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Living Waters of Grace for Good Friday, 2026 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
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  Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
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  County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  I'm just thinking about all the times that we run into a
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  complicated or difficult situation, a circumstance that
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  seems like a mountain that we can't get over or can't move.
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  And how many times do we look into the Word of God, which
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  gives us an assurance that Jesus is there with us, but not only
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  that, He will give us evidence that he's with us?
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  The Easter season is the single most joyous time of the year for
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  those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus.
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  It's the time of year when we celebrate the resurrection of
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  Jesus. The grave could not hold him.
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  The tomb was found to be empty. All that God had said about the
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  coming Messiah was fulfilled during this time of year.
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  Today, Pastor Lewis continues unpacking the story of the
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  resurrection, highlighting the evidence of the resurrection as
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  a way for us to have increased faith and trust in God.
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  Now here's Pastor Lewis in Matthew chapter 28 with today's
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  edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  This Angel, he, he's giving them an invitation now, an invitation
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  to come and validate what he just said.
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  So they go when they look in and they see, well, he's not there.
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  He's not there. I've never been to Israel, I've
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  never been to Jerusalem. I've never been to this tomb,
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  but I know many people who have my pastor have a Clark, you've
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  been to this tomb, correct? So and I know many people have
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  been there several times, several times.
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  So I want to ask a question because I know that when the
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  people that I asked when they were there at this tomb and they
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  said, well, you want to go over to Jerusalem, I said I don't
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  need to. You were there.
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  You said he wasn't in there. You said he wasn't there.
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  So I believe he wasn't there. The Bible says he wasn't there.
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  That's two witnesses. Pastor Clark, when you went to
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  Jerusalem, when you went to the tomb, when you looked in, was he
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  there? I have no reason to have to go.
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  My pastor said he wasn't there, He's not there, and indeed he is
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  going before you into Galilee. There you will see him.
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  Behold, I have told you. And he did.
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  He told him just that. Jesus told them on the last time
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  in the book of Matthew when he told him that he was going to be
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  killed and he was going to be buried and he was going to rise
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  again. He said, but I will go before
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  you in Galilee. If you go back to Matthew
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  chapter 26, which is a should be just a couple pages over and
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  verse 32 and I'm going to start reading here in verse 31.
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  Then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble
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  because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike
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  the shepherd, meaning that he was going to be stricken,
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  beaten, He's going to suffer and he's going to die, and the sheep
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  of the flock will be scattered. And that's exactly what they all
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  did when he was being beaten. They ran, they left them.
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  Even Peter who said that he wouldn't.
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  Verse 32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to
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  Galilee. So just like the Angel said,
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  look just like he said, just like he told you, OK, He's going
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  to go before you into Galilee. So so far, everything that Jesus
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  has said was going to happen is coming to be verse 8 and 9
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  Martha do 10/2. He says so they went out quickly
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  from the tomb with fear and great joy and they ran to bring
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  his disciples word. So let's stop there for a
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  second. So they left with both fear and
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  joy. I I, I can certainly understand
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  that. And you just saw this Angel
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  sitting on a the stone of this tomb that it probably would have
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  taken about 30 men plus a machine to move of some type.
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  But this Angel was there by himself.
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  But the other accounts actually show that there were more than
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  one Angel there. We don't know exactly how many
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  angels were there, but there were more than one Angel.
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  There was more than one Angel there.
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  But this Angel was sitting there on this on a stone as in victory
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  over this thing. This is not important.
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  You know, he's sitting there on a stone.
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  So I would imagine because everybody that sees an Angel,
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  the first thing the Angel has to say to them is fear.
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  Not because it's so horrific to see an Angel, so terrifying to
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  see the face of an Angel. So he says, so he says here that
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  he, they left there with fear in that fear, I'm sure from the
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  fact of having that encounter with the Angel, but also fear,
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  the fact that they don't know where their Lord is.
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  They don't know where their Lord is.
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  The Lord is not here in this tomb and we don't know where he
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  is. I'm sure there's fear there, but
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  also great joy because the Angel has told them that he is risen,
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  so they have the hope that he is alive.
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  He's alive. So they ran there with great
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  joy. But once again, the Providence
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  and the foreknowledge of God to know that I need these women to
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  be convincing witnesses for me. I need them to have a conviction
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  about the fact that Jesus Christ has risen and not just take it
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  from hearsay, but I need them to know.
