Latest / The OneCry Podcast / #263 Positioning Our Lives For an Open Heaven: A Call to Courageous Obedience and Relational Prayer

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#263 Positioning Our Lives For an Open Heaven: A Call to Courageous Obedience and Relational Prayer · The OneCry Podcast

0:04
Speaker0: You got a cry inside of you that you've got to learn how to let
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Speaker0: out, that you are made to commune
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Speaker0: with God. You are meant— you are made for this vertical relationship. You are
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Speaker0: made, listen to me, not only to talk to him, but to hear from him.
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Speaker0: And here's the good news about prayer. You ready? It doesn't start with us.
0:24
Speaker0: It starts with him. Welcome to the One Cry
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Speaker0: Podcast, a nationwide call for spiritual awakening The
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Speaker0: goal: accelerating the movement of God through sharing revival truth,
0:36
Speaker0: stories, and reports.
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Speaker1: Well, hello and welcome back to the One Cry Podcast. We're so glad
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Speaker1: you're joining us again. And this last few weeks,
0:49
Speaker1: we have taken some time this summer to share some wonderful
0:54
Speaker1: messages, uh, from our friends who have focused
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Speaker1: around Themes which are related to revival and spiritual awakening,
1:02
Speaker1: and this week we wrap up this season with Kyle
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Speaker1: Reno sharing another message which is based out of Jesus's
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Speaker1: baptism, which is recorded in Luke chapter three, and he
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Speaker1: uses this passage to discuss some topics
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Speaker1: which are relational and topics which help us grow in the
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Speaker1: Lord and seek His face. So a few things you
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Speaker1: will see in this message: you will see the significance of baptism.
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Speaker1: baptism, you'll see a call to relational prayer,
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Speaker1: not just perfunctory or rote prayer,
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Speaker1: but relational prayer, and also a call to courageous obedience.
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Speaker1: We see Jesus walking in obedience into baptism,
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Speaker1: and then also positioning ourselves for an open
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Speaker1: heaven that God would bless and move and,
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Speaker1: and let his presence be known In and through our
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Speaker1: lives. So take a listen. You don't
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Speaker1: want to miss this episode. Thanks again for joining us. And here's Kyle.
2:10
Speaker0: I don't know that I've had more anticipation in preaching
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Speaker0: a message than this morning. I had God capture me
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Speaker0: in this text in the midst of our One Year Bible reading. And I'm not
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Speaker0: smart enough to align all these things around 10 Days
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Speaker0: of Prayer and Raised to Life, but we're going to be in a text that's
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Speaker0: going to help us get there. Here we go. This morning,
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Speaker0: just for context's sake, let me just help you a little bit.
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Speaker0: We should know that the first 20 verses of Luke chapter 3
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Speaker0: really highlight the ministry of John the Baptist. Let me give you context before we
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Speaker0: jump in, that the one named John the Baptist came to prepare the
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Speaker0: way for the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole ministry of
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Speaker0: John the Baptist was intended to get people ready to
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Speaker0: meet the real Messiah. That he was a wild man
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Speaker0: for the Kingdom of God. Locust eating, camel hair wearing,
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Speaker0: wild man for the Kingdom. And he knew that
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Speaker0: anytime anyone tried to elevate him, he made sure to make a
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Speaker0: beeline to Jesus, that he was not the Messiah. He was unworthy to
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Speaker0: even untie the sandals of the one to come. But make no mistake, John the
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Speaker0: Baptist knew his role. His one role was to make people
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Speaker0: ready for the coming King, and his ministry was fulfilled
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Speaker0: to the fullest. His ministry is soon to stop in this passage of scripture,
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Speaker0: as we'll see, he's about to hand the torch off to the Son of God,
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Speaker0: and he's about to die for the fulfillment of his ministry,
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Speaker0: and also because he wasn't afraid to tell an evil leader that
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Speaker0: he was an evil man. But primarily, John's message was
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Speaker0: a call to repentance. That John's message
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Speaker0: was a call to become ready for the arrival of
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Speaker0: the King. John's message was a right response
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Speaker0: to what God is saying is to be baptized. So we begin
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Speaker0: in verse 21, it says this, now when all the people were baptized—
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Speaker0: I want to say something, hear me now. There's something about
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Speaker0: baptism that is spiritually significant when
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Speaker0: a move of God is happening. There's something about baptism
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Speaker0: that is spiritually significant when a move of God's coming. God has seemed
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Speaker0: to always paint a picture through baptism about what
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Speaker0: He's doing in the life of a person, what God is doing in the life
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Speaker0: of a people, what God is even doing in a country. If you look across
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Speaker0: redemptive history, baptism doesn't merely show up in the New Covenant.
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Speaker0: There's pictures or shadows of it in the Old Covenant.
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Speaker0: Remember Exodus when they're coming through the Red Sea?
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Speaker1: Yeah.
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Speaker0: There's a picture that they've been delivered from slavery. They're coming into freedom,
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Speaker0: that God was already painting a picture through baptism of the
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Speaker0: kind of work that He does, that God sets people forever free.
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Speaker0: You see this in the preparatory work of God, and John the Baptist, he's baptizing
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Speaker0: people in repentance, and they're being made ready for the coming
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Speaker0: of Jesus Christ. By the way, on the other side of the establishing
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Speaker0: of the New Covenant, when the church is alive and full of the Spirit,
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Speaker0: and the proclamation Yes! The gospel
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Speaker0: is getting out there, one of the first things you see tangibly expressed
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Speaker0: is people being baptized at Pentecost, and 3,000 were
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Speaker0: baptized. Hear me, when God is moving,
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Speaker0: people are being baptized. When God is moving,
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Speaker0: people are being baptized, which means, hear me, we should
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Speaker0: believe for a move of God that's marked by many
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Speaker0: people being baptized. We should believe for a move of
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Speaker0: God that is marked by many people being baptized.
