Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #16204 - Sharing in the Life of Jesus - 1 John 1:3-4

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#16204 - Sharing in the Life of Jesus - 1 John 1:3-4 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through a
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Bounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to 1st John
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chapter 1 and we'll pick up where we left off.
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We're moving forward slowly but surely allowing the Holy Spirit
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to minister to us. We're going to look at a few
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verses today. First John chapter 1 and I've
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been touted our study, sharing in the life of Jesus, sharing in
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the life of Jesus. So church, you need to hear this
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near and far. Whether you're in the room with
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me right now or you're downstairs in the overflow,
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maybe in the nursing mom's room, you need to hear this.
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You ready? Your life matters.
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Your life. I say it to us collectively, but
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I mean it to every single individual listening to me.
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Your life specifically, it matters.
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It matters to God, it matters to your church, it matters to those
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that are close to you, to the world around you, so many of
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that you haven't even met yet. Your life matters.
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You just need to hear it that way today.
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No matter where you are or what you've been going through, your
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life matters. You're on earth with a purpose.
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All that's been happening thus far in your life.
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God is working all things together for the good, for those
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that love him, those that are called according to his purpose.
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Jeremiah in chapter 29 verse 11 says God says, I know the
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thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord thoughts of
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peace and not of evil. And to mark this in your minds,
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mark it in your Bibles to give you a future and a hope, just to
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know that God has purpose and plan for us to give you a future
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and hope. And then it says, you will call
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upon me and you'll go to pray to me and I will listen to you.
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You will seek me and find me when you search for me with your
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whole heart. Of course, God speaking to the
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nation of Israel, speaking to the people of God under the old
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covenant, I have a plan. I have a purpose for you.
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I'm working in your life. There's something in the future.
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You'll call to me, you'll pray to me, I'll be found by I'll
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answer your prayers. How much more in Christ, how
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much more in the New Covenant does God have a plan and a
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purpose for your life being conformed into the image of
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Christ? You're living out your divine
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destiny as you walk in humility and obedience to the Lord, as
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you respond to Him, and as you share your life and testimony
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with others. We all have a testimony.
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We all have a story of God working in our lives.
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We all have a story of redemption and faithfulness that
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God has shown us. It's your life, but it's His
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testimony. It's your life, but it's his
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work. There's power in the blood of
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Jesus Christ. Paul grasped this when he said
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in Romans chapter 1, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is
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the power of God for everyone who believes, for the Jew 1st
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and also for the Greek. So let me ask you today, do you
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have a personal experience with the shining, living, glorious
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presence of Jesus in your life? Do you have that?
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Is it not something just in your head or you learn in a Sunday
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school class, or you receive from reading a book or listening
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to a sermon? But as John was sharing last
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time, have you personally experienced the power of God in
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your life? Can you see Him working?
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Can you see Him leading? Can you see Him correcting and
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instructing and growing you in grace?
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Jesus is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross and rose
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again so that complete and total life change would overwhelm all
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of you. Complete and total life change.
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Christianity isn't merely a mental belief.
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It is a life to be lived. It's not just ascending.
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You know, I bringing to yourself an agreement like I believe in
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that. What would do you really believe
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in it? Because when you really believe
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it, you'll experience it, it'll be yours.
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You'll hold on to it. Jesus is our life and he was
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manifested and we're experience his life in and through ours
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right now. I began thinking about in my own
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life how often I share about the different pieces of God's
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faithfulness in my life, my testimony.
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It goes out little by little by little by little by little.
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And on occasion there may be of an e-mail or a comment here and
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there that goes, you know, Pastor, why do you always Share
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your story? Great question.
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That's a great question. I'll tell you why I always share
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my story. You know why?
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It's my story. What else am I going to share?
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This is my personal experience with the living God and every
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time I share it, I hope it encourages someone.
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Every time I share some ugly, difficult thing that God
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delivered me out of, it might speak to someone that's in that
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same ugly, difficult thing and you come to the conclusion, you
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may not say it out loud, but maybe the Holy Spirit puts a
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little thing in the back of your head.
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Go. If God can do it with that guy,
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then he could do it with me. And it's true.
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If God can do it with you, that gal, that guy, then God can do
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it with you as you turn your life to him.
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But you must be born again. It's not going to happen just by
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coming to church or buying a Bible or hanging out with other
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believers. That's all great.
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It's not going to happen without experience, like a personal
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experience with the living God, a surrendered life, a life of
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obedience and growth. The change that you're looking
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for comes by faith in Jesus. It doesn't come just because you
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try to make it happen or you change a few behaviours.
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Believe me, I agree with you that you should change a few
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behaviours. You probably even know I need to
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change. I agree with you.
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You need to change a few behaviours for sure.
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But that doesn't save you just because you stopped smoking.
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That doesn't save you just because you stopped drinking.
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Doesn't save you just because you're kind to your spouse now.
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That doesn't save you. Although don't stop that.
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Those are great decisions to make to be so much more loving
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and helpful in this world. But only the blood of Jesus
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Christ will save you and actually all the things that
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you're looking to change. If you will come to Jesus first,
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He'll begin to work all that stuff inside of you.
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He'll, he'll begin to give you, I mean, immediately you have new
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identity, new live, new direction.
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We've been learning that in our study in Galatians.
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So this experience is important and it's OK to experience.
