all about. The
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Speaker 1: point is, when you come to Christ, he gives you
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Speaker 1: a whole new set of inside organs, and they're spiritual
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Speaker 1: in nature. He gives us a whole new life, which
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Speaker 1: he talks about in chapter 2. It's not a life
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Speaker 1: made up of rules and regulations other people give you.
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Speaker 1: It's a life spelled out very clearly in his word.
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Speaker 1: And so he says, since we've now been raised to
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Speaker 1: new life with Christ, look up. Look up. Set your
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Speaker 1: sights on things above, on the realities of heaven where
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Speaker 1: Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you didn't know that. This is what happened to
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Speaker 1: Christ when he ascended. He died on the cross. He
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Speaker 1: was buried. He miraculously and bodily rose from the grave.
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Speaker 1: He was on earth a few more days and then zip,
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Speaker 1: he's off like a whoosh into heaven. And when he
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Speaker 1: goes back to the place where he originated, right back there,
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Speaker 1: he sits down at the right hand of the throne
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Speaker 1: of God. And he rules in a sitting position. Our
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Speaker 1: Savior is sitting at the Father's right hand. In fact,
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Speaker 1: he says, for you, you died to this old life
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Speaker 1: and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
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Speaker 1: In fact, you're so identified with Christ, who is your life,
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Speaker 1: that when he comes and changes the whole world, you
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Speaker 1: will share in his glory. That's what the first four
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Speaker 1: verses are all about. Look up. Set your affection, set
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Speaker 1: your thoughts, set your attention, your focus on him, not
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Speaker 1: on the things of the earth. I have a good
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Speaker 1: friend named Skip Hall. Skip was a wonderful coach for years.
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Speaker 1: And while a coach, he was involved in the Rose
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Speaker 1: Bowl winning Washington Huskies team. He wasn't the head coach
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Speaker 1: of that team, but he was on the staff. And
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Speaker 1: he's told me about that. And then he was at Missouri.
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Speaker 1: He was also coaching a team in Idaho. Very widely experienced.
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Speaker 1: He's now hung up his cleats and he's retired. But
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Speaker 1: he still remembers the life of a coach. And when
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Speaker 1: you're with Skip Hall, you get coach kind of talk.
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Speaker 1: So he says to me, Chuck, let me tell you
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Speaker 1: one of the greatest things I ever learned as a coach.
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Speaker 1: I need to coach them up. It's the coach's plan
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Speaker 1: with the team to coach them up. You don't coach
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Speaker 1: them down. You don't land on them constantly with all
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Speaker 1: the things they're doing wrong. You coach them up. You
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Speaker 1: coach them up. And he said to me, you've got
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Speaker 1: the same calling. As a pastor, never forget, Chuck, the
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Speaker 1: importance of coaching them up. Verses 1 to 4 are
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Speaker 1: all about coaching them up. Look up, don't look down.
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Speaker 1: Focus on Christ, not the stuff that goes on around you.
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Speaker 1: All the stuff that goes on around you will weary
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Speaker 1: you and discourage you and depress you and disappoint you
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Speaker 1: and leave you longing for something different. But when you
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Speaker 1: set your sights on the realities of Christ and think
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Speaker 1: about the things of heaven, it is remarkable what happens.
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Speaker 1: This past week, we've gone through a time of real
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Speaker 1: grief as a staff. One of our own beloved staff members,
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Speaker 1: Barry Buchanan, suffered from brain cancer and had gone through
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Speaker 1: suffering for the longest time. We prayed with him and
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Speaker 1: alongside him, and he was such an encouragement to all
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Speaker 1: of us. And then this last surgery, he didn't survive.
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Speaker 1: His service is tomorrow. And several of us on the
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Speaker 1: staff are going to reflect on some of the things
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Speaker 1: that Barry brought to us when he was among us.
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Speaker 1: And one of them was the ability to keep looking up.
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Speaker 1: He didn't want pity. He didn't want us to feel
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Speaker 1: sorry for him. He said to us, you are my family,
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Speaker 1: almost as close as my own wife and two daughters.
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Speaker 1: And he said, I just want you to remember, if
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Speaker 1: I don't survive this, help everybody around you to keep
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Speaker 1: looking up. He even coached us up to the very end.
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Speaker 1: The apostle says, set your sights on the realities of heaven.
