Transcript

Finding Wisdom · Faith at Work

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SPEAKER_00: Let's begin with kind of what's going on with Jesus here in chapter 16.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is talking to his disciples,
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SPEAKER_00: and he says,
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there is so much more I want to tell you than what I just told
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you right now.
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I can imagine the disciples,
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I know,
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I certainly would have been thinking,
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excuse me,
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SPEAKER_00: What do you mean, you can't?
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SPEAKER_00: Right?
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SPEAKER_00: You've already told us you're leaving,
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SPEAKER_00: so we've got,
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SPEAKER_00: like,
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SPEAKER_00: one dinner,
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SPEAKER_00: and then sort of a quasi-pleasant,
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SPEAKER_00: unpleasant stroll to the garden,
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SPEAKER_00: and then you're just trying to leave.
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SPEAKER_00: How is it that you just can't tell us the rest?
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, really, Jesus?
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, have you ever experienced that in your life?
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SPEAKER_00: It's sort of like this divine cliff that we've got going on here.
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It's sort of like,
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well,
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like your boss saying,
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there is this presentation due tomorrow.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'll just sort of explain it then, right?
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SPEAKER_00: Right.
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Or your dentist looking in your mouth and going,
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oh,
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wow,
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that's really concerning.
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SPEAKER_00: We'll discuss that in about a year.
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SPEAKER_00: Or the classic,
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SPEAKER_00: you're in trouble at home and your mother says,
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SPEAKER_00: we will talk about that when your father gets up.
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SPEAKER_00: which is the fear of every child I have heard before, as we all have.
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SPEAKER_00: Right?
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SPEAKER_00: It's that kind of thing going on.
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SPEAKER_00: This divine cliffhanger.
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SPEAKER_00: There's so much more to tell you, but I just...
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SPEAKER_00: right now.
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SPEAKER_00: But fortunately, Jesus adds this.
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SPEAKER_00: When she, the spirit of truth comes, she will guide you into all truth.
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Now,
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we talked about this lastly,
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right,
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about using the personal pronoun she.
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when Jesus is talking about the spirit,
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and that is the language that he would have used.
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SPEAKER_00: He would have used the personal pronoun he,
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SPEAKER_00: because in Aramaic,
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SPEAKER_00: which is the language that Jesus spoke,
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SPEAKER_00: spirit is a feminine noun.
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And so when you refer to a feminine noun in a language like
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Aramaic or Latin or
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SPEAKER_00: Spanish or whatever it might be,
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SPEAKER_00: pretty much any other language than English,
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SPEAKER_00: right?
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SPEAKER_00: It
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SPEAKER_00: would have been a feminine pronoun.
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SPEAKER_00: So he would have said, she is going to bring you into all truth.
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SPEAKER_00: So I think the disciples were probably alike, and we should be too.
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SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
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SPEAKER_00: Little bit of a plot twist here going on.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not ghosting the disciples.
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SPEAKER_00: He's not ghosting us.
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SPEAKER_00: He is tagging someone else in.
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SPEAKER_00: Not just anyone.
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SPEAKER_00: It is us.
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SPEAKER_00: Fearing.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus is about to hand everything over.
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SPEAKER_00: And who's he handing it to?
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Not a board of directors,
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not the religious leaders of the time,
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not even the disciples,
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right?
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SPEAKER_00: He handed over to the spirit,
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SPEAKER_00: to her,
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SPEAKER_00: to the spirit of truth,
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SPEAKER_00: to the spirit of wisdom,
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SPEAKER_00: to the spirit of peace.
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And she is going to provide the intel for the whole rest of the
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mission until Jesus
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SPEAKER_00: Christ returns.
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SPEAKER_00: And we need to notice that this is not some news.
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SPEAKER_00: character showing up in the sequel.
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SPEAKER_00: He has been here since the beginning.
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SPEAKER_00: If you look at Proverbs,
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SPEAKER_00: you will find her high-low wisdom standing at the crossroads,
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SPEAKER_00: raising her voice,
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SPEAKER_00: calling out to anyone who will listen.
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SPEAKER_00: And she's not whispering in a corner.
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SPEAKER_00: She's out pulling at the gate,
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SPEAKER_00: in the street,
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SPEAKER_00: just like Pentecost,
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SPEAKER_00: saying to you old people,
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SPEAKER_00: I call out,
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SPEAKER_00: I raise my voice to all humanity.