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  So look at what happens in verse 9.
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  So as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met
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  them, and he said, rejoice. So they came and held him by the
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  feet and worshipped. Then Jesus said to them, do not
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  be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and
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  there we they will see me. So they got the testimony from
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  the angels, but then the Providence and the foreknowledge
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  of God, they knew that their hearts had to be settled on
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  this. So as they were going on the
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  way, Jesus appears to them and he meets them on the way.
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  I'm just thinking about all the times that we run into a
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  complicated or a difficult situation, a circumstance that
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  seems like a mountain that we can't get over or can't move.
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  And how many times do we look into the word of God, which
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  gives us an assurance that Jesus is there with us, But not only
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  that, he will give us evidence that he's with us.
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  He will either send somebody with a with a word of
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  confirmation or send help from somewhere, or he will turn the
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  situation around supernaturally that we can't even explain.
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  He meets us right where we need him, where he met then and they
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  were able to see that he was alive.
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  Man, what that must have felt like, What that must have been
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  like. You're crying one night.
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  You're crying Friday night. You're crying all day Saturday.
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  I'm sure they cried missing their savior early morning
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  Sunday on the way to the tomb. They're probably crying carrying
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  their spices. And then they get there and the
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  Angel said he's not there. Whoa, wait a minute.
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  He's not here. Hell, he's risen.
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  Oh, OK, OK, you say so and I'll go tell him like you told me to.
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  But then on the way they see Jesus standing there and he says
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  rejoice, He doesn't have to say anything else, just rejoice,
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  rejoice. So the Bible says that they
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  grabbed him, they held on to his feet and worship him.
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  Which also deals with another issue that those who are want us
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  to deny Christ and those who want us to refute his deity and
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  want us to refute the fact that he was not only man but he was
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  also God. They said that he grabbed him by
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  the feet, which means this was not a phantom, this was not an A
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  figment of their imagination, this was not a just a spirit,
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  this was Jesus. Not only did they recognize him,
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  but they were able to touch him. They grabbed him by the feet and
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  they worshipped him. Glory to God.
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  So now they're leaving there and they're going there with a heart
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  filled with peace, a heart filled with joy.
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  They can't wait to get to the apostles.
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  Now I know he's alive. So these women become the first
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  evangelist and tell the true story about Jesus Christ was
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  dead and now he's alive. So they go and they and, and he
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  says go and tell, go and tell. This is the second time he said
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  that. He also said that back in verse
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  7. He said go and tell, go quickly
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  and tell his disciples. And then over here Jesus tells
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  them go and tell, go tell it, go tell it.
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  We have the truth. He revealed the truth for us.
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  We see the truth, go tell it. We should go tell it to share it
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  with other people. He gave it to us for us to do
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  that. So now looking at these next few
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  verses, verse 11 through 15, we're going to take it all
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  together. Now while they were going,
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  behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to
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  the chief priests all the things that had happened.
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  Now I just want to say this. For generations upon generations
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  upon generations upon generations, Satan has
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  consistently try to use people to defy the name Jesus, to deny
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  the name Jesus, and to deny the truth of Jesus.
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  Done it for generations. This lie about Jesus did not
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  resurrect from the dead. This lie starts here.
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  So verse 12, now the Bible says they went to the chief priest
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  and he reported all things that had happened.
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  We don't know if rather or not they actually saw Jesus.
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  In fact, I don't think that they actually did see you.
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  I think they were knocked out when Jesus came on out of that
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  tomb. They're probably knocked out
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  just by the fact that they saw those angels and they knew they
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  couldn't beat them. You know, you know, these are
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  these are tough men, but these angels come down looking like
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  lightning and dressed in all white.
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  I don't know if we I don't know if my spear is going to go.
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  It's going to work here. So I'm sure these men were so
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  frightened and they like you said, they were they were out.
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  So when Jesus came out of that tomb, they probably didn't even
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  see them, but they know what had happened.
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  They know what had happened. So in verse 12 it says when they
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  had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they
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  gave a large sum of money. Here we go.
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  Here we go, a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying tell
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  them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we
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  slept. And if this comes to the
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  governor's ears, pilot's ears, if we we will appease him and
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  make you secure, we're going to make sure you're OK Don't worry
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  about it. So they took the money and did
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  as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly
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  reported among the Jews until this day.
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  So many questions in this group of Scripture here, so many
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  questions. But the main question comes
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  here, the Pharisees who knew that Jesus probably would not be
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  there because they knew that he said he was going to resurrect.
