Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20251224 - 4 Reasons Jesus Was Born - John 1:18

Transcript

#20251224 - 4 Reasons Jesus Was Born - John 1:18 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
• 0:08
  Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
• 0:12
  To learn more about the many resources available through
• 0:14
  Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
• 0:18
  visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
• 0:24
  Calvary Church app. Now.
• 0:25
  Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
• 0:30
  Amen. Amen.
• 0:31
  Well, Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas.
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  We're so encouraged to have you to worship Jesus with you.
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  We want to welcome you on behalf of the church.
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  I know the holidays are a lot of fun, a lot of festivities, a lot
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  of happiness, but I also want to acknowledge, I realized that
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  Christmas is not always happy or joyous for everyone.
• 0:53
  You know, you're learning in life that life, the more you,
• 0:56
  you know, the farther you get along in life, the more years
• 0:59
  that are on your odometer. I guess you learned that so much
• 1:02
  in life is bittersweet. And I realized that some of you
• 1:06
  around the holidays, this is the first time that you've ever
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  experienced a major holiday without someone that you love or
• 1:12
  you experience some real deep tragedy or challenge this year.
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  I'm sorry. It's one of those things where
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  you're learning how to rejoice with those who rejoice.
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  And then there's just those times, aren't there, where we
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  get that. We get these seasons in life
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  where we can be excited and we can be happy and we can enjoy
• 1:31
  them. But there's other seasons in
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  life where we just have to learn to endure them and to press on
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  and to take the next step or to get out of bed and to get ready
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  for the day and just press on for what is ahead of you.
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  And so whatever stage you're in, I want to acknowledge that it's
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  my prayer that you're you would draw close to the Lord that
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  he'll get us through like you'll make it through every year he
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  has this year, he'll do it again.
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  He'll be faithful to meet you and whatever you're going
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  through. And ultimately, it's really good
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  to be together. It's good to be together near
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  and far celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and remembering how
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  important his birth really is. Like the significant, the life
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  altering, life changing moment of the birth of Jesus Christ,
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  the eternal Son of God. Today I want to give you 4
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  reasons why Jesus was born. Now these aren't 4 exhaustive.
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  I mean if I guess if we were doing a list we could come up
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  with 100 plus reasons in the Bible.
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  But these four I think are very important and relevant for us
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  today as we look to celebrating Christmas, why Jesus was born
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  and how important it is for you and I to realize, you know,
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  Gods, We're talking about gifts and giving of gifts, receiving
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  of gifts around Christmas. You just remember God's greatest
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  gift to man has a name, and his name is Jesus.
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  His name is Jesus. The Bible tells us that He is
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  the Word became human and made his home among us.
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  Now you may have memorized that in an older version of the
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  Bible, where the Bible says that God, he became flesh and dwelt
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  among us. The Word became flesh and dwelt
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  among us. A more modern version says that
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  he made his home among us. I love that.
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  He was full of unfailing love, the Bible says, and
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  faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the
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  glory of the Father's one and only Son.
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  Let's consider four things. 4 reasons why Jesus was born #1
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  Jesus was born to keep a promise.
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  Jesus was born to keep a promise.
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  It's very encouraging today that to know and be reminded that God
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  keeps his promises. Can I get Amen on that?
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  Many, many, many, many times throughout the Old Testament of
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  the Bible, God promised the nation of Israel that He would
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  send a savior even before the nation of Israel was mentioned
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  in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, God
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  speaks of sending a savior into the world.
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  One of the passages in the Bible that speaks of a promise of a
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  savior is in Isaiah Chapter 7 in verse 13.
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  Actually in verse 14 it says, all right then the Lord himself
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  will give you a sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a
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  child. She will give birth to a son and
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  will call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
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  The promise of a Savior is all throughout the Bible.
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  Another time in the Bible, in Isaiah chapter 53, the Bible
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  speaks of the Savior coming. He says, Who has believed our
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  message? To whom has the Lord revealed
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  his powerful arm? My servant?
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  This is Speaking of the promised Savior.
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  My servant grew up in the Lord's presence.
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  Like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.
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  There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
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  nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected, A
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  man of sorrows acquainted with deepest grief.
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  We turned our backs on him and look the other way.
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  He was despised and we didn't care.
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  Yet it was our weakness He carried.
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  It was our sorrows that weighed Him down, and we thought his
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  troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own
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  sins. They were for ours.
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  You can trust God, your creator. He's the promise keeper.
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  There's so much emphasis today in US making promises to God.
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  Maybe you've made, it's the holiday season.
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  You got Christmas now and you got New Year's coming up.
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  Maybe you've made this big promise.