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Speaker 1: The next time you're in a slump or a funk
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Speaker 1: and you can't seem to pull out of it, look
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Speaker 1: at your sights. Look at your focus. Turn it in
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Speaker 1: a vertical direction and get out of the horizontal frame
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Speaker 1: of mind. Now, with that in mind, there's some things
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Speaker 1: we need to lay aside. We've all formed bad habits.
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Speaker 1: Not everyone was raised well. You picked up some things
27:03
Speaker 1: that you should not have from those you ran around
27:07
Speaker 1: with or those you went to school with. Or who knows,
27:10
Speaker 1: maybe from your own mom and dad who weren't that
27:13
Speaker 1: great of parents. I don't know. But whatever it was
27:16
Speaker 1: that built into you a way of life, you need
27:20
Speaker 1: to come to terms with those things that drag you
27:22
Speaker 1: down and you need to get rid of it. Now,
27:24
Speaker 1: how do I know that's what this theme is on?
27:27
Speaker 1: Look at verse 5. Put to death the sinful earthly
27:31
Speaker 1: things lurking within you. See the next phrase? Have nothing
27:35
Speaker 1: to do with. See that? A little further on, verse 8,
27:39
Speaker 1: now's the time to get rid of. When you see
27:43
Speaker 1: words like that, later he says this is stripped off
27:46
Speaker 1: of your old nature. This is taking out of our
27:48
Speaker 1: life the things that will hurt us and drain us
27:52
Speaker 1: of victory and keep us from knowing what it is
27:56
Speaker 1: to walk successfully in the life of Christ. So, let's
28:00
Speaker 1: go there. Here are the things that we need to
28:03
Speaker 1: get rid of. I see them in three groups.
28:07
Speaker 3: Okay?
28:08
Speaker 1: First is a group of sensual things. Next is a
28:11
Speaker 1: group of materialistic things. And you'll see the third is
28:15
Speaker 1: a group of verbal, verbal habits. The emotional part of
28:20
Speaker 1: our lives, which has to do with anger and maliciousness.
28:23
Speaker 1: But first, let's look at the sensual. Put to death
28:25
Speaker 1: the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to
28:29
Speaker 1: do with. Did you get the word nothing? Have nothing
28:36
Speaker 1: to do with. have nothing to do with, then he
28:43
Speaker 1: names it. Sexual immorality, have nothing to do with it. Impurity,
28:51
Speaker 1: have nothing to do with it. Lust, have nothing to
28:55
Speaker 1: do with it. And epithumia kakos. Epithumia is the word
29:01
Speaker 1: for desires. When you have the word kakos with it,
29:03
Speaker 1: it means evil. So it could be a desire of
29:06
Speaker 1: any kind. In this case, he's He's conditioned it with
29:08
Speaker 1: the word evil. Have nothing to do with even the
29:11
Speaker 1: desires that are evil. Get rid of those things. Why
29:15
Speaker 1: is that such a big deal to the people in Colossae?
29:17
Speaker 1: Because they live in Colossae, which happens to be in
29:20
Speaker 1: the first century. Listen to what one man writes about it.
29:25
Speaker 1: Chastity was the one completely new virtue Christianity brought into
29:30
Speaker 1: the world. In the ancient world, sexual relationships before marriage,
29:36
Speaker 1: outside of marriage, were the norm and accepted. practice. The
29:42
Speaker 1: sexual appetite was regarded as a thing to be gratified,
29:46
Speaker 1: not to be controlled. That is an attitude which is
29:51
Speaker 1: not unfamiliar today, he adds. But the Christian ethic insists
29:57
Speaker 1: on chastity, regarding the physical relationship between the sexes as
30:02
Speaker 1: something so precious that indiscriminate use of it in the
30:06
Speaker 1: end spoils it. He's right. That's why he says have
30:11
Speaker 1: nothing to do with it. You can't play with it
30:14
Speaker 1: and not have it affect you. You can't participate in
30:18
Speaker 1: it a little while and then get away from it
30:19
Speaker 1: for a little while and not have it drag you down.
30:23
Speaker 1: So he uses the word nothing on purpose. have nothing
30:26
Speaker 1: to do with these things that characterize the world around us. Okay?
30:32
Speaker 1: That's the first group. Here's the second. Don't be greedy.