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Don't allow people to talk you out of experience.
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Experience is real. I, I know there are those today
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might go, you know, that's just an emotional, you know, that
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worship or that's just an emotional experience.
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Good. I'm glad that God touched your
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emotions. I am glad that God encouraged
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you through a song or broke you down through a song, or just you
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closed your eyes and the atmosphere was just so amazing.
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So you don't even know the words.
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You're just like making it up as you go because you're so caught
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up in the things of God and you go.
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That just felt so good. I'm glad it felt so good.
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There's nothing wrong with emotional experience.
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There's nothing wrong with experience, O Lord, in a
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personal way. There's nothing wrong with
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trusting them with your whole heart and listen, There's
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nothing wrong with telling your story over and over and over
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again. Not only is it going to reach
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other people, but you're going to be encouraged.
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I can't tell you how many times I have shared, and sometimes
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even with the presence of Marie with me and where she's sharing
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her point of view. I'm sharing my point of view and
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I'm listening. And I'm like, I can't believe
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that's my life. That's hard to believe, that's
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hard to believe. I was that far or I did that bad
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or we were really there like now as we continue to to grow
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together in our marriage, in our family, and we think back on on
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some of the more challenging, difficult years in our life, not
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just the early years, but we've had some challenging and to
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think how God has brought us through, you know, how he
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brought us through not only his faithfulness, not only his
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power, not only knowing what the word of God says and trust.
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Those are all great. Faith comes by here and here by
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the Word of God. But He brought us through as we
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experienced the risen Lord in our lives and we trusted Him,
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and we cried out to Him, and we begged Him, and we surrendered
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to Him. And if God has worked in the
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past, he's going to work in the future.
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Your story, your testimony, your life, God's story, your
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testimony are bridges to connect God's love with others.
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It's a very powerful thing. It's a very powerful thing to
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Share your story. You know you, you need to know
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the Word of God. We're committed to the Word.
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There's no doubt about that. I'm in no way minimizing our
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commitment to God's Word. It's how we learn about him, how
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we grow, how our faith is built. For sure.
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But when you're sharing with someone, they may not be so
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ready to receive your Bible study that you put together that
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you want to share with them because you have a Bible study.
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There may be some preparation work you need to do in their
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lives. And one of the tools that all of
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us have, some of the preparation work is God's work in our lives,
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period. Just God's work in our life.
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This is who I was. This is where I met the Lord,
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and this is who I am today. And depending on how much they
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know about you, they may, if you go back many, many years, they
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may just like, yeah, man, I watched that with my own.
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I watched that. And as they begin to agree or
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wonder or consider or how the Holy Spirit uses that, then
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you're able to bring them to the word as it reveals to them that
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we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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We've all strayed away, and that the wages of sin is always
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death. It always crushes both
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personally, you know, temporarily, but also for
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eternity. But the gift of God, he's
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promised this, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
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Christ. And that it today, if you will
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confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
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that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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That is the bridge to get to the truth, people.
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Well, how do you know you know? Well, it's just the Bible, just
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written by men. You know, it's just religion
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there. No, no, no, just I know you
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feel, I know you believe that right now.
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I know you were taught that. I know that's.
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But let's just set that aside for a second.
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And I want to repeat to you again who I was, what God has
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done, and where I am today because it transcends all of the
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false belief systems that people have latched onto to keep God at
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a hands length. Your story.
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I recognize too, that when you think of your story, it's hard
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to go back. It's hard to go back.
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Who wants to go back and talk about a dark, difficult time in
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our lives? It is OK to go back as long as
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you don't stay there. It's OK.
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It's your it's your life. I mean, we all have regrets.
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We all there's, there's always things in our lives that we wish
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we wouldn't have done or didn't say, but that's in the past.
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What can we do? Can't change it now.
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We can only change the future, but we can only make amends.
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We can ask for forgiveness. We can make things right, but to
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pull out, I was lost. This isn't just the theology is
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powerful as this we've all sinned.
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But then you can turn that part of the gospel and say I've
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sinned and begin to share. And it's not just the wages of
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sin is death. You can begin to ask, yeah, this
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relationship, I lost this one, I I went through this.
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It was death all around. My I was live outside, but dead
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inside. It reminds me of so many times
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in my life before I got saved. I'd have a day, I'd have a party
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group. I'd come home and I would always
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have to go put my head on the pillow and deal with whatever I
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did that day. I, I would, I read.
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I have these vivid thoughts of just thinking about the day.
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What did I do? What did I say, What people did?
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I hurt and I just felt so hopeless.
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There was nothing I could do. Was my day on repeat constantly?
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Every day was like that to some degree.
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Some days better, some days worse, depending on whether I
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was sober or not. I lived as a Walking Dead man
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and everyone, everyone that was close to me had to pay that
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price. You see, you can take the gospel
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and you can personalize it through your testimony.
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That, my friends, is what John is doing in chapter 1.
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He's personalizing the truths that he's sharing through his
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life is not what he said in verse one.
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That is just from the beginning. That which we heard, which we
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have seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon, our hands
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have handled concerning the word of life, though life was
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manifested and we have seen. That's testimony and we bear
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witness. That's testimony, and declare to
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you that eternal life which was with the Father and was
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manifested to us. Let me pause there just for a
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moment, because then you might ask like, well, where's the
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testimony? Where's the testimony?