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  You know what, God, if you, then I will.
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  And you know God, this year's going to be different.
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  And you know, God, I look back and I know I need to make some
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  changes. And you've made this big promise
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  to God to which I commend anytime you look to God and you
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  want to make changes that, that, that is amazing.
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  But I want you to know this greater than any promise you can
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  make to God is God, the promise giver and the promise keeper.
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  He keeps his promises. He works on our behalf.
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  Jesus arrived on the scene just at the right time, again, the
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  Bible says. But when the right time came,
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  God sent his Son, born of a woman, the right time.
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  Jesus was born to keep a promise and remind us every Christmas
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  that God keeps his promises #2 Jesus was born to reveal God to
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  us. You know, we would never know
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  God. No one ever would know God
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  unless He chose to tell us about himself.
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  God reveals Himself to us and the greatest revelation of God
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  the Father is through God the Son.
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  There were so many ideas surrounding God in the 1st
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  century, even as there's so many ideas that related to God today,
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  so many fanciful thoughts and philosophies of men.
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  And well, I think God is this and I don't really believe in
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  God. And God is a fairy tale and a
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  myth. And I'm sure some of you have
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  met someone where they look at you and they just kind of laugh
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  at you and go, you believe in that, You believe in the Bible.
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  What a joke, what a fairy tale. Well, what's true now was true
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  in the 1st century. They were saying the same thing.
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  They were doing the same things, creating man made religions, man
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  made philosophies to fill the gap of the emptiness that you
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  feel apart from Christ. But listen, the true story of
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  Christmas is Jesus coming to set the record straight.
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  He reveals who God is. He's the one that shows us.
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  The Bible says no one has ever seen God.
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  But the unique one, Speaking of Jesus, who is himself, God is
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  near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us.
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  He's Emmanuel, God with us. He's the one that became human
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  and made his home among us. The message of Christmas is that
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  Jesus loves you and he wants you to know God.
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  He would even say this. He would say to one of his
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  followers very closely say if you've seen me, you've seen the
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  Father. The clarity of who God is is
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  revealed in the Son, the eternal Son of God who became a man, a
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  human like you and me. Not only that #3 Jesus was born
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  to show you real love. And aren't there a lot of
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  opinions of what love is today? And you know, romantic love,
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  syrupy love, Hallmark Channel love, whatever that is.
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  And just everybody has an idea of what love is.
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  They use the word so loosely. I mean, you and I, we both kind
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  of use it. You know, we'll say I love you
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  and I'll tell you to Marie, my wife, I love you, honey.
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  And at the same time I go, I love ice cream.
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  I mean, do I mean the same thing?
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  I hope not. I hope I love her more than I do
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  ice cream, which I do. But there's so many ideas of
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  what love is. Jesus came to show you what
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  real, true, self sacrificial Love Is All about.
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  A servant's heart, a servant's heart to the point of
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  sacrificing himself on your behalf.
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  Because that little baby, he grew up.
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  He grew up to be a man. For the last three years of his
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  life, Jesus spent that time loving, caring, teaching,
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  serving, healing, to which he was rewarded with the worst kind
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  of torturous death a person could experience as he was
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  nailed to a Roman cross, dying an innocent man.
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  You know, today we'll see these phrases, and you're probably
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  familiar with it. You might even used it.
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  You might have it as a bumper sticker or something on your
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  desk at work. But you'll say something like
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  this. Jesus is the reason for the
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  season, and that's a great little saying, especially in the
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  secular world that we live in. It really points people back in
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  a simple way and a non offensive way to some degree, that the
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  real reason we celebrate Christmas is not all the other
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  trappings, but Jesus himself is the reason for the season.
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  It's a good reminder that when we celebrate holidays that
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  they're really holy days they set apart to honor God.
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  However, let me give you another thought just to chew on.
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  Whenever you see that that bumper sticker or that saying
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  Jesus is the reason, let me just give you something to think
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  about. Let's consider this, that you
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  are the reason for the season. Like, Oh yeah, you and I, we're
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  the reason for the seasons. And you say, well, wait a
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  minute, Ed, why would you say that?
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  We see that you're the reason Jesus came.
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  You're the reason why he was born.
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  You're the reason why he died and rose again.
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  And so in a very real way, the life, death and resurrection of
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  Jesus was for you and me. And not in a narcissistic way
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  where all the spotlight is on us, but rather God so loved the
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  world that he gave his only begotten Son for you and for me.
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  I love this passage in the Bible it says, and that you may know
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  the power, that you may have the power to understand, as all
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  God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep
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  His love is. May you experience the love of
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  Christ, though it's too great to fully understand.