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Speaker0: I'd go as far to say this, hear me, where Jesus is moving,
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Speaker0: people are being baptized. To not believe— and
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Speaker0: this is what religion does, man, we always settle for less— to
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Speaker0: not believe for people to be biblically baptized
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Speaker0: is unbiblical.
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Speaker1: Amen!
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Speaker0: To not rightly believe for
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Speaker0: people to come to saving faith and take those first right steps,
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Speaker0: to not believe for the waters to be continually churned with
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Speaker0: the people coming into the family of God and expressing that through
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Speaker0: baptism. Now listen, I hope we know this, just to make sure we
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Speaker0: rightly understand. As a New Covenant people,
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Speaker0: meaning those that are on the other side of Jesus' perfect
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Speaker0: life— anybody grateful for that? Right? Come on!
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Speaker1: Amen!
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Speaker0: Amen! I'm used to people preaching
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Speaker0: back to me now, I'm just saying! On the other
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Speaker0: side of Jesus' perfect life, His sacrificial
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Speaker0: death, and His powerful resurrection,
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Speaker0: we know that someone is only saved through
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Speaker0: faith in Jesus' finished work, right? Through receiving
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Speaker0: the full atoning work of God through the finished work of
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Speaker0: Jesus. It's not through the obedience
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Speaker0: of baptism that we're saved. It's not through the
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Speaker0: obedience of baptism that we're saved, but in baptized— being
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Speaker0: baptized, we are declaring because of what Jesus has done,
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Speaker0: we are saved. That we're declaring something.
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Speaker0: So hear me, baptism doesn't save us, it just declares
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Speaker0: to a watching world we have been saved.
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Speaker1: That's right.
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Speaker0: That we have been marked by the miracle of Jesus'
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Speaker0: life, death, burial, and resurrection.
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Speaker0: And if I'm honest, it is strikingly weird
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Speaker0: that we would make it harder for people to take that step
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Speaker0: than Jesus did.
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Speaker1: Come on!
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Speaker0: It's strange that we would make that a hard first step.
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Speaker0: Religion makes everything harder.
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Speaker0: What Jesus does is said, I paid the price. I did the hard work
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Speaker0: so that you might receive the free work. That you
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Speaker0: may obey in the next step. So hear me, we're wanting to make that
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Speaker0: as simple as possible. So for us, baptism here, we want to
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Speaker0: hear your story and help you take that next step. That's all
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Speaker0: we want. We want to hear your story and help you take that next step.
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Speaker0: Like I said earlier, that's why next Sunday following
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Speaker0: the 10:30 service— by the way, if any of you ever wanted to try out
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Speaker0: the 10:30 service, we'd love to have you there, okay? But following,
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Speaker0: if you can't, if this one works best, hallelujah!
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Speaker0: Hallelujah! But next Sunday,
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Speaker0: following the 10:30 on the front porch, guys, we're going
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Speaker0: to baptize at least 25 or so. Listen, I'm believing for over
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Speaker0: 50. Why not a couple hundred, right? And here's
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Speaker0: what I want to tell you, by the way, we start the book of Ephesians
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Speaker0: next week, and we about to party! Alright? It's going to be— It's
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Speaker0: going to be Jesus, and it should be this way any book of the Bible,
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Speaker0: but it's going to It's going to be the Gospel right in front of us
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Speaker0: every week. You don't have a bad week in the next weeks to invite somebody,
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Speaker0: okay? There won't be no secret tithing message in the next 12
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Speaker0: weeks, okay? So just— I know, because you invite somebody,
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Speaker0: you're like, for the love, right? I'm just telling you,
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Speaker0: in the book of Ephesians, you'll watch— listen,
9:17
Speaker0: we're going to watch Jesus save a lot of people in the book of Ephesians.
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Speaker0: So bring somebody with you. But for those that
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Speaker0: you know, and we've had a lot of people come to know Christ, that that's
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Speaker0: the next right step. Listen to me, it's time. It's time.
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Speaker0: I promise you this, the enemy's not whispering to you trying to
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Speaker0: convince you to get baptized. If you sense that's the next
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Speaker0: right step, that you may have been baptized even as a child but later believed,
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Speaker0: you need to get your baptism in order. We'd love to help you. If you've
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Speaker0: believed in the last year, never taken that step of being baptized,
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Speaker0: let us be a part of it. Take the courageous step and sign up.
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Speaker0: Now, Now listen, it says it starts, and all the people, many people were being
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Speaker0: baptized. But listen, it wasn't just people that were baptized. Listen to what
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Speaker0: it goes on to say. And when Jesus also had been baptized.
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Speaker0: I want you to imagine with me this scene.
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Speaker0: Here John the Baptist is baptizing many, steady proclaiming the
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Speaker0: coming of the Messiah, assuring everyone that He's not a big deal, yet he looks
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Speaker0: up up, and he— listen to me, other passages, John, it says he looks up
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Speaker0: and he realizes, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away
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Speaker0: the sins of the world! And he sees
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Speaker0: the Son of God stepping into the water. He's got God in
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Speaker0: skin, and God in skin says, I'm next.
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Speaker0: God in skin looks at him, to which John responds like we would respond.