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But when you tell someone that you've seen the risen Lord and
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you've experienced Him, it will take you back to the time of
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what kind of person you were and what you were into.
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And we learned about John. He was known as the son of
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Thunder. He's the guy that wants to wipe
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out a whole people group. Literally he's you want us to
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take them out? This is someone that followed
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Jesus. You want us to take them out?
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We'll take them out. How dare they treat you like
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this, Jesus, I'll wipe them out. And what did Jesus gently
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because you guys don't even know you got so far to go.
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I didn't come to white people out.
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I came to save them and he kept working with them and working
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when you're, when you begin to talk about, yeah, that's what
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that was that which was manifested.
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We've seen and bear witness declare to you that was that
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eternal life that was with the Father.
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You're like, ah, I remember when I was invited to church.
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I remember when that Co worker, this guy just showed up at work,
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shared the gospel with me and he was gone.
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I thought he was going to be my, my desk mate, my office mate,
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and he's just gone. I don't know what happened.
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It could have been an Angel unaware.
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You don't know, but you remember you remember the life changing
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work of God. That's where John is where he
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says that verse 3 now, which we have seen and heard we what does
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your Bible say declare to you we declare to you There is a
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message to share. The ministry of Jesus was very
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interesting. He gathers this group of this
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ragtag group of fishermen together.
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He gives them a message of repentance.
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He gives them a message of hope and a message of love to share
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with others. He provided the model.
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He sent them out to share that message.
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They did such a great job sharing the message that by the
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time we get to Acts chapter 17, verse 6, the testimony of
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believers, we're just looking at 3030 years of the life of Jesus.
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He had three years, maybe 10 years later.
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I don't have the exact time, but when they're in Thessalonica,
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Acts 17, the leaders and rulers there said this about the
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church. These who have turned the world
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upside down have come here too. Just a quick observation of the
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world today in Christianity. That is not the testimony of
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Christianity Today. There's a lot of different
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things being said about the church, but turning the world
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upside down isn't one of them. Unless I miss something.
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And I'm pretty good at reading the news.
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I'm pretty good at paying attention to cultural trends.
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I don't hear that right now as a cultural trend.
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Oh no, Watch out for the church. They're going to turn our world
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upside down. You know, there's persecution
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against the church and a lot of animosity toward Christians.
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I get that. But I don't hear this testimony
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too much. If you've heard it lately, send
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it to me. I'd like to see it.
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I'd like to pray for that area of the world.
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I'd like to see it. I'd like to see it expand and
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grow. I'd like to see the world turned
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upside down, with the message of the gospel singular, the power
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of God to transform a life. I'd like to see real revival
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where men and women are repenting and their lives are
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changed and their families are changed, and as a result their
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city has changed. It's encouraging to me that as
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Jesus chose them, he alone had the big picture in mind.
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He knew his plans for them even though they had no idea.
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Again, I can think about the life changing work of God in my
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life. There's no way in the world on
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that night at the altar as I'm praying and receiving Jesus
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Christ. If the guy in the prayer room
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because we had a prayer room. I walked in the prayer room.
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I met a complete stranger who began to explain to me about
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what it means to follow Jesus in the basic information.
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Give me a Bible gave me a package just like we do here and
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he would have said, oh by the way, I've got your plan.
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I know what God's going to do the rest of your life.
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Really, you know, because I don't know.
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First of all, is Marie going to leave me really, or is she
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staying? I want to know that.
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Is she going to stay? Is our marriage going to make it
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like that? That was a big deal.
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Am I, am I going to, how long am I going to go to jail?
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What's my jail sentence going to be?
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I'd like to know that too. Well, I don't have any of that
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stuff. Didn't even know you were that
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bad. But here, here you go.
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I know this. You're going to be a pastor and
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God's going to use you to teach the Bible the rest of your life.
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You don't even that's, that's never, that's never going to
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happen. But God knew, God knows what he
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wants to do with your life and he's knows what he's doing with
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your life right now. He knows how he's going to use
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that. And I know if we were to tell
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you and we don't know, I wish, if you want to come and ask me,
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I don't know. I could just say, I don't know.
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I don't know what God's going to do in your life personally, but
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I do know this. It's good.
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It's good what he wants to do in your life.
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He has good thoughts towards you, not evil.
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He has a purpose and a plan and hope and a future for you.
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Your life matters to Him. Your life matters for the
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disciples and the apostles then and for believers today.
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He knows what He wants to do with your life.
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However, our response is to live by faith.
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That's our response. We want to live by facts.
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We want to live by answers to the life's questions in our
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lives. We want to live by having
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everything. Some of us at least want
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everything explained to us of exactly where we are and where
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we We would love to live that way, but that is not the will of
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God. The will of God is to live by
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faith. Or another way to say that is to
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trust Him. Trust God.
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He knows what He's doing and as you choose to follow Him, he
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knows. You see, as soon as a person
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realize who God is, you give yourself to Jesus.
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When you realize who He is, you trust Him.
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When you realize who He is, you begin to share the hope and love
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of Jesus with others. How can you not?
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How can I not share that? That's what the word witnessing
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means. When you say you're going
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witnessing or you're going to be a witness.
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Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, a witness just
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tells people what they've seen and heard.
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That's what a witness does. When you're in a courtroom and
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they have an eyewitness, they have a witness on the stand.