30:37
Speaker 1: For a greedy person is an idolater. What an interesting
30:44
Speaker 1: turn of phrase. Listen to the coach. If you let
30:49
Speaker 1: greed take over, it isn't long before you're idolizing the
30:53
Speaker 1: things you're groping for and trying to reach and hang
30:59
Speaker 1: on to. Remember, he's writing about things that we need
31:02
Speaker 1: to get rid of. Get rid of pleonexia, great big
31:08
Speaker 1: Greek word. Pleon means more and ekein means to have.
31:16
Speaker 1: Put the words together, it means to have more and
31:20
Speaker 1: more and more. It's a picture of materialism. Don't be
31:27
Speaker 1: searching for more and trying to get more. For a
31:32
Speaker 1: person who does that is an idolater, and ultimately you
31:36
Speaker 1: wind up worshiping the things of this world. In a
31:41
Speaker 1: hard-hitting book titled Money, Sex, and Power, how's that for
31:45
Speaker 1: a title? Richard Foster writes this, compulsive extravagance is a
31:50
Speaker 1: modern mania. The contemporary lust for more, more, more is
31:57
Speaker 1: clearly psychotic. It has completely lost touch with reality. And
32:05
Speaker 1: we live in that kind of world. Enough is never enough.
32:10
Speaker 1: A promotion is never high enough. A salary is never
32:14
Speaker 1: great enough. Things are not numerous enough. And we wind
32:20
Speaker 1: up Worshiping those things that really are more than we
32:26
Speaker 1: find in any part of the third world. We are
32:29
Speaker 1: a very spoiled people. We have more and more of
32:34
Speaker 1: what the world has less and less of. And we
32:37
Speaker 1: want more if we're not careful. He says, cut it out.
32:40
Speaker 1: Get rid of it. In fact, he goes on, you
32:44
Speaker 1: used to do these things, verse 7, when your life
32:47
Speaker 1: was still a part of this world. But see, he's
32:50
Speaker 1: writing to Christians. Now is the time to get rid of,
32:53
Speaker 1: and he goes to the third group. The first was
32:56
Speaker 1: sensual things. The next would be materialistic things. And the
33:00
Speaker 1: third in the group, set of groups, would be these
33:05
Speaker 1: areas of our emotions and words out of control. Look
33:09
Speaker 1: at it. Now's the time to get rid of. Anger.
33:13
Speaker 1: Let's not go too fast through this list. This word
33:19
Speaker 1: translated anger is orge, and it means a long-lasting, slow-burning anger.
33:26
Speaker 1: We sometimes refer to it as seething. Some people have
33:30
Speaker 1: a seething vat of anger just under the surface. On occasion,
33:37
Speaker 1: you will see evidence of it, but they kind of
33:40
Speaker 1: live as an angry person. We refer to people like
33:44
Speaker 1: that as needing anger management because they live in the
33:48
Speaker 1: realm of the angry. And he warns us against that,
33:53
Speaker 1: says get rid of that long-lasting, slow-burning fuse that refuses
33:59
Speaker 1: to let go and give up. The second is the
34:03
Speaker 1: word for outbursts of anger. We call this temper. It's
34:08
Speaker 1: correctly rendered rage. We have the words road rage. That's
34:13
Speaker 1: not a seething low level anger. That is an abrupt
34:17
Speaker 1: violent act that lashes out on the road when somebody
34:21
Speaker 1: cuts in on your lane or somebody gets to the
34:25
Speaker 1: light or holds up the light before you're able to
34:28
Speaker 1: make it and then they go across while it's yellow
34:30
Speaker 1: and then you don't get to make it. And if
34:32
Speaker 1: you're not careful, you catch up with them and then
34:34
Speaker 1: bad things happen. It's called rage. You may live with
34:39
Speaker 1: a person who's given to rage. If you are that person,
34:44
Speaker 1: this is written to you. Get rid of anger, rage.
34:50
Speaker 1: Here's a third one. Malicious behavior. This is a viciousness
34:55
Speaker 1: of mind that plans evil against another person. In fact,
35:01
Speaker 1: it rejoices when misery falls on that individual. We call
35:06
Speaker 1: that individual a malicious person. And that may be your weakness.
35:11
Speaker 1: If it is... It's time to get rid of it.
