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Max Lucado – Just Speak: Don’t Be Afraid to Use Your Voice · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: O great and mighty king, you have chosen by your
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Speaker 1: grace to enter our world as a child, and to
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Speaker 1: be born in a tomb, and to live on this earth,
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Speaker 1: then to die for our sins, then to rise from
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Speaker 1: the dead, and now we believe in your heavenly presence
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Speaker 1: for hope. You will sit forever on the right side
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Speaker 1: of the Father. Amen. Let's start with this chapter from
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Speaker 1: the book of the works of the messengers, the second chapter,
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Speaker 1: verse 14, then I will move to verse 38. Then
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Speaker 1: Peter stood with the eleven, and raised his voice and
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Speaker 1: addressed the crowd, saying, O Jews and all the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully
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Speaker 1: to what I say. Toobu wa lia'tamid kull waahidin minkum
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Speaker 1: bismi Yesu'a al-Masihi lighufrani khatiyakum. Fatanalu a'tiya talroohi al-qudusi. Hatha
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Speaker 1: al-wa'adu lakum wa liabnaikum wa likulli manhum ba'iduna. Likulli man
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Speaker 1: yada'uhu al-rabbu ilhana. Ma allathi asaba butrusu. What gave him
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Speaker 1: the courage and ability to stand in front of a
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Speaker 1: free crowd in Jerusalem and speak with all this courage
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Speaker 1: and confidence? Only seven weeks ago, he was hidden because
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Speaker 1: of Jesus, and now he announces his salvation through Jesus.
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Speaker 1: In the hours that preceded the cross, Christ denied, and
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Speaker 1: now Christ announces. On the night of the Great Friday, No,
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Speaker 1: but there was a restaurant in the middle of the
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Speaker 1: city I heard him talking, and I recognized his corner,
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Speaker 1: and she said, I think I saw you with the
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Speaker 1: one called Jesus. Peter got angry. He collapsed. Jesus didn't
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Speaker 1: deny it, but he blamed the idea itself. Then Peter
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Speaker 1: began to curse himself and swear, I don't know this man.
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Speaker 1: It is true that we are not called to receive
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Speaker 1: the first gospel promise, but we have lovers and children
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Speaker 1: we admire, and fathers who do not know the God
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Speaker 1: we know. However, when it comes to talking about faith
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Speaker 1: and expressing this great love for God, we are worried,
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Speaker 1: what if I make a mistake in my words? What
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Speaker 1: if I make a mistake? As a result, we do
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Speaker 1: not speak at all. And I think that Mary Magdalene
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Speaker 1: was present as well. And so John and the two
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Speaker 1: apostles followed Jesus and supported his message. And there is
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Speaker 1: no doubt that they were one of the members of
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Speaker 1: the church. Jesus sent them to Jerusalem and said to them,
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Speaker 1: Wait there. So they went and waited. They did not
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Speaker 1: know how long their wait would be, One day or
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Speaker 1: ten years, they didn't know. And they didn't know what
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Speaker 1: exactly they were waiting for. They knew that they were
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Speaker 1: waiting for the Holy Spirit. But how? And in what way?
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Speaker 1: Could they imagine what would happen? What happened? Look at this.
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Speaker 1: A tongue of fire appeared in their way. And the
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Speaker 1: story begins with Luke, who recorded it, saying, And when
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Speaker 1: the day of the fifty came, They were all gathered
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Speaker 1: in one place. So, they have what Christ told them.
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Speaker 1: They are in one place. The 50th day, after the
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Speaker 1: 50th day of the resurrection of Christ, is one of
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Speaker 1: those days that every Hebrew or Jewish was asked to
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Speaker 1: participate in, wherever he lived in the world, at least
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Speaker 1: once in his life. Some estimates indicate that the population
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Speaker 1: of the city of Jerusalem used to rise from 100,000
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Speaker 1: to about a million people during the 1950s. The city
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Speaker 1: of David was full of activity. As you can see,
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Speaker 1: the divine timing was precise. Now, after the sacrifice of Christ,
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Speaker 1: now after the resurrection of the tomb of Christ, now
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Speaker 1: with the ascension of Christ to the throne, and with
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Speaker 1: the meeting of the apostles in one place for prayer
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Speaker 1: in anticipation of the power of the Holy Spirit, and
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Speaker 1: with the gathering of representatives of 15 nations at least
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Speaker 1: in one place, the time has come. Suddenly, there was
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Speaker 1: a sound from the sky like the sound of a storm,
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Speaker 1: and the whole house was filled where they were sitting.
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Speaker 1: And they saw what resembled the tongue of a fire
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Speaker 1: that split and settled on each one of them. So
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Speaker 1: they all were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they
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Speaker 1: began to speak with other tongues as the Holy Spirit
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Speaker 1: gave them the power. and in Jerusalem there were Jews
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Speaker 1: of every nation under the sky. And when they heard
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Speaker 1: this voice, a group of people gathered in confusion because
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Speaker 1: each of them heard his language spoken. You can make
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Speaker 1: a lot of mistakes in this section because many of
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Speaker 1: the phrases deserve your attention. Notice that the tongue of
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Speaker 1: fire lit up each one of them, men and women,
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Speaker 1: children and girls, divided and settled on each one of them,
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Speaker 1: and the direct result of the miracle of the Holy
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Speaker 1: Spirit was that people from all over the world heard
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Speaker 1: their mother's language speaking. They heard their mother's language speaking.