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  So they knew that that was a possibility.
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  He would not be there. They weren't afraid of the of
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  the, the, the believers coming and taking them.
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  They put a guard there. So if you put a guard there, how
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  in the world did some men just come and take Jesus?
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  So that means if you were so sleepy, that means you had to
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  sleep through them moving the stone.
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  You had to sleep through them going in to the the tomb and you
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  had to be asleep as they carried this dead man out of the tomb
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  and away from you. You had to sleep through all
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  that. I mean, that just doesn't even
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  make sense. But that's the enemy.
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  The enemy Satan will will put together lies that don't even
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  make sense might make sense to him, but it don't make sense
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  doesn't make sense. So, so, so they, so they started
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  this lie and just like the Scripture says, so they took the
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  money because you know, you know, if, if you're not in the
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  Lord Jesus Christ, you have a price, you have a price.
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  What would it take for you to compromise?
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  What would it take for you to deny what you know about Jesus
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  Christ? Is there anything in your life
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  that might cause you to compromise Jesus Christ?
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  Is there any ungodly relationship?
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  Is there any possession? Is there any amount of money?
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  Is there anything that's in your life that may cause you to
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  compromise and to deny the truth about Jesus Christ?
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  We all have to ask ourselves those questions and pray that
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  the Holy Spirit will give us strength, will give us strength
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  because we are, we're people and we are prone to wander, we're
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  prone to fail. But through the power of the
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  Holy Spirit, he can give us the strength to stand and to not
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  waver and to not compromise. So it says, and this has been
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  done and, and, and it's, it's, it's been spoken and that's been
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  the story ever since. So there's 2.
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  So there's two stories that's in history today.
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  There's two stories. First of all, no Jesus and one
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  story. Jesus didn't rise, he didn't
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  resurrect. That's one story.
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  Second stories that he did resurrect, He is the Messiah.
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  One story is that he's not the Messiah, but he's some madman.
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  The other stories, no, he is the Messiah.
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  He is the truth. He's the way and he is the life.
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  And the question is, what story do you believe today?
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  There's so much proof here that Jesus resurrected.
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  There's so much proof because it says hereafter.
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  If we read a little further and go into first First Corinthians
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  chapter 15 verses 2 and three, it talks about how not only did
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  these men did he show himself to these men and to these women,
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  but the Bible says that he was seen by more than 500.
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  Now keep in mind you only need 2 to 3 witnesses to make every
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  word confirmed. According to the Jewish
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  tradition and Jewish law, in the mouth of two or three witnesses,
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  every word is established. They have more than 500
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  witnesses that would have that have seen Jesus alive after his
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  resurrection afterwards. Not only that, he has us as
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  witnesses that Jesus is not dead, but he's alive.
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  And how do we know? Because he lives in me, He lives
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  in you. He lives in you, He lives in
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  you. Your life demonstrates the true
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  life of Jesus Christ. So because we know that Jesus
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  did die as he said, he was killed.
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  And because we know that Jesus was buried, as he said, and
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  because we know that he rose again out of that grave from the
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  dead, as he said. So how does that impact our
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  lives? Well, first of all, as we just
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  talked about last week with Jude, Jude tells us that we
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  should contend for the faith that was once delivered to us to
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  stand on the word of God. I was driving through Greensburg
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  yesterday, and I wonder how many of you were driving through
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  Greensburg on Main Street going in front of the courthouse.
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  And they had this protest going on.
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  So on the left side of the street, there was probably about
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  four or 500 people who were, you know, it doesn't matter what
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  they represent. It was 2 or 4, about 3 or 400
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  people, 5 or 600 people on this one side of the street.
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  And over here, there's a little less people, but they were all
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  still protesting. Right through the middle were a
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  number of police cars making sure that it was separated and
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  that there was no, no violence going on.
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  But as I was coming through there, I was thinking, man, look
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  how passionate these people are about whatever it is that
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  they're believing. And I don't even know what it
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  was, but look how passionate they are about it.
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  And I looked to the other side of the street, said, look how
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  passionate they are about what it is they believe.
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  Obviously it's different than what they believe.
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  And then I thought, are we that passionate about what we
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  believe? We're not told that we go out
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  and carry picket signs or anything like that, but we are
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  told to contend for the faith. Do we stand on the truth of
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  Jesus Christ? Do we stand on the truth of the
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  apostles and the and the and the the teaching of the apostles,
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  the doctrines of the apostles when we share our faith with
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  someone or do we flip flop? Do we contend for the truth?