35:15
Speaker 1: Malicious behavior has no place in the Christian's life. It'll
35:21
Speaker 1: not only ruin your life, it'll ruin your marriage if
35:23
Speaker 1: you happen to be married. It'll ruin your family relationships
35:27
Speaker 1: if you happen to have a family. Malicious behavior. And
35:31
Speaker 1: then he goes to slander, which everybody understands. And then
35:35
Speaker 1: he coins a word and used nowhere else in all
35:39
Speaker 1: the New Testament translated in this version Dirty language. It's
35:47
Speaker 1: a word for dishonoring words. Abusive words. Words that shame.
35:54
Speaker 1: Perhaps our best synonym would be obscene. Language that is obscene.
36:04
Speaker 1: Get rid of it. This is Coach Paul instructing all
36:10
Speaker 1: of us as our very qualified guide through life. And
36:15
Speaker 1: he's saying, set your sights vertically, not horizontally. Once they're set,
36:24
Speaker 1: rid yourself of the things that drag you down. Sensual things,
36:31
Speaker 1: materialistic things, and these things that are in the realm
36:36
Speaker 1: of anger and slander and dirty language. I left out
36:40
Speaker 1: one of the group. I saved it for the last
36:43
Speaker 1: here in this group. Don't lie to each other. By
36:48
Speaker 1: the way, isn't it interesting? He's writing to Christians. It's
36:54
Speaker 1: easy to you to think as you sit there, I
36:56
Speaker 1: wish my neighbor were here to hear what's being said
37:00
Speaker 1: from our pulpit that he or she needs to hear.
37:04
Speaker 1: This is not written to your neighbor. It's written to you.
37:10
Speaker 1: You know, the harshest letters I've ever received, I've received
37:12
Speaker 1: from fellow Christians. You know, the ugliest words ever said
37:17
Speaker 1: to me have been said to me by fellow Christians.
37:21
Speaker 1: The worst things done to me have been done to
37:24
Speaker 1: me by so-called brothers and or sisters in the family
37:31
Speaker 1: of God. Frankly, Some folks who lie more often than
37:39
Speaker 1: they tell the truth are often Christians. Stunning, isn't it?
37:46
Speaker 1: It's a tough one to hear. I, on occasion, will
37:51
Speaker 1: marry a couple and I always ask for the opportunity
37:55
Speaker 1: to do some premarital counseling. They always think it's going
38:00
Speaker 1: to be great because they're getting ready to get married
38:03
Speaker 1: and everything.
38:04
Speaker 4: Is honeymoon and fine. And it's going to be one
38:07
Speaker 4: ring after another. And it's going to be a joy.
38:11
Speaker 4: And I can't wait for us to make love. And
38:15
Speaker 4: it's going to be so great. And then I say,
38:17
Speaker 4: I'd like to meet with you. And I'd like to
38:20
Speaker 4: talk to you about some things. When I get through
38:23
Speaker 4: with them, it's like, do we really want to go
38:25
Speaker 4: through with this? See, I bring them to reality. And
38:31
Speaker 4: one of the first things I address is they're lying
38:33
Speaker 4: to each other. We learn to lie to each other
38:36
Speaker 4: when we date. You do that when you're dating. The
38:41
Speaker 4: bride-to-be loves the symphony.
38:44
Speaker 1: You hate it. She says, we're going to go to
38:46
Speaker 1: the symphony Friday night. You go, oh, I love the symphony.
38:49
Speaker 1: That'd be great. That's wonderful. You line right through the
38:52
Speaker 1: lips and you go and you hate it. Then you
38:55
Speaker 1: get married. She says, let's go to the symphony. You say,
38:57
Speaker 1: what are you smoking? You smoke it. There's no way
39:00
Speaker 1: I'm going to be interested in going to sin. But
39:02
Speaker 1: you went with me. I know, but what you did
39:05
Speaker 1: was lie. Teaching people to talk the truth is one
39:10
Speaker 1: of the most difficult things in the world. Some of
39:12
Speaker 1: you regularly lie to your married partners, even though you're
39:16
Speaker 1: married to them. You regularly tell them something that isn't true.
39:22
Speaker 1: I mean, no, I'm not going to give that illustration.
39:26
Speaker 1: That is not a good illustration. I'm not going to
39:29
Speaker 1: go there. Not a good one for me to say publicly.