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Speaker0: Matthew 3 gives us another angle of this, verses 14 and 15. John would
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Speaker0: have prevented Him, saying, I need to be baptized by That sounds right.
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Speaker0: No, no, no, no, no, no! I'm not going to baptize you, Jesus! Jesus should
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Speaker0: baptize John! I need to be baptized, and do you
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Speaker0: come to me? But Jesus answered him, John, you got to understand there's something bigger
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Speaker0: going on here. Let it be so now,
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Speaker0: for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
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Speaker0: righteousness. Let me tell you what Jesus is
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Speaker0: saying to John. Hey, John, I'm not showing up because I need
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Speaker0: to repent and be baptized. I'm showing up to be baptized because it's
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Speaker0: right. Let me tell you what Jesus
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Speaker0: always shows us, displays, not just declares, displays.
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Speaker0: Jesus always displays what's the next right step.
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Speaker0: What does obedience look like in this moment?
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Speaker0: Jesus didn't miss the moment to model for us obedience.
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Speaker0: Let me tell you what I love about the Son of God. Hear me now
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Speaker0: this morning. The Son of God didn't pull the Son of God card and skip
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Speaker0: steps. He did it
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Speaker0: perfectly and fully. That's why He was tempted in all ways like
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Speaker0: us and never— listen, we have a High Priest tempted in all ways but never
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Speaker0: laid down. He never went down. He stayed up.
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Speaker0: He always did the next right thing. He always—
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Speaker1: Amen!
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Speaker0: displayed for us obedient. The perfect God-Man was baptized because it was
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Speaker0: the next right thing to do. I just want to encourage you with something.
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Speaker0: It's always the right time to take the next right step.
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Speaker0: Look at me. The enemy will
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Speaker0: always try to get you to delay obedience.
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Speaker0: I'll do that some other season.
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Speaker0: So I'm just— heart to heart, man, over a cup of coffee, if I could
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Speaker0: just ask you today, One question.
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Speaker0: What would it look like for you to obey today?
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Speaker0: Now, for some, that might be obedience in, I need
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Speaker0: to sign up to be biblically baptized. Listen to me, don't wait till tomorrow,
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Speaker0: sign up today! Hey, for others in the house,
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Speaker0: it's not that. You've done that, praise God! But today
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Speaker0: obedience for you might look like forgiving someone that you don't want to.
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Speaker1: Yeah.
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Speaker0: Can I get a witness?
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Speaker1: Come on!
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Speaker0: Hey, for somebody here today, obedience might look like for you
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Speaker0: to ask for forgiveness, and you don't want to.
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Speaker0: Hey, for somebody here today,
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Speaker0: obedience could play out by being willing to sit
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Speaker0: down and finally share the good news with somebody that lives
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Speaker0: next to you, to be willing to be a witness.
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Speaker0: Hey, listen to me. To somebody today,
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Speaker0: obedience might look like becoming a first fruits giver, a tither.
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Speaker0: I'm going to return. I'm not going to wait to some other financial landscape moment.
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Speaker0: I'm going to obey.
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Speaker0: Listen to me, delayed obedience is just disobedience.
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Speaker0: That's all it is. Would you be willing?
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Speaker0: Listen, the Spirit's moving, man. God's on the move in our nation right now,
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Speaker0: y'all. God's on the move in our local expression right here.
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Speaker0: Don't let it pass you by. Here's the truth. It takes courage to obey.
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Speaker1: It does.
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Speaker0: It takes
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Speaker0: courage. That's why, that's why you see all across the scripture, be strong,
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Speaker0: be courageous, be strong, be courageous, be strong, be courageous.
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Speaker0: And I'm looking you in the eyes on behalf of the Father and say,
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Speaker0: whatever obedience looks like for you in this season,
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Speaker0: listen to me, by the power of the Spirit, be courageous!
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Speaker0: Obey! The Bible is not merely something to believe,
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Speaker0: it's something to be obeyed!
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Speaker1: Amen!
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Speaker0: If— listen to me— if the
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Speaker0: Christian life is boring to you, it's because you've never learned to obey
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Speaker0: it! Because there ain't nothing boring about the
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Speaker0: Christian life!
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Speaker1: Amen!
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Speaker0: To be willing
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Speaker0: to walk into whatever God is saying to you today!
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Speaker0: I love Proverbs 21, verses 2 and 3, says, every way of a man is
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Speaker0: right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart to do righteousness
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Speaker0: and justice. obedience is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
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Speaker0: Just do the right thing. God doesn't want
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Speaker0: a religious show from us. Y'all hear me? Just next
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Speaker0: steps. Religion goes through the motions,
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Speaker0: but it misses the heart. Real faith
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Speaker0: is this, hear me now, because I know you,
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Speaker0: God, personally, I will follow you Amen.
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Speaker0: I got a huge statement for you. You are one step
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Speaker0: of obedience from a completely different kind
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Speaker0: of life. One step.
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Speaker0: One step of obedience, and that sin you haven't quite seemed
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Speaker0: to be over— been able to overcome through confession,
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Speaker0: through finding somebody to help you find freedom in that,
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Speaker0: You're one step of obedience from a whole different kind of
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Speaker0: life. So whatever way the Holy Spirit's talking to you
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Speaker0: this morning to obey, look at me, do it!
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Speaker0: By the power of the Spirit, do it! And you keep walking
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Speaker0: through that passage, it tells us some of the secret to
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Speaker0: Jesus' life that's a model for us. It says, now when all the people were
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Speaker0: baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized, And this
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Speaker0: is the part that God hid from me. I've, by God's grace,
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Speaker0: came to know Christ at 19, moving on toward 45 years old.