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That witness is just answering questions of what they've seen
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and what they've heard. That's witnessing.
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It is the process by which you and I testify to what we have
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seen and heard. Just like John here.
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That which we've seen and heard, we're going to tell you.
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That's what he says. He says notice in verse three
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that which we have seen and heard, we declare to you.
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Why? So that you may have fellowship
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with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father
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and with his son Jesus Christ. Circle that word fellowship.
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It's used twice. It's the Greek word Koinonia.
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It's a very familiar word. You'll hear it used a lot around
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here as we're teaching through the word Koinonia.
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Koinonia, that's the Greek word. The New Testament was written in
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the Greek language. We translate that Greek word
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Koinonia into the English most often as fellowship.
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It means to share in common. We saw it in our study recently
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in Galatians where him who is taught the word is to share with
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the one that teaches that word share Koinonia, to share in
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common. Fellowship is one of the most
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important words in all the New Testament.
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It means to share something in common.
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It speaks of oneness. It speaks of communion.
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It speaks of unity, a sharing in common on some of the deepest
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levels possible. And here's an easy way to
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remember the word fellowship. Someone's put it this way.
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Fellows in the ship. That's kind of corny, but you'll
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remember it. Another corny thing the guy gave
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me. Yes, it is fellows in the ship.
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The idea is you're together. The language is we, not you, not
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me. But when we're in Koinonia, it's
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we, we as the language of ministry, we as the language of
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the church, we're connected, we're sharing.
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And So what John says is I'm telling you these things.
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I'm writing this letter to you. The purpose is so you will be
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one with us. There won't be any divisions or
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any schisms or any of the things that separate us, that we're all
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of one mind and 1 accord. You'll hear that throughout the
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Bible. I'm sharing this so that we'll
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be in we'll share in common. I want, I want to share a
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comment with you. But then he says it's even a
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better reason, not just fellowship with us, but when
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you're in fellowship with us, our real fellowship notice is
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with the Father and with his Son, that unity with the purpose
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and the presence and the person, the triune God.
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It's like God saying to you and me right now, I want Koinonia
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with you sons and daughters. In a church like ours that
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emphasizes the verse by verse teaching of the Bible, it could
22:55
be very easy to default to having a relationship with the
22:59
Bible. But the Bible was God's word.
23:04
He wants you to have a relationship with him.
23:08
It would be the equivalent. You know, if someone you really,
23:10
really care about and they hand you a letter or a picture and
23:14
you value the letter and picture more than the person standing in
23:16
front of you, that would be very offensive.
23:19
Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, but I'm right here and
23:21
you're just hugging the people. Oh, this is so good.
23:23
It's like, and I'm I'm right here.
23:24
I'm right here. I'm right here.
23:26
Nobody would do that. But in a value and a love for
23:31
the Bible, we have to guard ourselves from forgetting that
23:35
the Bible was intent is to reveal God to us so that we
23:39
might love and personally have fellowship with him.
23:42
We get to enjoy with one another, but the reason why we
23:45
have fellowship with one another is because we have fellowship
23:48
with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
23:51
Because when you leave here, you're going to take the Father,
23:54
the Son, the Holy Spirit with you.
23:58
I'm not going with you. And maybe the person next to you
24:03
is, but none of us are going to your house.
24:04
And there's so much emphasis about community and fellowship
24:08
with each other. Yes, but not apart from the
24:11
Lord. It's not more important than the
24:13
Lord. It's not important, more
24:15
important than your personal walk with Him.
24:17
It's not more important than you being in fellowship with the
24:21
Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
24:23
John's telling us like there's something missing with you guys,
24:26
so I want to write you a letter. I'm telling you these things.
24:30
You got a fellowship with us. Yes, John, I've always want to
24:32
have fellowship with you, but our fellowship is really with
24:34
God and his Son. That's where you need to be.
24:40
I mean, John's close to going home to be with the Lord.
24:43
He's 100 years old. The fellowship isn't drawing
24:47
people to himself. He's going, no, we want to, I'm
24:50
your brother. I'm just going to, I'm here to
24:53
serve you. And we're going to have
24:54
fellowship. But really our fellowship isn't
24:55
us. It's us with the Lord.
24:59
I think of when we're singing, you know, when we're singing
25:02
like tonight, even tonight, as I as the first chords of the songs
25:07
were being strung and, and the keyboards and such, and I heard
25:10
the song, I knew what it was and I began to think of the the
25:14
lyrics. And already the music was
25:16
already preparing me to lay aside whatever is on my mind and
25:21
just come in unity. And when we're all singing the
25:23
same song or humming the same song or listening to the same
25:27
song, have you ever thought about what strong unity there
25:29
is? We're not singing 30 different
25:32
songs in the room. This side doesn't get their own
25:35
song and this side doesn't get their own song.
25:37
And then someone else walks in and you got a tambourine person
25:40
back there and a trumpet guy back there.
25:42
No, actually, if you bring the tambourine, we have a section in
25:45
the parking lot for you. Tambourine.
25:47
You can listen on to your car and play the tambourine.
25:49
No, we've got a team up here that's doing what we're
25:52
declaring to you, a song so that you might have fellowship with
25:56
us. Yes, we have fellowship.
25:57
No, no, no, no, it's not. We're not interested in you
26:00
having fellowship with us as much as our fellowship.