39:32
Speaker 1: But I'm going to tell you, chances are good you
39:36
Speaker 1: have a problem. It may be as mild as exaggeration.
39:42
Speaker 1: Or your slander may be a hidden prejudice. You just
39:48
Speaker 1: are careful where you use those words. But it's down deep.
39:53
Speaker 1: And you haven't dug it out. Back to the story
39:57
Speaker 1: about marriage and all of that. We have a very,
39:59
Speaker 1: very good friend who became missionary. He and his wife.
40:04
Speaker 1: Shortly after they married, they were in a terrible auto accident.
40:09
Speaker 1: Both of them were thrown from the car. Cars totaled.
40:15
Speaker 1: Her vertebrae, the one that paralyzes your limbs, was the
40:19
Speaker 1: one that broke. And she became, even though just weeks,
40:24
Speaker 1: months along in the marriage, a quadriplegic. Every time I
40:30
Speaker 1: marry a couple, I tell them about my friends who
40:34
Speaker 1: had that to face shortly after they had been at
40:39
Speaker 1: the altar. And for the rest of his life, he
40:44
Speaker 1: has a wife who cannot move arms or legs. When
40:52
Speaker 1: he talks about love and commitment, it's a whole new level.
40:58
Speaker 1: When I tell that story to people that are going
41:00
Speaker 1: to get married, they're like, and they look like, but
41:10
Speaker 1: that's not going to happen. I say, you don't know.
41:14
Speaker 1: You don't know what's going to happen. But your love,
41:19
Speaker 1: which is really commitment, that's what we want to talk about,
41:22
Speaker 1: has to bypass all physical disabilities, all emotional battles. You
41:32
Speaker 1: may marry a man who within a matter of months
41:34
Speaker 1: falls into a depression and needs serious counseling, serious work,
41:39
Speaker 1: and he's no longer the man you thought he was.
41:42
Speaker 1: And you're married. That's why later on in the passage
41:48
Speaker 1: when it says love is the one thing that binds
41:50
Speaker 1: us together, that's the one you've got to search real carefully.
41:56
Speaker 1: But get rid of all lying. If you've begun to
42:00
Speaker 1: form the habit of lying, that's a great habit to
42:03
Speaker 1: stop as of today. Get rid of it. Have it
42:11
Speaker 1: no longer a part of your life. And then we
42:17
Speaker 1: come to this transition. Now that we've gotten clearly in
42:21
Speaker 1: mind that we're to be coaching them up, we're to
42:24
Speaker 1: be focusing on the vertical. Now that we understand the
42:27
Speaker 1: things that ought to be laid aside, we're going to
42:29
Speaker 1: go through a transition. That's verses 10 and 11. Put
42:32
Speaker 1: on your new nature and be renewed as you learn
42:35
Speaker 1: to know your creator and become like him. Isn't that
42:38
Speaker 1: a great line? You got a new nature, so act
42:41
Speaker 1: like it. Kick it into action. Get it underway, let
42:46
Speaker 1: it take over your life, and be renewed as you
42:50
Speaker 1: learn to know the God you say you believe in.
42:53
Speaker 1: In fact, there's another letter that Paul wrote where he says,
42:57
Speaker 1: mimic God. I love that line. Learn the things that
43:01
Speaker 1: characterize your God and then begin to live like that.
43:07
Speaker 1: As you get to know him, you learn of him,
43:09
Speaker 1: your creator, and your goal now in this transition is
43:12
Speaker 1: to start becoming like him. And he is the ideal
43:17
Speaker 1: model to follow. Verse 11, in this new life, it
43:21
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. And look at the list. If you're Jew
43:25
Speaker 1: or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, you know, that doesn't mean
43:29
Speaker 1: a lot to us because we're all Gentiles. Most of
43:32
Speaker 1: us here are Gentiles. But many of those reading the
43:37
Speaker 1: letter were Jewish. And all their lives, the Gentile was
43:42
Speaker 1: the dog, the mangy dog. The Roman was the swine.