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Speaker0: I've read through the scripture each year. I was
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Speaker0: taught that, discipled that, so I've read through the Bible a bunch.
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Speaker0: Somehow never seen this. It's like God hid it to this last season. It says,
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Speaker0: and when Jesus was baptized, and listen, and was
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Speaker0: praying. Do you see that? Put it back up there.
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Speaker1: And was praying.
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Speaker0: And was
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Speaker0: praying. You got to slow down now.
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Speaker0: So what Luke, who gives us the most detailed account, wants to make sure
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Speaker0: that we know is that when Jesus was obeying through
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Speaker0: being baptized, He was also praying to the Father.
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Speaker0: That He wasn't merely doing this out of religion, He was doing this out of
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Speaker0: relationship. Meaning, when the Son of God stepped into the water
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Speaker0: and He looked at John going, John, I'm doing this to fulfill all righteousness,
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Speaker0: That the Son of God was not merely horizontal, He was vertical!
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Speaker0: That the Son of God was saying to God the Father, I'm doing this
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Speaker0: because I'm fulfilling righteousness, and I gotta think relationally.
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Speaker0: Dad, I'm doing this to glorify you!
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Speaker0: Father, I'm doing this so our followers might see!
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Speaker0: He's destroying religion!
17:48
Speaker0: He's displaying obedience based out of relationship.
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Speaker0: Because I know Him, I will do what is right.
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Speaker0: Every part of Jesus' physical life, as seen in the scripture,
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Speaker0: was marked by prayer. No man prayed like Jesus prayed.
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Speaker0: Let me give you a quote. From the beginning to end,
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Speaker0: Jesus' earthly ministry was marked by frequent times of
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Speaker0: prayer. He prayed at His baptism right here,
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Speaker0: Luke 3:21. During His first preaching tour, when He went
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Speaker0: out and started preaching the Kingdom of God, Mark 1:35
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Speaker0: and Luke 5:16, He was praying. Before He chose the
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Speaker0: 12 apostles, Luke 6:12-13, He prayed. Before feeding
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Speaker0: the 5,000, Matthew 14-19, He prayed.
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Speaker0: After He fed the 5,000, Matthew 14:23, He prayed.
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Speaker0: Before feeding the 4,000, Matthew 15:36.
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Speaker0: Before Peter's confession of Him as the Christ, Luke 9:18,
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Speaker0: Jesus was praying. At the Transfiguration,
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Speaker0: Luke 9:28-29, He was praying. He prayed for
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Speaker0: some children that were brought to Him in Matthew 19:13.
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Speaker0: After the 72— the 70 returned in Luke 10:21.
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Speaker0: Before giving the Lord's Prayer, He was praying, Luke 11:1.
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Speaker0: Before raising Lazarus from the the dead, John 11:41-42.
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Speaker0: As He faced the reality of the cross, John 12:28.
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Speaker0: At the Last Supper, Matthew 26:26-27.
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Speaker0: He prayed for Peter in Luke 22:31-32.
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Speaker0: At Gethsemane He prayed, Matthew 26:36-44.
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Speaker0: And from the cross He prayed, Matthew 26:46,
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Speaker0: Luke 23:34-46. And with the disciples
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Speaker0: He encountered on the road to Emmaus in resurrected state!
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Speaker1: Amen!
19:42
Speaker0: He prayed. Luke 24:30. At the Ascension, the last
19:46
Speaker0: time we see Him, Luke 24:50-51.
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Speaker0: And supremely, in His high priestly prayer, when He prayed for
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Speaker0: us in John 17. Look at me.
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Speaker0: The Son of God was a praying man.
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Speaker1: Amen.
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Speaker0: And if the Son of God, God in skin,
20:07
Speaker0: knew how needed prayer was to— listen to me— at
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Speaker0: the start, and the sustain, and to bring to His
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Speaker0: ministry, how much more so— look at me— followers of Jesus
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Speaker0: should we pray?
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Speaker0: Praying was like breathing to Jesus.
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Speaker0: We must remember, hear me now, stop and back up.
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Speaker0: Jesus had been in perfect fellowship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit
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Speaker0: for all eternity past. Let me tell you why I think Jesus
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Speaker0: prayed so much, because He missed the Father.
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Speaker1: Oh,
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Speaker1: Wow.
20:41
Speaker0: He missed that communion. He missed that because He laid—
20:45
Speaker0: He emptied Himself, He laid aside, He still had that connection, fully God,
20:48
Speaker0: all the things in light of essence, but it
20:52
Speaker0: was different now. And He longed
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Speaker0: for that relationship, and because of that, He prayed.
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Speaker0: Primarily, He prayed because He missed the Father.
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Speaker0: He missed communion with the Spirit.
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Speaker0: Doesn't that tell us something about prayer?
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Speaker0: I want to make a statement to you that I hope you'll believe. You were
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Speaker0: made to pray.
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Speaker0: You were made to pray.
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Speaker0: Let me tell you how I know that's true, because you were made for relationship
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Speaker0: with God.
21:28
Speaker1: Amen.
21:31
Speaker0: One of the darkest
21:32
Speaker0: days in human history, the darkest day, is when our relationship
21:36
Speaker0: with God was broken. Genesis 3, right? You have this moment where we look into
21:40
Speaker0: the face of God and we say, hey God, we're going to do it our
21:42
Speaker0: way, not your way. We think we know better. And what's broken
21:47
Speaker0: is we walk out of that fullness of God's presence. When Adam and Eve sin,
21:51
Speaker0: we're all there, by the way. Don't be throwing shade at them. We would have
21:53
Speaker0: done the same thing. But when we, when we're
21:57
Speaker0: walked out of that intimacy with God,
22:00
Speaker0: We're missing something. Listen, we're missing someone.