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 8.4
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she's ancient she ain't no newcomer in fact she says the lord
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created me at the
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beginning of his work the first of his acts a long ago i was
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deciding like a master
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SPEAKER_00: worker and i was his delight daily
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 8, 22 and 30.
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SPEAKER_00: Just look it up.
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SPEAKER_00: Let that in for just a moment.
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SPEAKER_00: The spirit of wisdom was made before kind.
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SPEAKER_00: At very beginning,
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SPEAKER_00: Before stars were flung into the sky.
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SPEAKER_00: Before ocean had formed.
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SPEAKER_00: He was beside God, shaping creation, delighting in it.
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SPEAKER_00: And, very important, delighting in us.
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SPEAKER_00: Delighting.
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SPEAKER_00: In humanity.
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SPEAKER_00: Really.
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SPEAKER_00: For humanity.
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SPEAKER_00: From the very beginning.
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SPEAKER_00: Alongside God.
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SPEAKER_00: And alongside Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is saying.
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SPEAKER_00: The spirit that I've known forever.
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SPEAKER_00: Right.
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SPEAKER_00: Will guide you into all truth.
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SPEAKER_00: He's saying.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a new voice.
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SPEAKER_00: This is the voice.
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SPEAKER_00: That helped build the world.
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that has been speaking all along,
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the one who has long been in your corner,
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listen to her.
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SPEAKER_00: That shape is how the disciples are meant to respond,
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SPEAKER_00: not with suspicion,
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SPEAKER_00: not with control,
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SPEAKER_00: not by trying to manage her,
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SPEAKER_00: with attentiveness.
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SPEAKER_00: They were not being handed a textbook or, let me be clear, a Bible.
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SPEAKER_00: They were being invited into a relationship with a living,
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SPEAKER_00: creative,
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truth and wisdom speaking present that would be alongside them
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at the end of the
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SPEAKER_00: world.
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SPEAKER_00: And so are we.
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We don't listen to a spirit who just gives us moral tips or
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doctrinal answers.
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SPEAKER_00: We listen to wisdom herself who shaped the universe,
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who knew Jesus in the beginning and stood by him and God in the
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beginning.
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SPEAKER_00: That is an amazing revelation in my mind.
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SPEAKER_00: To follow the Spirit is to listen for wisdom,
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SPEAKER_00: voice,
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SPEAKER_00: in our questions,
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SPEAKER_00: in our prayers,
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SPEAKER_00: in the mess of everyday life and decision-making.
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SPEAKER_00: It's to believe that the Spirit
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spirit bonding galaxies also care deeply about your next
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conversation about your
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next choice about your next act of love so friends do not
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expect this spirit to
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SPEAKER_00: stay quiet
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She has been speaking into the world since the very beginning,
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and oh,
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how she loves to talk.
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SPEAKER_00: And she's got something to say today.
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SPEAKER_00: She still cries out at the crossroads of our lives.
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SPEAKER_00: Turn, listen, listen.
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SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful, beautiful message.
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SPEAKER_00: So the big question then is,
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how then do I foster a listening dialogue and relationship with
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this spirit of
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SPEAKER_00: wisdom and truth and God?
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SPEAKER_00: How do I foster that relationship when, of course, it is the spirit?
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SPEAKER_00: Well,
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SPEAKER_00: first off,
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SPEAKER_00: it's not just believing,
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SPEAKER_00: and it's not just doctrine,
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SPEAKER_00: and it is not just verse on the wall.
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We need to cultivate somehow a real living relationship with
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this divine void who
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SPEAKER_00: still cries out,
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SPEAKER_00: who still nudges,
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SPEAKER_00: and who still leaves.
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SPEAKER_00: And thankfully,
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs has a lot to say about how we can do that.
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So we're going to look at six different things that Proverbs
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teaches us throughout
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SPEAKER_00: the book of Proverbs that was written by Solomon,
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SPEAKER_00: who was,
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SPEAKER_00: according to him and perhaps others,
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SPEAKER_00: the wisest person in the world.
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SPEAKER_00: First thing that we need to learn to do is to listen daily life.
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SPEAKER_00: Wisdom, the scripture says, calls out in the street.
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 1, 20 and 23 and 8, 1 through 3.
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SPEAKER_00: She speaks, it says, at the crossroad.