43:47
Speaker 1: That's how they were raised. But if the person who
43:52
Speaker 1: is a Gentile trusts in Christ, he's a member of
43:56
Speaker 1: the same family, for goodness sake. Whether Jew or Gentile,
44:02
Speaker 1: whether circumcised or uncircumcised, the barrier is down. And he's
44:09
Speaker 1: describing it so that you realize you can't hide behind
44:12
Speaker 1: the fact that, you know, we're of different races or
44:15
Speaker 1: we're of different backgrounds. That's what it's all about. That's
44:18
Speaker 1: what makes the family so exciting. To live in this
44:21
Speaker 1: family is a place that you don't live freely in
44:24
Speaker 1: any other area of life. There are lines of demarcation.
44:28
Speaker 1: In fact, look at the third one in the list.
44:32
Speaker 1: There's no longer the uncircumcised or the barbaric. You know
44:36
Speaker 1: what the person of that day would call a person
44:39
Speaker 1: who was uneducated and rather crude? They would refer to
44:43
Speaker 1: them as bar, bar, bar, bar, bar. That's the word
44:46
Speaker 1: they used for them. And they came to be known
44:48
Speaker 1: as barbaric. A person may come from that background. Not
44:54
Speaker 1: a lot of seasoning. Not a lot of class. Very
44:59
Speaker 1: different from the way you were raised. Maybe you were
45:03
Speaker 1: taught good manners and you weren't raised. You didn't have
45:06
Speaker 1: to raise yourself like a lot of them do. But
45:08
Speaker 1: he said we're all in the same family. Barbarian, uncivilized.
45:13
Speaker 1: Look at slave or free. When was the last time
45:17
Speaker 1: you were in a slave market? Probably never. Unless we
45:22
Speaker 1: refer to slave traffic, which by the way is everywhere.
45:27
Speaker 1: But in these days it wasn't hidden. It wasn't a
45:31
Speaker 1: secret kept by those who traffic in that realm. It
45:34
Speaker 1: was public. Your slave, your mark, often branded. He says
45:41
Speaker 1: in the family of God, doesn't matter if your background
45:44
Speaker 1: is slave. You have the marks of shackles on your wrist.
45:47
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter. You're in the family. You see, when you
45:51
Speaker 1: go through this transition, you begin to look at people
45:55
Speaker 1: with new eyes. And you don't care about their color.
46:01
Speaker 1: You don't. Doesn't bother you that their background is so,
46:05
Speaker 1: so different from your background. You are thrilled they're in
46:08
Speaker 1: the family. Only Christ can blend together lives like this.
46:13
Speaker 1: So he writes to people in Colossae who have been
46:16
Speaker 1: raised so prejudiced toward a body of people. In fact,
46:21
Speaker 1: look at how it ends. Christ is all that matters
46:24
Speaker 1: and he lives in all of us. Things equal to
46:28
Speaker 1: the same thing are equal to each other. Perfect example
46:31
Speaker 1: is Christ. Now then, we've made the transition. We're on
46:38
Speaker 1: our way to a new way of life. Look at
46:41
Speaker 1: the garments we're to wear. In fact, these are, if
46:44
Speaker 1: you will, threads that are woven into the garment that
46:49
Speaker 1: we're to wear. Since God chose you to be the
46:52
Speaker 1: holy people he loves, don't miss that. Set apart to
46:57
Speaker 1: him people he loves. You must clothe yourself with these
47:01
Speaker 1: eight qualities. Last time I talked about a list you
47:04
Speaker 1: need to ignore, pay no attention to since it represents
47:08
Speaker 1: a legalistic standard someone's trying to force on you. This
47:12
Speaker 1: is not legalism. This is a good list written under
47:15
Speaker 1: the inspiration of the Spirit of God. And here are
47:18
Speaker 1: the eight. Here are the things to put in your
47:20
Speaker 1: new garments. Tenderhearted mercy. Say, you know what, Chuck? I
47:28
Speaker 1: wasn't raised to be tenderhearted. I'm not asking how you
47:32
Speaker 1: were raised. I'm talking to you about your new family.
47:37
Speaker 1: I'm coaching you, or Paul is, in a whole new
47:40
Speaker 1: way of life. Tender-hearted mercy is appropriate, in fact essential,
47:47
Speaker 1: for us to get along in this divergent family. Look
47:51
Speaker 1: at the next one, kindness. Wouldn't it be great if
47:56
Speaker 1: everyone were just I love the way my sister puts it.
48:02
Speaker 1: She says on occasion, I just wish that everyone were nice.