22:06
Speaker0: Do you know how long it takes in the scripture before humanity
22:09
Speaker0: figures out, I guess we better start praying? One chapter.
22:14
Speaker0: Genesis 4:26, it says this, to Seth
22:18
Speaker0: also a son was born, and he called
22:22
Speaker0: his name Enosh. And at that time People began
22:26
Speaker0: to call upon the name of the Lord. One chapter
22:31
Speaker0: in the scripture. Y'all look at me. You got a cry
22:36
Speaker0: inside of you for the Father. You do!
22:40
Speaker0: I don't care, listen to me, if you're like 30, 42 minutes
22:44
Speaker0: inside of this story, you've been here and you're like, you still got questions about
22:47
Speaker0: it, let me tell you that. Or if you're 42 years on the other side
22:50
Speaker0: of following Jesus, here's the truth. I still got questions. You got a cry inside
22:54
Speaker0: of you that you've got to learn how to let out.
22:58
Speaker0: That you are made to commune with God. You are meant— you are made for
23:02
Speaker0: this vertical relationship. You were made, listen to me, not only to talk to Him,
23:06
Speaker0: but to hear from Him. And here's the good news
23:09
Speaker0: about prayer. You ready? It doesn't start with us, it starts
23:13
Speaker0: with Him. Psalm 27:8 is one of my favorite verses. Says,
23:17
Speaker0: my heart has heard you say, Come and talk
23:21
Speaker0: with me. And my heart responds, Lord,
23:25
Speaker0: I am coming.
23:29
Speaker0: Look at me. I don't care where you are in your spiritual journey, this is
23:31
Speaker0: what I would ask you today. Are you willing to believe
23:36
Speaker0: for a place in your prayer life you've never been before?
23:39
Speaker0: If so, look at me, it starts today.
23:43
Speaker0: That you were made to pray. You're made to commune with God.
23:48
Speaker0: We give you things like 10 for 10 to just foster and facilitate.
23:51
Speaker0: It's like we're setting a date. We're trying to get you to God
23:55
Speaker0: the best way we know how, but it's not merely that you might pray 10
23:58
Speaker0: minutes, that you might start a conversation that lasts throughout the rest
24:02
Speaker0: of your day, that you might learn— listen to me— not
24:05
Speaker0: only to talk, but to also hear.
24:08
Speaker0: Religion ruins prayer. Y'all hear me?
24:11
Speaker1: Yes!
24:12
Speaker0: It makes it cold,
24:16
Speaker0: indifferent, hollow. Listen to me,
24:20
Speaker0: I'm saying that— I remember I was at a prayer
24:24
Speaker0: gathering with a bunch of pastors one time, and I got in a circle,
24:28
Speaker0: and we weren't praying to talk to God, we were praying to
24:31
Speaker0: impress each other. You ever been there? You know what I'm talking about? Like,
24:35
Speaker0: I was praying my last 3 points from the last sermon, he was praying his,
24:38
Speaker0: and you're hoping, man, I didn't get enough amens when I was praying. I'll try
24:41
Speaker0: harder next time.
24:41
Speaker1: Yeah.
24:44
Speaker0: And I
24:45
Speaker0: remember I walked away from it, and the Holy Spirit said, let me ask you
24:48
Speaker0: a question. Who were y'all talking to?
24:52
Speaker0: I said, I guess each other, Lord. He said, how about we not do that
24:55
Speaker0: again? Good call. He also said to me, if I
24:59
Speaker0: were to answer everything that was just asked, how many lives would
25:03
Speaker0: be changed? None.
25:07
Speaker1: None.
25:07
Speaker0: Because listen to me, we will settle for a form
25:11
Speaker0: of godliness and deny its power.
25:15
Speaker0: Prayer is at its best when it's relational at its core.
25:19
Speaker0: Prayer is at its best when it's relational at its core.
25:22
Speaker0: Let me tell you what God wants to hear from you.
25:27
Speaker1: You.
25:27
Speaker0: Man, don't— listen to me. If you start talking to Jesus today, please don't
25:31
Speaker0: start talking to Him in King James. All right? Like, that don't make no sense.
25:35
Speaker0: You can be like, what's up, bro? You know, Father, Thou art holy. And he's
25:39
Speaker0: like, what just happened?
25:42
Speaker0: Heart to heart. Some of the best prayers you can ever get
25:46
Speaker0: out to God is being in His presence. Say, help! Need You now!
25:50
Speaker0: Can You see what's happening here? God, I'm asking You to
25:54
Speaker0: let me know what You see, what You desire, what You want.
25:57
Speaker0: God, I'm asking for help in the lives of my children,
26:00
Speaker0: establishing things in this season, area. God, I'm crying out for salvation
26:05
Speaker0: for my neighbor over here, and this person that I work with right
26:08
Speaker0: there. God, I'm asking you to provide for us inside of these things. And God,
26:11
Speaker0: I'm just stopping this morning to tell you, thank you that I'm your child!
26:15
Speaker0: Thank you that I'm going to make it to heaven one day! Thank you that
26:18
Speaker0: victory's already been won! To learn
26:22
Speaker0: to let your cry out, to call
26:25
Speaker0: upon Him, We learn from
26:28
Speaker0: Jesus 2 simple things, and I'm almost done, in this passage
26:33
Speaker0: of scripture that if we would actually apply,
26:36
Speaker0: changes everything. That we would learn,
26:40
Speaker0: let's learn from Jesus how to pray and obey.