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SPEAKER_00: So we must stay present in our everyday life,
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SPEAKER_00: not just in churches,
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SPEAKER_00: but out there in the streets,
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SPEAKER_00: in everyday choices.
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SPEAKER_00: We need to begin to look for her in conversations,
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SPEAKER_00: in creation,
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SPEAKER_00: and in conflict,
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SPEAKER_00: as Jesus invited us to.
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SPEAKER_00: Secondly, we are to sit with attention.
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs says, seek her like silver.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay?
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SPEAKER_00: So treat spiritual listening like a treasure.
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SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't love a treasure hunt?
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SPEAKER_00: Prioritize quiet, reflective, and spiritual reading.
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SPEAKER_00: Start your day asking, truth are you revealing to me today?
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SPEAKER_00: And then
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SPEAKER_00: Dig for it.
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SPEAKER_00: All your being with all of your intention.
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SPEAKER_00: Third, trust.
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SPEAKER_00: Don't assume.
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 3, 1 through 6 says, Leave not on your own understanding.
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SPEAKER_00: Listening means letting go of being right all of the time.
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SPEAKER_00: Staying open to new ideas.
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SPEAKER_00: Letting the spirit change your mind.
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And so daily we need to ask the spirit of wisdom,
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what am I not feeding in all of this?
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SPEAKER_00: Fourth day, humble.
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SPEAKER_00: To fear the Lord is to hate pride, Proverbs 13 says.
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SPEAKER_00: Pride blocks wisdom.
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SPEAKER_00: Humility clears the way for us.
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SPEAKER_00: So when we are tempted to react quickly,
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Pause and pray and ask,
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is this a spirit going on here or my ego talking to me?
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SPEAKER_00: Five, walk with the wise.
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This is a huge Church of the Brethren thing where we emphasize
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walking together,
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the movement and the guidance and the teaching of the Holy
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Spirit in community.
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SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 13, 20 says, walk with the wise and become wise.
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SPEAKER_00: So the Spirit speaks through people, right?
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SPEAKER_00: Through our brothers and sisters.
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So we need to seek out wise companions to create community
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where questions are
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SPEAKER_00: welcome and discernment is shared.
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Right now,
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I am blessed to be able to be walking with a number of folks,
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youth,
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SPEAKER_00: Young adult,
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SPEAKER_00: older folks who are interested in getting baptized,
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SPEAKER_00: who are interested in joining the church.
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And part of that is it's creating a welcoming and an open space
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where real deep
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SPEAKER_00: questions can be shared and where we can learn from one another.
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SPEAKER_00: That is what we are trying to do here, and it's a blessing to be part of.
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SPEAKER_00: And last, join her joy.
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Proverbs 31 says,
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I was rejoicing in the inhabited world and delighting in the
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human race.
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SPEAKER_00: Wisdom does not always have to be heavy.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay?
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SPEAKER_00: It doesn't always have to be deep.
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SPEAKER_00: Often,
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wisdom is found in laughter and beauty and justice and mercy
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and in music and in
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SPEAKER_00: celebration and in child wonder.
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Ask where is the spirit of God rejoicing today and how can I
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join in with that?
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SPEAKER_00: The spirit of wisdom, truth, and peace is not silent.
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SPEAKER_00: She is speaking in your life right now.
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SPEAKER_00: might not be in thunder,
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SPEAKER_00: might not be in lightning,
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SPEAKER_00: probably isn't,
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SPEAKER_00: but maybe in a voice,
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SPEAKER_00: in a small voice,
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SPEAKER_00: even the voice of a child,
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SPEAKER_00: or the silence of your morning coffee or walk,
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or a scripture that stays with you all week long that you just
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ponder and reflect
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SPEAKER_00: on,
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SPEAKER_00: or the night you feel when you ask someone who needs your attention.
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SPEAKER_00: It can be at all those places.
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It's important for us to remember that Jesus never said that we
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were going to
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SPEAKER_00: figure everything out on top of them.
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SPEAKER_00: He said, the spirit will guide you into all.
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SPEAKER_00: The spirit will remind, listen.
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SPEAKER_00: So let's start asking.
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SPEAKER_00: Spirit, what are you saying to me today?
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SPEAKER_00: And more importantly, let's start asking yourself, am I listening?
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SPEAKER_00: Because that is where transformation is.