48:07
Speaker 1: Just be nice. It'll shock some folks, but it's good
48:12
Speaker 1: for them to realize you got a nice side. Maybe
48:16
Speaker 1: you've had to be tough to make it through your life.
48:19
Speaker 1: There's a place for tough and it isn't in the family.
48:23
Speaker 1: He says, be kind. How about humility? Humility. Humility disarms
48:30
Speaker 1: everyone around us. For there's pride everywhere on occasion you
48:34
Speaker 1: meet someone genuinely humble. I read about a headmaster of
48:42
Speaker 1: a school that was a wonderful man that everyone loved.
48:47
Speaker 1: One of his characteristics is humility. And they have placed
48:51
Speaker 1: these people getting awards in a line and the others
48:55
Speaker 1: in front of him were walking onto the stage And
48:57
Speaker 1: then they said, and now to the one we consider
49:00
Speaker 1: the most humble individual in the school. And he steps
49:04
Speaker 1: back and asked the lady behind him to take the stage.
49:08
Speaker 1: Everybody else is applauding. He's applauding her. How great it
49:12
Speaker 1: is that they recognize that humility is in her. That's humility.
49:18
Speaker 1: Not looking for the applause yourself. not expecting it being
49:22
Speaker 1: surprised by it in fact here is a humility as
49:25
Speaker 1: a part of the garment gentleness patience we're not going
49:30
Speaker 1: to stay there very long let's move right on to
49:33
Speaker 1: verse 13 the next one i would call forbearance Forbearance
49:39
Speaker 1: would be number six. Making allowance for each other's faults.
49:45
Speaker 1: You need to do that. You need to make room
49:48
Speaker 1: for that. Leave people to catch up on their own.
49:56
Speaker 1: Bear with them and then forgive them, those who offend you.
49:59
Speaker 1: Forgive them. Right now, if you're not careful, you are
50:04
Speaker 1: massaging a list of things. That you don't like in
50:09
Speaker 1: certain individuals. And you've got those people in the black
50:12
Speaker 1: book of your mind. Get rid of the black book.
50:17
Speaker 1: When you hear the name. Don't think first of something
50:20
Speaker 1: you don't like about them. Forgive that. If anyone offends you.
50:25
Speaker 1: Forgive it. Get past it. Remember the Lord forgave you.
50:30
Speaker 1: So you must forgive others. And above all. Here it is.
50:34
Speaker 1: Clothe yourself with love. You know how we all benefit
50:39
Speaker 1: from these things? We all benefit from it because we
50:43
Speaker 1: are not only the recipients of these things, we are
50:47
Speaker 1: models of these things. And we become the guide for
50:52
Speaker 1: others to learn from. How helpful is that? Think of
50:57
Speaker 1: yourself not simply as a recipient of these great qualities,
51:02
Speaker 1: thanks to the grace of God, but now as one
51:05
Speaker 1: who can be a mentor. And you began by teaching
51:09
Speaker 1: them to your own children. And then you spread that
51:12
Speaker 1: to your circle of friends and fellow believers that you
51:17
Speaker 1: have in your life. And before long, you have changed
51:22
Speaker 1: the whole perspective in the lives of us. I got
51:27
Speaker 1: to tell you, and I close with these comments, I
51:30
Speaker 1: don't know that there's anything more valuable regarding attitude than
51:35
Speaker 1: the right perspective. How we look at things makes all
51:40
Speaker 1: the difference. It leads to whether we look forward to
51:44
Speaker 1: something or dread something. It's whether we're excited about something
51:49
Speaker 1: or we would wish it would never happen. Perspective. We
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Speaker 1: held our Insight for Living board meeting this past week.
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Speaker 1: It happened to fall right at the anniversary of D-Day.
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Speaker 1: happens to be the 70th anniversary, which I hope you
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Speaker 1: did take time to pause and give God thanks for
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Speaker 1: the heroes who flooded that beach in Normandy and those
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Speaker 1: who flew planes and gliders and those who parachuted into
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Speaker 1: dangerous places. The whole turning point of the war, you
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Speaker 1: watched Saving Private Ryan and Unless I missed my guess,
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Speaker 1: that first 30 minutes you had to look away a
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Speaker 1: time or two. It's so raw. One of our board
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Speaker 1: members told us that his father was one of the
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Speaker 1: very first ones that jumped into the darkness of night
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Speaker 1: and landed by parachute, of all places, in a tree.