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  And then a little further down in the in the book of Matthew
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  chapter 28, it tells us he says that we should obey the, the
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  Great Commission. He said go and make disciples of
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  all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
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  and in the Holy Spirit and teaching them.
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  To observe all things that I have taught you.
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  Are we doing that? That's how we live, you know, in
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  the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of knowing the
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  resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don't live for the here and
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  now. We live for what's going to
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  happen for us later, for the life to come.
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  That's what we live for and also tells us over in first
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  Corinthians 5815 and 58. He says that we should stand
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  fast, be steadfast, and we should be unmovable and we
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  should always be abounding in the work of the Lord, the
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  ministry of the Lord, the life of the Lord, abounding in it
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  every day. It should fill our hearts.
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  Regardless of what you do professionally, regardless of
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  what high school you go to, regardless of what middle school
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  you go to, regardless of where you go on your job, from 9:00 to
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  5:00 or 8:00 to 5:00 or whatever it may be, are you, are we
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  abounding? Are we abounding in the work of
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  the Lord? When I meet with people in my
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  community, when I meet with people on the street or talk to
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  people in grocery stores, am I abounding in the work of the
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  Lord? It's his spirit, the one that
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  people are seeing or they see in my old fleshly spirit.
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  Am I abounding in the things of the Lord?
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  That's how we should live. And of course, we're not living
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  to build up treasures or to lay up treasures in this life.
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  That's not what we're, that's not what we're doing.
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  That's another part of us not living for this world.
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  You see, the treasures of this life, the moth and the rust, can
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  come in and cause it to be corrupt because it's not
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  permanent, It's temporary. Anything that we achieve in this
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  world is temporary. I was always taught that at one
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  point or another, everything that we have, it's either going
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  to leave us or we're going to leave it.
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  Nothing is permanent in this world, but it's what we have in
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  heaven. The treasures that we lay up in
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  heaven that are eternal. So we lay up treasures in heaven
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  with a moth and a rust does not corrupt, nor can thieves break
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  in and steal, but we have an inheritance.
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  The Bible tells us we have an inheritance in Jesus Christ, an
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  inheritance that is incorruptible, an inheritance
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  that is, that is undefiled, an inheritance that will never,
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  ever, ever fade away. So I pray that with this
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  resurrection and understanding of this resurrection, it means
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  that we too will have a resurrection one day.
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  And this life is not our permanent home, but we're going
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  to be resurrected to resurrecting life one day where
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  not only will our bodies change, but our world will change.
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  It's going to be a new heaven and a new earth and all these
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  old things are going to pass away.
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  And we live looking for that, looking unto Jesus, the Author
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  and the finisher of our faith. That's what Resurrection Day
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  should mean to us all. Thanks for joining us today as
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  we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus here on Living Waters of
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  Grace. Pastor Lewis Harrell has been so
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  excited to share with us about the miracle of the resurrection
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  of Christ. The human race spent thousands
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  of years lost in sin before God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ,
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  to come be a perfect sacrifice for all mankind.
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  His blood is enough to atone for the sins of all mankind, and His
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  resurrection puts an end to death itself.
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  Our desire is to spread this good news of the gospel to as
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  many people as possible, but we need your help to do so.
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  The first way you can help us is by sharing this program with a
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  friend. You can join us here on Grace FM
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  91.7 or they can TuneIn online at Grace Radio dot FM.
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  And as we continue to develop a new station that will reach many
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  more listeners, you can send financial gifts to Grace FMPO
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  Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. If you're in Greensburg, we'd
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  also love to invite you to join us at Calvary Chapel
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  Westmoreland. We're located at 400 E
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  Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B.
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  We need on Sundays at 10:30 AM. If you're not able to visit us
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  in person, we encourage you to connect with us on the web at
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  calvarychapelonline.com. There you will find a link to
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  our Calvary Chapel Westmoreland mobile app, our social media
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  feeds and the contact form so you can get connected with us or
• 25:32
  share a prayer request with our team.
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  We also live stream our services every Sunday on our YouTube
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  channel. Well, we pray that you will be
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  blessed as you go forth into your week.
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  Until next time, we'd like to thank you for tuning into this
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  special Easter edition of Living Waters of Grace.