26:03
It's with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ that happens so
26:06
much. You may not even realize it that
26:10
one of the parts of fellowship that we enjoy so much in the
26:12
church is when we sing together or when we hum together or when
26:18
we listen together and we're just all in the same place, same
26:22
place, going to the same song. Have in our hearts God's heart
26:27
for us is unity. Notice with me.
26:29
Turn over to John chapter 17. John, the author of First John
26:34
also records to us in John 17. The prayer of Jesus is that we
26:39
might be in unity and we might share in common, and we might be
26:43
1 and we might have Koinonia together, not just hanging out
26:48
talking about sports and having coffee, but having real Koinonia
26:52
with each other and with the Lord.
26:56
This was the prayer of Jesus. Notice with Me verse 20 in John
26:59
17, verse 20 and John 17. I do not pray for these alone,
27:05
but also for those who will believe in Me through their
27:09
word. Now how would they know their
27:11
word except that they were declaring it?
27:13
So I'm praying for the people who don't know Me yet but are
27:15
going to hear the word declared through My people that they all
27:19
may be 1. It's another way of Speaking of
27:24
intimacy, of Koinonia, that they all might be 1, as you, Father
27:29
in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the
27:35
world may believe that you sent me such a beautiful power in the
27:42
message of the Gospel. True Christian living cannot
27:46
happen outside of a right relationship with God.
27:50
That's where it begins. First there is that vertical
27:53
relationship, being right with God, and only then can we become
27:57
right with one another. You have vertical God first,
28:00
love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
28:04
Then we love our neighbor horizontally, and too many get
28:08
caught up in the horizontal and forget the vertical.
28:13
Just a lot of talk about what we're doing together, what we're
28:15
doing together, what we're doing together.
28:16
What? That's great, but it starts with
28:19
the Lord. It starts with His direction.
28:23
It starts with his prompting. It was also Oswald Chambers that
28:27
said, and I quote, many servants set out to serve God with great
28:32
courage and with the right motives, but when no intimate
28:36
fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated.
28:40
They don't know what to do with their burden and it produces
28:44
weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say
28:48
what a sad end to something that had such a great beginning
28:53
starting out so well. Serve the Lord, but without that
28:57
intimate fellowship with the Father, you're destined to be
29:03
weary and fall to the wayside. Fellowship is not only for our
29:08
enjoyment, but it's also a tool that God uses to attract others
29:12
to Himself. It is not the end, it is the
29:17
means. Too many today, especially in
29:20
our Western culture, they value fellowship as if that's the
29:24
highest level of existence. Just to have a few friends.
29:26
I'm in church God, I have a few friends that that really is not
29:30
the motive. I mean, even as we were praying
29:31
today, the motive of a Christian's life is to glorify
29:34
God. We're we don't manufacture
29:37
friends here. I don't like that church guy
29:39
couldn't find any friends. I wonder why have you ever asked
29:43
that question? What do you mean?
29:45
And you've been to that church and that church and that church
29:48
and this church and you still don't have any friends.
29:50
Seriously. You know what the Bible says?
29:54
No, pastor, tell me what the Bible says.
29:57
The Bible says if you want friends, that you first must be
30:00
friendly. Church is not a friend
30:05
manufacturing company. The church is the entity on the
30:11
earth today that God uses to attract people to himself.
30:16
Have you ever considered just, I know, I know it's hard and I'm
30:19
certainly not wanting to discourage you in this area, but
30:23
you got to hear the truth. This is where and many times
30:26
I'll say, Are you ready to hear something hard?
30:28
You don't get a chance to answer that because I'm going to answer
30:30
it for you, OK? Have you ever considered this in
30:33
your life when it comes to I went to this show, how many
30:35
friends have you ever considered that God doesn't want you to
30:38
have friends right now? He wants to be your friend.
30:41
Have you ever thought about that?
30:43
He just wants you to spend time with him.
30:45
He just wants you to get to know him.
30:47
He just wants you to be obedient in the little things.
30:49
He just wants you. Is that not enough for you?
30:52
He just wants you. He just wants you and your
30:55
commitment to him. He wants you to get to know Him.
30:57
He wants you to learn to love him.
30:58
He wants you to a fellowship with Him.
31:00
He wants you to follow Him. He wants you to listen to him.
31:04
He wants you to obey Him and when he sees fit he will give
31:10
you what he thinks best in your life.
31:14
And you could have dozens of friends if you just be 1.
31:20
Don't accept anything in return. Just be a man or a woman that
31:25
points people to Christ and ask someone how you can pray for
31:28
them. That's friendly.
31:31
Ask someone how their week was. That's friendly.
31:36
Ask someone about their lives and where they came from and
31:39
what their story is. That's friendly.
31:42
You have those at work and the difficult people, and I think of
31:45
the difficult person. Have you ever talked about them,
31:48
where they came from? I know you can't start with
31:51
this, but like it's the question, why are you so
31:53
difficult? But really, there's a story.
31:58
Do you know what kind of home they grew up in?
31:59
Do you know if their dad stuck around?
32:01
Do you know if they had a hard life?
32:03
Do you know if they were a foster kid?