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Speaker 1: Think of it. You're already marked because there's this massive
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Speaker 1: parachute above you, and now you're hanging in a tree,
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Speaker 1: somehow was able to slide down without being detected, and
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Speaker 1: then lived to tell the story of the fight. Another
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Speaker 1: one of our board members passed along to me, happens
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Speaker 1: to be a lieutenant general retired in the Air Force,
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Speaker 1: and he said, I got a story, Chuck, that I
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Speaker 1: think you would love. It's about perspective. I thought, Boy, thanks, Gary,
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Speaker 1: you gave me my conclusion. This is it. This is
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Speaker 1: what I need. Two veterans of D-Day were being interviewed
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Speaker 1: for a program commemorating the anniversary of the Allied assault
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Speaker 1: to defeat Nazi Germany and restore freedom to Europe. One
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Speaker 1: of the men had fought the battle on the ground
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Speaker 1: on Omaha Beach. The other fought it in the air
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Speaker 1: high above the seashore. The first man described the scene
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Speaker 1: on the sands of Omaha Beach as it was depicted
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Speaker 1: in the movie Saving Private Ryan. He saw nothing but
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Speaker 1: his compatriots dropping all around him, one after another. And
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Speaker 1: to him, it looked hopeless. In despair, he kept telling himself,
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Speaker 1: we're going to lose. We're going to lose. That's how
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Speaker 1: he felt in the heat of the battle that day.
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Speaker 1: But the other man, the pilot, saw something completely different.
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Speaker 1: He saw the movement of the troops on the beach.
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Speaker 1: He saw some of them taking this particular area that
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Speaker 1: was once held by the Nazis and overthrowing them, silencing
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Speaker 1: that gun, and then taking another one. And he remembered
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Speaker 1: saying out loud in the cockpit of the plane, We're
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Speaker 1: going to win! We're going to win! We're going to win!
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Speaker 1: Same battle, opposite perspective. And I will tell you without
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Speaker 1: reservation or hesitation, you make your focus a vertical focus,
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Speaker 1: and your life will be spent repeating the words, we're
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Speaker 1: going to win, because we will. You turn it to
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Speaker 1: the horizontal in focus, on all of the stuff happening
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Speaker 1: around you, all the bad news, all the sad news,
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Speaker 1: all the disappointments, all the disease, all the deaths. And
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Speaker 1: if you're not careful, you'll spend your life thinking, we'll
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Speaker 1: never make it. I'm not going to make it. I'm
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Speaker 1: on a losing effort here. We're going to lose. The
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Speaker 1: coach tells us how to win by telling us where
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Speaker 1: to fix our focus, what to get rid of, how
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Speaker 1: to turn a corner to live a whole new way,
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Speaker 1: and then ultimately even the garments to wear that turn
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Speaker 1: us into the kind of people known for their love
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Speaker 1: for one another. Amen? Amen. You are awake. Good. Bow
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Speaker 1: with me, will you please? How thankful we are, our Father,
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Speaker 1: how grateful we are that Christ is our all in all.
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Speaker 1: We thank you that having won the victory, he sat down.
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Speaker 1: And being in him, the victory is ours. Not to
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Speaker 1: plead for, not to hope for, not even to fight for,
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Speaker 1: but to claim. Help us to know how to do
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Speaker 1: that in a way that keeps us from being passive
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Speaker 1: and out of touch. and indifferent. Give us a focused
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Speaker 1: life filled with being free of the things that would
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Speaker 1: hurt us and embracing the things that would make us
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Speaker 1: strong as we turn our hearts toward you, reminding ourselves
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Speaker 1: again and again we're going to win. We're going to win.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for that promise and thank you for the
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Speaker 1: truth that we have learned from a book that is
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Speaker 1: as timeless as it is true. Your Word. May these
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Speaker 1: verses from Colossians 3 become a part of the way
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Speaker 1: we live and even how we die. In the name
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Speaker 1: of Christ, our matchless Savior, we pray. Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 3: The preceding message, Spot on Advice from a Seasoned Coach,
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Speaker 3: was copyrighted in 2014 and 2022. and the sound recording
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Speaker 3: was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R.
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Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
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Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.