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  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life
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  and power that comes from God. The man that wrote this was
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  writing to a church just like ours and he was saying, this is
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  what I want for you. This is what I want you to
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  experience that this would be if you spent your whole life
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  plumbing the depths of the love of God and experiencing the love
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  of God and understanding the love of God, you would have
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  invested your life wisely. And then he gives these
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  directions. He says, I want you to know how
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  long God's love is. Well, how long is God's love?
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  It lasts forever. That's how long forever and ever
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  and ever. And he says, I want you to know
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  how wide God's love is. Well, how wide is God's love?
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  Well, you can't go anywhere that is love won't reach you.
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  And then he says, how deep, how deep is God's love?
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  Well, if you're in the deepest pit that you've ever
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  experienced, God's love goes all the way down there.
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  And listen, I know in a room this size, whether you're here
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  or you're listening live on the radio right now or online
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  somewhere, I know there are some deep pits among us.
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  I understand it could have taken for you today every ounce of
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  energy that you've had all year to build up to be here today.
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  And what an honor to worship with you.
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  I want an honor to host you. You're learning just how deep
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  the love of God is. He also says, how high is God's
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  love? Well, how high is it?
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  Well, his love is so high that he can overlook all the bad
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  choices, all the bad decisions, all the sinful mistakes and
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  failure, failures that we've ever made and exchanged that
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  with his eternal forgiveness. Jesus was born to reveal and
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  show you real love. And finally, well, this is the
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  most important, I believe Jesus was born to save your life.
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  Or let me put it a little more closer to the issue, He came to
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  save your soul, your soul. Jesus, that sweet little baby in
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  the Manger, grew up to be a man. And it is life on a Roman cross.
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  And Jesus can come into your life right now.
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  Jesus was born to die, to rise again, and in this moment draw
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  you to himself so that you might believe.
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  That's why he was, That's why he was born.
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  Maybe you're here today with the burden of sin or the guilt of
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  all other sorts of behaviors and problems in a past that you're
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  not proud of. Jesus is saying to you today.
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  He's asking you, are you tired? Are you worn out?
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  Are you burned out on religion? Come to me.
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  It's kind of a bummer. I use that phrase burned out on
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  religion, but a lot of people are, a lot of people have
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  stopped short in their lives at the point of religion.
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  It's the religion they were born into, the religion of their
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  home, the popular religion of the day.
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  But you have to understand something.
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  Jesus calls you not to religion, but to himself, and it's very
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  different. It's a very different thing.
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  And I'm sorry you're burned out and bummed out on religion.
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  That's not what we're about here.
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  Maybe you thought you were coming to some religious thing
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  today. I just want you to know we're
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  not interested in some religious thing here today.
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  We're not asking you to join a religion.
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  What we want is a relationship with God.
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  We want you to experience Jesus personally.
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  That's really what a Christian is.
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  A Christian is one who has given their life to Christ and they
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  live their lives to please and honor him.
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  So let me ask you today, are you a real child of God?
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  Are you just a follower of a religion or perhaps you're not
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  connected to God at all? Are you a real child of God?
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  Let me use the words Jesus used. Are you born again?
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  You think of the word born again or the phrase born again that is
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  outside your ability. You cannot give yourself new
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  life. You cannot give yourself new
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  life physically and you certainly cannot give yourself
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  life spiritually. Are you a child of God?
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  Well, a lot of times I ask that question, it's a good question
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  because it starts a conversation and sometimes people answer
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  where you are. Well, of course I'm a Christian,
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  I'm an American. I was born in the United States
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  or I go to church or I was born in this religion.
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  And let me say, I'm glad that you're an American.
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  I'm glad you're any nationality and that you think you have a
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  relationship with God because of that.
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  But let me tell you, that doesn't get you into heaven,
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  where you were born, what your nationality is, what religion
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  you follow. The only thing that will give
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  you eternal life is if you receive the gift that comes
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  through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that as many as
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  received Jesus, he gave them the power to become sons and
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  daughters of God. And you don't have to wait till
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  tomorrow to receive this gift. We're here right now, you know,
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  I know what, around this time, there's a lot of traditions.
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  I grew up with traditions, my family grew up with traditions.
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  And one of those traditions is the kids open nothing until
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  Christmas morning. But that's not all.
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  Not only did they open nothing until Christmas morning, but
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  they have to wait until everybody's awake that we're all
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  downstairs and that Maria's finished cooking breakfast and
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  we've all finished breakfast and we've all cleaned up.