26:46
Speaker0: Hey, the Christian life, listen to me, it's hard to live,
26:51
Speaker0: it's just not hard to understand.
26:52
Speaker1: That's right.
26:54
Speaker0: Y'all hear me? It's hard to live.
26:59
Speaker0: It's just not hard to understand. God's not trying to confuse us this morning.
27:03
Speaker0: He's saying, come seek me. In light of seeking me,
27:06
Speaker0: listen to me, obey me. If you love me, you'll obey me.
27:12
Speaker0: Now, here's some good news, because it doesn't stop with
27:16
Speaker0: us. Let me tell you how God the Father responds in this moment. You can
27:19
Speaker0: go ahead and come back and play.
27:20
Speaker1: Okay.
27:21
Speaker0: They're playing the keys.
27:23
Speaker0: That does not mean I'm almost done.
27:26
Speaker0: I just like a little music every once in a while, right?
27:31
Speaker0: Baptized and was praying, it says, and the heavens were
27:36
Speaker0: opened. Somebody say, amen.
27:38
Speaker1: Amen.
27:39
Speaker0: So let me, let me tell you the response of heaven.
27:44
Speaker0: That when God finds, in this moment it's a divine, because it's the
27:48
Speaker0: Son of God, but when God finds, I believe this is true for everybody,
27:50
Speaker0: not just Jesus, When God finds
27:53
Speaker0: His children, listen to me, obeying and
27:58
Speaker0: praying, it changes the atmosphere right there.
28:02
Speaker0: By the way, 3 places in Scripture we see where God opens
28:06
Speaker0: up the heavens. One is Stephen. Remember when Stephen dies for the faith and
28:11
Speaker0: he says, look, I see the Son of God standing at
28:16
Speaker0: the right hand of the Father! So listen, when someone dies for the faith,
28:20
Speaker0: just know heaven's opened right there!
28:25
Speaker0: Another time— I told you I won't preach on tithing when you bring your neighbor
28:29
Speaker0: next week, but since we're here now, let me tell you another time it's open.
28:33
Speaker0: Malachi 3. I didn't make it up, the Bible did. Y'all be mad at that,
28:36
Speaker0: all right? So you, when you bring
28:40
Speaker0: first things to God, because God's not playing a game,
28:44
Speaker0: say, God, I trust you with the first. God says,
28:47
Speaker0: I love that. And listen to me, and when
28:50
Speaker0: people are praying and fasting— You
28:55
Speaker0: say, Kyle, what's an open heaven? Can I be honest with you?
28:59
Speaker0: I don't think I can accurately articulate
29:03
Speaker0: that. Let me tell you what I know. I know when
29:07
Speaker0: it is, and I know when it's not.
29:13
Speaker0: An open heaven is when It means it just seems
29:17
Speaker0: like there's just not much distance between
29:21
Speaker0: Heaven and right here.
29:25
Speaker0: It's closeness! It's Kingdom come!
29:29
Speaker0: I'll be honest with you,
29:33
Speaker0: in our church right now, and this is fragile, it's delicate, I think
29:38
Speaker0: in many ways we're experiencing God's opened up the heavens.
29:42
Speaker1: Yes!
29:42
Speaker0: Hallelujah! I just want to
29:45
Speaker0: let you in on something though. There's more though.
29:49
Speaker0: I'm gonna tell you this, the more of us that are praying, the more of
29:52
Speaker0: us that are obeying, the more of us that are seeking, the more of us
29:55
Speaker0: that are knocking, the more of us that are pursuing,
29:59
Speaker0: God's not playing a game.
30:02
Speaker0: I want an open heaven here. Don't you want to open heaven over your home?
30:06
Speaker1: Come on!
30:08
Speaker0: Pray, obey.
30:09
Speaker0: Don't you want to open heaven over your house? Over your family?
30:14
Speaker0: Over your workplace?
30:17
Speaker0: Listen to me, we can't open the heavens, but we can position ourselves for
30:22
Speaker0: an open heaven. You know, in the
30:26
Speaker0: Welsh Revival— I love revival history, everybody that's
30:30
Speaker0: made a big impact in my life is been marked by revivals of
30:35
Speaker0: the past, and little r revivals they experience in the present.
30:39
Speaker0: A newspaper wrote in Wales during the Welsh Revival,
30:44
Speaker0: truly God has visited His people in Wales. It's a
30:48
Speaker0: newspaper! It's not a question of one town
30:52
Speaker0: being awakened, but the whole principality being on fire.
30:58
Speaker1: Why?
30:59
Speaker0: Open heaven.
31:02
Speaker0: People praying, people seeking, people fasting, people obeying.
31:07
Speaker0: This morning I would ask you to join me,
31:10
Speaker0: to join our leaders, our elders, deacons, every life group leader, every team
31:14
Speaker0: member. Let's position ourselves for an
31:18
Speaker0: open heaven. How do we do that,
31:22
Speaker0: Kyle? Man, we pray. We obey. We don't quench the Spirit.
31:25
Speaker0: If the Spirit says this, we do that.
31:31
Speaker0: Now, not only was the heavens opened, it goes on to
31:35
Speaker0: say, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him, being Jesus, in bodily form
31:38
Speaker0: like a dove. Now, can you imagine?
31:41
Speaker0: I mean, you got the Son of God that stepped into the waters to fulfill
31:45
Speaker0: righteousness, to be baptized, and when He's baptized— There's a lot going on in these
31:49
Speaker0: 2 verses!