32:05
What do you know about the people that are getting under
32:07
your skin? When the news puts people into
32:11
categories and it makes you feel like, I can't believe they're
32:14
here and I can't believe. Have you ever met someone and
32:16
talked to them about their life? Does it always have to be the
32:19
way the news presents it? Does it always have to be a
32:22
category? Do people always have to be
32:24
labeled in your life so you have an excuse never to connect with
32:27
them? Wait a minute, pastor, I'm just
32:31
came to church to make friends. But you have to be friendly.
32:36
The church doesn't produce friends.
32:39
We're declaring to you the message of the gospel so that
32:42
you might have fellowship. But truly the fellowship is not
32:46
with us, but with the Lord. Maybe that's why we don't turn
32:51
the world upside down. Maybe that's why our lives
32:55
aren't so effective. There's so many maybes.
32:59
I don't have the answers. I'm throwing them out for you to
33:01
pray. But I do know this.
33:03
I'm reading a book of the Bible from a man that was used
33:06
greatly. These are his words inspired by
33:09
the Holy Spirit, and he's just got a short amount of time to
33:12
go. Hey, let me tell you something.
33:14
God changed my life and I'm telling you about it now.
33:16
Why? Because I want you to have
33:17
fellowship with us. But don't stop there because
33:20
truly it says right there, truly our fellowships are with the
33:24
Father and with this Son Jesus Christ.
33:26
So consider the friends you have.
33:27
Consider the people in your life.
33:29
Consider that and then ask yourself, is that fellowship
33:32
truly with the Lord? Truly is it with the Lord, Truly
33:38
is it with the Lord and in the Lord because that's where the
33:41
destination is. It doesn't just stop with human
33:45
friendship, As beautiful and as wonderful as that is, it needs
33:49
to go all the way to the Lord. Then he says what Verse four,
33:54
one of the purposes of the letter we've learned and these
33:57
things we write to you, that your joy may be full.
34:04
Jesus speaks of a joy in John chapter 15 as we prayed today
34:08
about a fullness of joy that comes through abiding in him.
34:13
Jesus speaks in John 16 of the fullness of joy that comes
34:16
through prayer. And now today John relates our
34:20
joy to fellowship in Koinonia with him and within the body of
34:27
Christ. Does that mean as a Christian
34:30
you always be happy? No doesn't mean at all you'll be
34:34
happy 100% of the time and full of joy.
34:37
None of us are immune to the trials and pains of life.
34:40
Some of you are even living a really hard life right now.
34:43
And this time in fellowship is just giving you a relief and a
34:46
reprieve of the difficult times this world is thrown your way.
34:51
But I always want to remind you, and I want to remind me that no
34:53
matter how hard it gets, we live through difficulties in life
34:57
with hope. We're not hopeless.
35:00
This isn't the end. We have a hope.
35:03
There's so much more ahead for us.
35:05
We have a hope of the Lord. God's pleasures and purpose last
35:09
forever. In Psalm 1611, it says you will
35:12
show me the path of life. And in your presence is the
35:16
fullness of joy. And at your right hand are
35:19
pleasures forever more. Yeah, for now, there are these
35:23
thieves, we call them like things that steal away our joy,
35:28
like circumstances and people, misery and difficulty.
35:33
How about this one? You know, there's a lot that we
35:34
can, there's a lot we can pinpoint.
35:37
But have you ever considered with this thief of joy, worry,
35:43
worry, man, it's so monstrous and can consume a person and
35:52
it's cousin anxiety, worry and anxiety.
35:56
It so robs us of the peace and joy that's in the Lord.
35:59
Can we listen to Jesus tonight? Turn over to Matthew.
36:05
Just picture myself sitting at the feet of Jesus there on the
36:10
Mount of Beatitudes, listening to my Savior speak to my
36:17
troubled heart. That's what worry does.
36:20
It troubles my heart, troubles my mind, and I can just hear
36:24
Jesus say this. Can you hear it?
36:25
Verse 24 of Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.
36:32
No one can serve 2 masters, for either he'll hate the one or
36:37
love the other, or also be loyal to the one and despise the
36:40
other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.
36:44
He's talking about money here. It's very clear in the teaching.
36:47
That's the specific interpretation, but the
36:49
application is true across the board, isn't it?
36:52
Nobody can serve 2 masters. You seek first the Kingdom of
36:56
God in his right. Nobody can serve 2 masters.
36:58
So whether it's God and money, whether it's faith or worry,
37:03
whether it's and you put before you, you can't serve.
37:05
Nobody can serve 2 masters. It's impossible.
37:08
Jesus says here no one can serve 2.
37:11
That's his fact. He supports it with his teaching
37:14
on money, but he the fact is no one can serve 2 masters.
37:18
And So what does he say in verse 25?
37:20
Therefore, I say to you, don't worry about your life.
37:23
Don't raise your hand or say Amen.
37:25
But how many of you worry about your life?
37:27
I'd say many. Don't worry about what you eat.
37:30
Some of you are dreaming about Chipotle right now or you have a
37:35
real need financially. It's just real hard right now.
37:38
If you're worried about what you're going to eat or what
37:41
you're going to drink or about your body, some diagnosis or
37:45
some difficulty with your body or what kind of clothes you're
37:48
going to wear. And if you're not worried about
37:49
them now, 2 minutes on Instagram, that don't make you
37:53
worry about it and you'll just start thinking it's a divided
37:56
mind. It's not just worrying about
37:58
things you don't control. Worry speaks of a divided mind.