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  And then you go and sit down and we will hand you your gifts one
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  at a time. Very different than the home I
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  grew up in where they just stacked them up and you just
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  open them all on Christmas Eve. I know there are a lot of
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  traditions and the giving of receiving of gifts, and it's all
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  wonderful whatever you choose to do, but I'm telling you this,
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  eternal life doesn't come two ways, three ways, five ways, or
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  ten ways. It only comes one way.
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  You must be born again. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
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  today. Receive His gift of eternal
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  life. You don't have to wait.
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  You can unwrap it today and enjoy it.
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  The gift of salvation is really, truly the only gift that keeps
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  on giving. No batteries required, No
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  assembly required. Jesus has paid the price and
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  He's finished the work. Aren't you glad?
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  You don't have to do anything to add to it.
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  You don't need to put it together.
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  It's all yours. All you need to do is reach out
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  and receive it all. That's all that's needed and the
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  reason that God's brought you here today near and far
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  downstairs in the overflow or again right here in front of me,
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  the reason he's brought you here today is to declare to you his
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  great love for you. He keeps his promises.
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  He does everything that he says he will do.
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  And today he says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
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  and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the
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  dead, here's his promise. You ready?
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  You shall be saved. That's the story of Christmas,
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  friends. That's the reason for the
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  season, the reality of the work, the finished work of the cross.
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  We invite you to Him, not to religion, not to your
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  nationality. This is so much greater and so
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  much bigger. Jesus says, come unto me all you
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  are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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  Come to Him today. So Father, thank you for the
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  privilege of being together today and worshipping you.
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  It's a great and glorious privilege to know you personally
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  and to live for you with the entirety of our lives.
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  I thank you God and just keeps ministering to me, these
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  children that were on the stage today because it's such a great
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  illustration what you say in your what you taught us, Jesus,
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  you taught us that in order to follow you, we have to become
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  like children. We don't become like, you know,
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  acting like kids, but we have to have the heart of a kid to to
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  follow you and trust you and to know that you're going to lead
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  us and guide us in life. You said suffer the little
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  children to come unto me. And so there's that need for us
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  to come to you just as kids, just recognizing what you have
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  and what you have done for us and what life you have for us.
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  It isn't a religious activity. And I just pray for those that
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  are right there in religion even now, that they would just come
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  all the way. They're so close, so close to
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  surrender, so close to commitment, so close to this age
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  abiding life that comes, that freedom to worship God, to know
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  you, to enjoy you, to serve you. It's so many are close today,
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  God, and I pray for them. I pray God for all that you're
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  touching and speaking to that they might receive you today.
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  And even as the church is praying, I want to give you a
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  chance today. If you're here and you say,
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  pastor, I need and I want to follow God with my life, Would
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  you just stand to your feet? I want to pray with you.
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  We've been praying for you for so long and now here's the
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  moment, the moment where the invitation comes and God is
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  speaking to you, not a man and a pulpit, although my voice is
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  being used. What you're sensing is God
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  moving in your heart to commit your life to him.
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  Would there be anyone here that say, Ed, I want to follow Jesus
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  with my life? Would you just stand to your
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  feet? I'd like to pray with you and
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  for you. And then one of the pastors will
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  come alongside of you and encourage you right where you're
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  standing. It's a public invitation and a
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  public response. God bless you to a public
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  commitment in your life. The the beauty and the joy of
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  serving God and receiving that gift.
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  I love the language because it is the gift of salvation.
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  It is a gift. You can't earn it.
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  You can't do anything to deserve it.
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  It's completely a gift of God through his Son.
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  Is there anyone else? God bless you.
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  I see you bless you over here. You guys back in the back.
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  You know folks will catch up to you in a moment when somebody
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  comes standing with you. That's part of our team.
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  We want you to know you're not alone right away.
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  We don't want to wait for you to come up after the service.
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  We don't. We want you to know you're not
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  alone right away, that there's someone there to follow up right
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  immediately in your life. And it's a very special day.
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  You know, you come to a Christmas service and it's like,
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  ah, thank God it's just another service.
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  No, it's the beginning of a new life.
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  It's so good you guys watching online or listening on the radio
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  again downstairs. There are pastors and leaders
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  downstairs as well. That today's the day.
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  What a great gift you think of what God wants to do in your
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  life. So those of you that that
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  responded, let me pray with you so you can talk to God directly.
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  You can say God, I admit that I've sinned against you and I
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  choose to follow you today. Help me to live a life that
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  pleases you. I know now what's required of my
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  life and that's to follow you and that's what I want to do.
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  I receive your forgiveness today in Jesus name, Amen.
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  We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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  delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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  prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
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  877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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  integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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  online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
• 23:46
  Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
• 23:49
  this week.