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Speaker 1: What a great moment! to hear Anderawis proclaim the existence
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Speaker 1: of God in the Egyptian language, and then to narrate
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Speaker 1: the miracles of Christ in the dialect of the Cappadocians,
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Speaker 1: and Mary, the mother of Jesus, describes the birth of
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Speaker 1: Jesus to a group of Cretans in their country's language.
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Speaker 2: Some of.
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Speaker 1: The attendees were joking, and accused the students of cheating
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Speaker 1: in the early morning. But others were surprised and asked
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Speaker 1: this great question, what does this mean? The Holy Spirit
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Speaker 1: enables the followers of Christ to speak the language of
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Speaker 1: the hearts of the world. The Holy Spirit enables the
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Speaker 1: followers of Christ to speak the language of the hearts
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Speaker 1: of the world. By the grace of the Holy Spirit,
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Speaker 1: these ordinary men and women were able to As described
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Speaker 1: in the book of Acts 4 and 13, speaking languages
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Speaker 1: they have never studied and influencing nations they have never visited,
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Speaker 1: and perhaps they will never visit. A fire came down
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Speaker 1: from the sky and burned about 3,000 hearts. This is
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Speaker 1: the number of people who were worshiped that day. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: I think the question we are asked is, How do
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Speaker 1: you want to be a guide to the presence of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, qualified to speak in a way that
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Speaker 1: touches people's hearts? And we can witness many examples, people
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Speaker 1: as examples on this promise. We can talk about Billy
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Speaker 1: Graham as the example of the simple son of Alban
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Speaker 1: farms from the state of North Carolina, who spoke to
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Speaker 1: more than a billion people in his life. We can
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Speaker 1: narrate the story of Charles Spurgeon, and the 18th century
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Speaker 1: from London, who declared the word of God in a
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Speaker 1: way that many still read his promises to this day.
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Speaker 1: Mother Teresa is another example, almost 150 years old, and
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Speaker 1: yet she has surpassed her generations. We can talk about
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Speaker 1: legendary characters such as Graham, Spurgeon, and Mother Teresa, But
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Speaker 1: I prefer to prove the power of the Holy Spirit
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Speaker 1: to enable his holiness through a story. Brenda Jones On
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Speaker 1: the day I went to see the handsome surgeon, she
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Speaker 1: was fighting with breast cancer. And the purpose of the
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Speaker 1: consultation was to discuss the reconstruction of the breast. And yet,
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Speaker 1: she did what she used to do, changed the subject
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Speaker 1: and wanted to tell her doctor what Jesus did for her.
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Speaker 1: She asked Brenda if she could share a story, so Dr.
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Speaker 1: Beat answered her with good manners, then she talked to
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Speaker 1: him about her hope in heaven. It was clear that
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Speaker 1: she did not want to die, but death is a
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Speaker 1: necessary step to move her from this life to the
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Speaker 1: next life, Then she turned to him and looked into
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Speaker 1: his eyes and said, He has died for you, doctor.
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Speaker 1: Here is a weak and sick woman talking to a teacher,
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Speaker 1: a high-ranking and famous nurse, who tells him everything about
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Speaker 1: his mistake and his need for a savior. That conversation
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Speaker 1: changed the life of the house for 15 minutes forever.
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Speaker 1: Then there is the story of a Brazilian priest called
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Speaker 1: Antinor Gonçalves. He served as a shepherd in Eto, not
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Speaker 1: far from Sao Paulo, Brazil, for more than two decades.
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Speaker 1: His hearing is fluent in English and Portuguese. He could
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Speaker 1: listen to it for hours. But he didn't have a
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Speaker 1: story to tell if not a story of a shepherd
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Speaker 1: on the roof of a house. One of the neighbors,
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Speaker 1: Yal Al-Ajabi, turned his chair into what looked like an
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Speaker 1: advertising board, as he put a board on it. And
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Speaker 1: he wrote every morning a different verse from the Holy Book.
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Speaker 1: And every morning, Mr. Gonsalvis would stop to read the
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Speaker 1: verse of the day. Mr. Gonsalves was not a Christian,
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Speaker 1: but little by little the words written on the cross
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Speaker 1: touched his heart. Words like this, let us see if
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Speaker 1: you are still able to do this. It has been
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Speaker 1: thirty years. So he knocked on the door. And she
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Speaker 1: led a conversation to a study of the Bible, then
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Speaker 1: to a visit to the church. Antinor, the preacher I
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Speaker 1: told you about, was just a young man at that time,
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Speaker 1: but his life changed dramatically. Because one of them said, well,
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Speaker 1: at least I can write a verse from the Bible
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Speaker 1: on a cross. And so Allah used him. Subbura to
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Speaker 1: change the life of this young man. And Allah also
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Speaker 1: used a conservative player in the midfield to affect my life.