38:01
You're OK with the clothes you had on until you saw the ad, and
38:05
now you want something but I don't have enough but I can find
38:08
it. Now I'm going to get dead.
38:09
And you're just worried. You're just concerned.
38:10
You're divided about life and you're divided about food and
38:14
you're divided about drink and you're divided about your body
38:17
and you're divided about what you put on.
38:19
And then what is? Isn't life more than food?
38:21
Verse 25? And isn't the body more than
38:24
clothing? And then you got a picture of
38:26
this? I woke up today and I thought
38:28
the birds were gone by now, but they're not in my neighborhood
38:32
and I thought something was wrong with my car or I.
38:36
I think I heard them this morning too, kind of in 1/2
38:38
sleep and thinking that maybe it was raining or something.
38:41
But when I came out, the tree across the street from our house
38:45
was filled with these black birds.
38:47
I don't know where, I don't even know where they, I don't know
38:49
why they're around. I don't understand that we don't
38:50
have room for them. There's no room and they're just
38:53
loud loud loud loud loud. I look to the tree next to them,
38:56
same thing, filled with the, I don't know what kind of birds
38:58
they are. I was scared because I don't
39:00
know. They're going to come after me.
39:01
You know, you saw that movie, right?
39:03
All those birds, they were just waiting for me to come out.
39:06
And then I look over to the left and, you know, there's a lot
39:09
here, little here, little there. And I look to the tree.
39:11
I literally did this. I look to the tree in my yard
39:17
and I thought, if the birds are in that tree, I'm out of here.
39:23
And there were no birds. The tree was empty on my side of
39:26
the street. I could look at the birds.
39:30
I saw them this morning. I didn't think of this text
39:33
actually. I thought about running, but I
39:36
didn't like, I didn't think of this text, but but I can, I can
39:39
understand. I can look at the birds and
39:41
they're up there doing whatever they're doing, screaming,
39:43
yelling, singing, whatever. They're scary.
39:45
Whatever noise they were making, super loud, super scary.
39:48
I did get out before I found out what they're up to.
39:52
And Jesus says, just look at the birds for a minute and I want
39:55
you to see something about them. Doesn't matter what color they
39:58
are, doesn't matter what noise they make.
40:01
All those things that we might be to I just shared with you.
40:03
He says, Ed, this is how I want you to look at birds when you're
40:06
worried. You ready?
40:07
He says, look at the birds. They don't sow.
40:11
I've never seen a bird own a farm.
40:14
They don't reap. I've never seen a bird reaping
40:16
sowing. And they don't gather into
40:18
barns. I've never seen a barn owned by
40:21
a bird. Never.
40:23
Have you? Well, Pastor, no, no, no, you've
40:26
never seen it either. He says, I want you to look at
40:29
them because they don't have all the things that you're all
40:32
worried about. And yet verse 26, your heavenly
40:36
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
40:44
they aren't you? Aren't you more valuable than
40:51
the birds of the air? You are?
40:54
And so he begins to say the rest.
40:56
Why are you worrying then? It's breaking fellowship.
41:01
It's robbing your joy. It's taking you away for all
41:05
that God has for you. It's the joy of the Lord that
41:09
keeps us from being overcome. He says look at the birds.
41:14
He says look at the flowers. Look at the faithfulness of God
41:18
all around you. And then he I think he asked
41:21
very gently. I don't think he's like pointing
41:22
a finger. What's your problem?
41:24
I think he's if we had the tone of voice in the Bible.
41:26
It's like, OK, you see the birds.
41:28
Yeah, we see the birds and they don't they don't reap or sow or
41:31
anything. I know they don't have any.
41:32
I know they don't even pay rent those all that time in the in
41:35
the tree was free. They don't even pay rent for the
41:37
tree. They don't when they put a nest
41:39
on our front. They don't pay for the property.
41:41
Nothing. They don't pay my taxes.
41:42
Nothing. They just use everything he
41:45
says. Ed Church, don't you see?
41:50
God takes care of the birds. Yeah, I see that.
41:54
Aren't you more valuable than the birds?
41:57
And that may be the issue. You don't see your value in the
42:02
eyes of God. You've forgotten that it was the
42:06
blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for you.
42:10
You've forgotten who you are. You've forgotten.
42:13
Well, where did we start? Today your life matters way more
42:18
than the birds and way more than the flowers and way more than
42:25
the clothes and all the things that are capturing your mind and
42:29
attention right now. So why do you worry?
42:35
Why do I worry? Begin to Share your story this
42:40
week and I suggest to you, you won't be worried so much as you
42:45
begin to hear the faithfulness of God in your life over and
42:48
over again. We start to care about people
42:51
and their lostness. You don't see him as a label
42:54
anymore. You don't see Him in some
42:56
category. You don't see them as somebody
42:58
that's less than you or more than you, or you just see them
43:01
as people that were created in the image of God, that are
43:04
valuable, that Jesus died for them too.
43:08
Maybe where you were and where I was, it could be a close friend,
43:13
could be a neighbor. But coming back to first John,
43:18
that which we have seen and heard, verse 3, we declare to
43:21
you the missing piece of the church today, the declaration of
43:25
the goodness of God that come through our lives.
43:28
I mean, some of you could even say, hey, you don't understand
43:30
how worried I was. But then God has taught me that
43:33
he takes good care of me. Can you imagine in your mind
43:35
right now just your holy imagination taking a walk?