31:49
Speaker1: Yes!
31:50
Speaker0: Heavens are open in such a way that's demonstrative
31:53
Speaker0: that Luke captures it,
31:56
Speaker0: and the Holy Spirit descends on Christ Jesus.
32:00
Speaker0: Now, it's not that Jesus didn't have fellowship with the Spirit before this moment,
32:06
Speaker0: but that the Holy Spirit was coming to rest on Him. Listen, to anoint Him
32:11
Speaker0: for ministry that was about to begin, to make Him ready for the temptation
32:15
Speaker0: He was about to overcome, because He was about to overcome it. Listen to me.
32:18
Speaker0: As a man filled by the Spirit.
32:22
Speaker0: Jesus had chose to empty Himself to fulfill the ministry as
32:26
Speaker0: a man filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit— let me tell you what I
32:29
Speaker0: love— descended and remained. You know why He remained?
32:33
Speaker0: Jesus was the first one in skin that never quenched the Spirit.
32:38
Speaker0: I mean, there was never a moment that the work of the Spirit
32:42
Speaker0: was contrary to the work of the Son.
32:46
Speaker0: That He fulfilled it perfectly.
32:50
Speaker0: I hope that we know this morning that anyone that's come to saving faith in
32:54
Speaker0: Jesus Christ— listen to me, if you haven't, you can be today.
32:58
Speaker0: What happens at salvation is you are born of the Spirit.
33:02
Speaker0: You're made alive in the innermost parts, man. More to you than
33:06
Speaker0: you at that moment. The spirit man's come alive.
33:09
Speaker1: Amen.
33:09
Speaker0: Amen! The scripture tells us the moment you're
33:14
Speaker0: saved, you're indwelt by the Spirit. Yet, anybody else
33:18
Speaker0: in here recognize your need to be filled with the Spirit? Anybody else recognize
33:22
Speaker0: your need for a fresh anointing of the Spirit? Anybody else?
33:26
Speaker0: Anybody else believe today that we need the descending work of the Spirit
33:30
Speaker0: on our church, in our lives?
33:35
Speaker0: Here's what I love. We see perfectly in the life of
33:39
Speaker0: Jesus, as we position ourselves through obedience and through prayer,
33:42
Speaker0: man, heavens open.
33:45
Speaker0: It invites the work of the Spirit in a new way.
33:49
Speaker0: I'm just going to tell you, I long for the work of the Spirit in
33:53
Speaker0: a new way every season. So I would encourage
33:57
Speaker0: us to long for the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in every Season
34:01
Speaker0: long.
34:02
Speaker1: Season long.
34:04
Speaker0: I can't embrace that longing
34:06
Speaker0: for you.
34:09
Speaker0: You have to. If you're doing
34:13
Speaker0: good enough on your own, you can keep trying,
34:19
Speaker0: but I would— the scripture would beckon us to believe for more
34:23
Speaker0: than what you can pull off this season. You need Him.
34:26
Speaker0: Now, the last part of this passage, and the Holy Spirit descended
34:31
Speaker0: on Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from
34:35
Speaker0: heaven. Can you imagine? Don't just hear the scripture,
34:38
Speaker0: read the scripture. You got Jesus, the Son of God, stepping into the
34:43
Speaker0: water, looking at John. John, I'm next!
34:47
Speaker0: John going, no way, man, I can't do that! He goes, no, no, no,
34:49
Speaker0: John, you don't understand. I fulfill all righteousness
34:53
Speaker0: Yes. I'll always do what's right. And it's
34:58
Speaker0: like Jesus moves from John to the Father, and He says, as He was praying,
35:02
Speaker0: He's going, Father, I'm glorifying Your name. I'm helping
35:05
Speaker0: everyone else that will follow see my obedience.
35:09
Speaker0: And it's like God couldn't handle it anymore. He ripped open heaven.
35:14
Speaker0: Spirit of God descends
35:18
Speaker0: on this moment. It's like the
35:21
Speaker0: Father couldn't be quiet anymore. Man, you ever had a moment you're just so proud
35:25
Speaker0: of your kids you just had to like let out a cry like,
35:30
Speaker0: yes! And a voice came from heaven, you're my beloved
35:34
Speaker0: Son with whom I'm well pleased.
35:39
Speaker0: Kyle version, it's the Father going, that's my boy!
35:49
Speaker0: I'm gonna tell you something. Through the finished work of
35:52
Speaker0: Jesus Christ— good news, hear me now— through the finished
35:56
Speaker0: work of Jesus Christ, the moment you put faith in Jesus, He's proud
36:00
Speaker0: of you. Somebody say amen, right? He's proud of you.
36:07
Speaker0: Yet He is also proud of When we position
36:11
Speaker0: ourselves. He's going,
36:14
Speaker0: look at my son, look at my daughter! They're courageously trying
36:17
Speaker0: to obey! They're seeking after me, they're praying!
36:22
Speaker0: And listen to me, there's moments in the life, and I'm believing for these moments
36:25
Speaker0: in your life, as you position, that God would just say over
36:29
Speaker0: you, I am so proud of you! I am so stinking proud
36:33
Speaker0: of you! You're making changes,
36:37
Speaker0: like you're positioning yourself.
36:40
Speaker0: That comes in intimacy. It comes in intimacy.
36:46
Speaker0: He wants that for you today. You got to take a step, though.