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Speaker 1: Me and Mike were playing in the same football team.
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Speaker 1: And more accurately, we were sitting on the same bench.
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Speaker 1: People ask me about my center in the football team.
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Speaker 1: So I answer, I used to play in the back
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Speaker 1: center because the coach used to always tell me, go
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Speaker 1: back to the bench. Mike was the main midfielder and
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Speaker 1: I was the conservative midfielder. on the line and hold
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Speaker 1: our shoes and do what the midfielders do. In that case,
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Speaker 1: we did the opposite of what the Christian youth should do.
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Speaker 1: Mike had an excuse. In the beginning, I wanted his
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Speaker 1: new behavior to be his love for Bam. But even
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Speaker 1: at times, their separation, and they have been married for
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Speaker 1: 40 years by the way, did not lose that spirit.
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Speaker 1: After a few years, after 5 years specifically, How could
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Speaker 1: he provide them with food every day? How could he
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Speaker 1: lead them in the wilderness with fire? How could he
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Speaker 1: lead them in the wilderness with a cloud in the sky?
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Speaker 1: How could he provide them with clothes and shoes that
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Speaker 1: do not get dirty? But if they allow for one
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Speaker 1: problem with the appearance, they will vote to return to Egypt.
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Speaker 1: You will not believe this, but in one of the
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Speaker 1: times they held their crowns and rings and turned them
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Speaker 1: into a wheel and began to worship it. They were
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Speaker 1: constantly forgetting what Allah had done for them. Therefore, over
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Speaker 1: the generations, they developed ways of remembering to help them remember.
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Speaker 1: One of these ways was called Ibnizr. After a successful
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Speaker 1: military campaign and a spiritual revolution, they said, we will
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Speaker 1: never forget this time. So, I would like to ask you,
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Speaker 1: what if you deepened your understanding of your spiritual moments?
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Speaker 1: Those moments in which only Allah can. When you look
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Speaker 1: back at your spiritual life, don't you see moments in
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Speaker 1: which only Allah can do anything? Allah alone is the
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Speaker 1: one who achieved this achievement for you. Allah alone is
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Speaker 1: the one who ruled that job. Allah alone is the
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Speaker 1: one who answered your prayers. This is your.
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Speaker 3: Story.
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Speaker 1: Here it is. What if you were happy with those moments,
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Speaker 1: even if someone asked you, you said, let me tell
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Speaker 1: you what Allah did for me. He is one of
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Speaker 1: the children of the village. A story of a prophet
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Speaker 1: called Linus. Then he returned and opened the Holy Book
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Speaker 1: on the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. And
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Speaker 1: he began to read to them the words of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: You have given me all authority in heaven and on earth.
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Speaker 1: The officer was not concerned with the Holy Book, so
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Speaker 1: he began to write notes about Jesus and the authority
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Speaker 1: that he had. Linus continued to read, so they went
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Speaker 1: and studied all the nations and made them in the
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Speaker 1: name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So,
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Speaker 1: when you go to work, or you take that plane,
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Speaker 1: or you go to school, or you sit next to someone,
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Speaker 1: every time you open your mouth, every time you talk,
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Speaker 1: you can't see him, but there's a beast of fire
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Speaker 1: above your head. And this beast will take this body
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Speaker 1: tongue and you can speak the language of the heart.
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Speaker 1: It's not in your hand. وَتَغْرِسُوهَا فِي الْقُلُوبِ You don't
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Speaker 1: have to.
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Speaker 2: Be new You don't have to stay close As long
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Speaker 2: as you're somewhere out there.
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Speaker 1: That's enough for me I.
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Speaker 2: Don't need to hold.
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Speaker 4: You near me Don't need promises to keep.
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Speaker 1: Just the thought that.
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Speaker 2: You are breathing Somewhere in this world I see.
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Speaker 5: Even if I'm not beside you Even if you never know.
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Speaker 2: There's a quiet kind of comfort Just in knowing you
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Speaker 2: still glow I don't need forever.
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Speaker 1: I just need you to exist.
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Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
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Speaker 5: to look my way You don't have to be my home.
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Speaker 1: It's enough to know you're living In a world I'm
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Speaker 1: not alone.
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Speaker 4: I won't chase you through the distance Won't disturb your
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Speaker 4: chosen life I'll just keep you in my silence.
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Speaker 1: Like a star that shines at night Through the dark
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Speaker 1: and through the blue.
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Speaker 4: I still think of you You don't have to be
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Speaker 4: my home.
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Speaker 1: It's enough to know.
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Speaker 5: You're living in a world I'm not alone.
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Speaker 1: I don't need to be your light.
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Speaker 4: I don't need to cross your mind All I need
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Speaker 4: is just the truth That you're somewhere.
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Speaker 1: Still alive You don't have.
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Speaker 5: To stay with me You don't have to feel the same.
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Speaker 3: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
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Speaker 3: through my days You don't have to look my way
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Speaker 3: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
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Speaker 3: know you're living In a world I'm not alone.