43:38
You know, when you have lunch time, I see those people walking
43:40
around the offices and the buildings all.
43:42
Can you imagine going on a walk with one of your friends or one
43:44
of your coworkers? You're just walking around and
43:46
there's a bird there. And immediately the Holy Spirit
43:48
says, use the bird as a say, hey, check that bird out.
43:50
Check. Oh, it's so beautiful.
43:51
I'm a bird watcher and get, you know, you got all that.
43:53
You go, no, no, no, no, you. It's just amazing birds.
43:59
God takes care of the birds. And immediately you were on a
44:02
walk, you were at work, you were talking about business and
44:05
spreadsheets and everything, and all of a sudden, in just a
44:07
moment's time, prompted by the Holy Spirit, you're talking
44:09
about the things of God. God takes care of the birds.
44:12
You know what? I'm going to tell you a more
44:14
important story than the birds if you let me.
44:16
Sure, I want to hear it. God take care of me.
44:19
I was this point in this life and I was right here.
44:21
And you start to, before you know it, it's coming out of you
44:25
for the benefit. You're bearing fruits for
44:29
someone else to enjoy. Imagine what will happen when
44:34
the church gets back on mission, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
44:40
Can you just start praying for that God, get the church back on
44:43
mission. And as we're praying for the
44:45
church, we have to pray for. For me, I'm the church.
44:51
It's not just the church that's an easy, that's an easy target
44:54
to hit. We can always find faults in the
44:56
church, even in our church. But how about this?
44:59
Just pray for you, the church. Oh yeah, that's a little too
45:04
close. No, no, no, you are the church.
45:06
And just start praying for the Lord to do a work in your own
45:09
heart. And 1 by 1, by 1, we'll start
45:13
writing letters like this. Let me tell you who I used to be
45:18
and who I am now. By the grace of God, that which
45:22
we have experienced, I just didn't learn it on a Bible
45:26
study. I didn't learn in a sermon.
45:28
This is my life. Well, can't you share any more
45:31
stories? I don't have any other stories
45:32
to share but my life. And that's true for you too.
45:37
Amen. Father, thank you for your word
45:39
tonight and just for John leading us and guiding us.
45:43
And you know, the the reality of how we get off track.
45:50
We get so off track. Lord, forgive us, forgive us for
45:55
the I don't know you know, God, the work you're doing in the
46:00
hearts of your people today that we might embrace all that you
46:06
have for us and we might live on a higher plane.
46:11
So when we see the birds in the air, I my first thought wasn't
46:15
this teaching, but I really did have those other thoughts or but
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if I was, I have my mind about me.
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I would have remembered your provision.
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I would remember how much more valuable I am than all those
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birds that you haven't left me. You haven't abandoned me.
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You haven't forsaken me. You haven't forgotten about me.
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You know exactly what you're doing with my life.
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I pray that over our church family tonight, it's the same
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for them, that when we see the flowers and when we see the
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birds, we would remember you, Your handiwork, the stars, the
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heavens, all of it speaks and points to you.
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Pour your spirit upon your church, Lord, work it out in our
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hearts. And today, if you've never given
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your life to Jesus, I shared with you the life giving power
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of the gospel, the good news. And I want to invite you to
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follow Jesus, to confess with your mouth.
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If that's you, just stand to your feet so I could pray with
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you. I want you to acknowledge your
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need for God and your choice to follow him today before we
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leave. It's so important that you do
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that and just respond. There's no more need to put it
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off. Today's the day the Bible says
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it's a very simple message. You've sinned, you've fallen
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short of God's perfection. He sent his Son Jesus to die for
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you. And by faith today you can be
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back into a right relationship with God.
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Anyone here? Today would be the day that God
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gets a hold of your heart and you finally agree with Him.
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Bless you Lord God, thank you for that.
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Just fill the room with the atmosphere of your grace,
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drawing men and women to yourself.
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Believers and unbelievers alike, just move by your Holy Spirit,
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God, bring us into fellowship with you.
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Bring us into fellowship with one another.
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I pray God, for those that just feel like they're alone and they
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have no one that they might press into who you are, God that
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they're never alone and they have the friend of friends.
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You declared that by faith you're a friend.
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You're with us. And for those that need to
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receive you, Lord, that they would ask you to forgive them of
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their sin. You could just say, God forgive
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me. I choose to follow you.
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Help me God, help me. Help me to rise above my
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circumstances, forsake my sin. Pray for the wanderer God, the
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prodigal, the the rebel. Bring them home, Lord.
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They all have a name and they all have a story.
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Bring them home. Bring them home Lord, Our sons,
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our daughters, our moms, our dads, our brothers.
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I pray for that Co worker that came to mind.
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I pray God for that person that's working double shifts to
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make ends meet. I pray God for that single mom
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and single dad. It's been hard.
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I pray God for we've just been so caught up in all that's
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happening in the world that we forgot that you're the God of
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the world and the you outlast all the drama in the world that
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in the last days perilous times will come in this world.
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We will have tribulation, but you have overcome the world.
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Come what may we have faith in you God.
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So just pour out your spirit upon us as we head into the
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holidays and all that's before us.
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If God, we would be those declarers of the experience that
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we have with you in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
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877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
51:10
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.