36:50
Speaker0: I promise you, the Lord is looking to and fro over the face of the
36:54
Speaker0: earth that might find those that would seek Him. I believe He's going to find
36:58
Speaker0: some today. I think the Father longs to speak
37:02
Speaker0: to each and every one of us this season. Listen, what way is
37:06
Speaker0: God calling you to courageously obey? What way is God
37:10
Speaker0: calling you to courageously pray like you've never prayed before?
37:18
Speaker1: Wow, what a great message Kyle has shared again and again
37:23
Speaker1: and again from his heart. And we love to hear example
37:27
Speaker1: that is set forth by Christ in scripture
37:32
Speaker1: that we are to follow. There are some things that if we put into place
37:35
Speaker1: in our own lives, we can see the fruit of God flowing
37:40
Speaker1: through our lives. And so following
37:44
Speaker1: God in obedience, number one, to whatever he lays upon our
37:47
Speaker1: hearts— Lord, would you help us to do that? And then
37:52
Speaker1: making prayer and continuing to keep prayer as a relational
37:58
Speaker1: Communication, not just by rote, not just out of habit. Habits are good,
38:02
Speaker1: rhythms are good, but we have to not forget it
38:06
Speaker1: is our relationship with the Lord.
38:09
Speaker1: And then positioning ourselves through
38:13
Speaker1: that obedience, through a life that honors God,
38:16
Speaker1: positioning ourselves to say yes to whatever
38:20
Speaker1: the Lord calls us to do or say no to the things he wants us
38:24
Speaker1: to say no to. And to honor him, and then to see him
38:29
Speaker1: move and come down and work through his people.
38:33
Speaker1: That's, that's an amazing concept,
38:36
Speaker1: and it's a truth. And so let's pray that in. Let's take a
38:40
Speaker1: moment and ask God to make those things happen in and through our
38:44
Speaker1: lives as we surrender to him more completely.
38:47
Speaker1: Let's pray.
38:53
Speaker1: Father, I come before you with my friends who
38:58
Speaker1: are listening and watching, and Lord,
39:01
Speaker1: I ask that you would continually
39:05
Speaker1: search our hearts, that you would continually
39:09
Speaker1: show us, Lord, how you want us to follow you.
39:15
Speaker1: Father, we want to walk in obedience We want
39:18
Speaker1: to honor you with our lives. We want to lay
39:22
Speaker1: down things, Lord, that are ungodly.
39:27
Speaker1: We want to position ourselves, Lord, that we can— in a position that
39:31
Speaker1: we can hear from you. Lord, we want
39:35
Speaker1: to position ourselves not only to receive
39:39
Speaker1: but to also be conduit through which you want to work.
39:44
Speaker1: Lord, we are listening.
39:48
Speaker1: And Father, we surrender our lives to you. We surrender
39:52
Speaker1: and ask, God, would you have mercy on
39:56
Speaker1: us, through us?
40:01
Speaker1: Would you help us to be your hands and feet, Lord?
40:08
Speaker1: Lord, uh, something that we look over And check
40:12
Speaker1: off of our list, such as baptism,
40:16
Speaker1: is such a great picture of us dying to
40:20
Speaker1: self and living in and through Christ.
40:24
Speaker1: And so, Lord, thank you for new
40:29
Speaker1: life that we have. Thank you, Lord, for redeeming
40:33
Speaker1: us and ransoming our souls. And thank you, Lord,
40:36
Speaker1: For your Spirit that fills us and
40:41
Speaker1: flows through us. Help us not to be a hindrance in any way in
40:45
Speaker1: that. Lord, we ask that you would continually
40:49
Speaker1: revive hearts, that you would begin to work
40:53
Speaker1: in cities and communities, in churches,
40:56
Speaker1: Lord, that we would turn our hearts to you,
41:00
Speaker1: we would repent and would see your activity.
41:04
Speaker1: And God, that we may see a spiritual awakening, God, that,
41:08
Speaker1: that people would come to Christ, that they would realize their
41:12
Speaker1: lostness, they would realize that the only hope for them is relationship
41:16
Speaker1: with you. Lord, would you please use us
41:19
Speaker1: in that? Help us, Lord. Help us learn how to
41:23
Speaker1: set ourselves for the winds of the Holy Spirit. Help us learn
41:28
Speaker1: to position our lives in a way That we are ready to
41:32
Speaker1: be receptive to what you
41:36
Speaker1: have and that we can be used by you, Lord.
41:41
Speaker1: Thank you for how you are at work in so many places.
41:45
Speaker1: Thank you, Lord, for this podcast. Thank you for our friends
41:49
Speaker1: who are proclaiming truth. Thank you how you are stirring
41:53
Speaker1: in churches and in cities.
41:56
Speaker1: Uh, in families all around the world.
42:00
Speaker1: And we pray for more, Lord. We pray for more, Lord.
42:05
Speaker1: We love you. And we ask, God, that you would be glorified
42:09
Speaker1: in and through us. In the name of Jesus,
42:14
Speaker1: and amen.
42:16
Speaker0: Amen.
42:17
Speaker1: Well, thank you once again for joining us for the One Cry
42:21
Speaker1: Podcast. Don't forget Uh, to share this podcast with
42:25
Speaker1: friends and co-workers, uh, and through
42:29
Speaker1: your church. And also, don't forget to tune in next week
42:33
Speaker1: as we have— uh, we'll be starting a new series.
42:37
Speaker1: And, and so we're excited about what's coming down the road.
42:40
Speaker1: Uh, Bill and Kyle will be back, uh, sharing some wonderful
42:44
Speaker1: truths, uh, from Paul's epistles. So God
42:48
Speaker1: bless you. Have a wonderful week, and we'll see you next week.