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#24447 - Having Your Shepherd’s & Pastor’s Heart - Ezekiel 34:1-6 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's word with pastor and author.
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Ed, Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora,
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Colorado to learn more about the many resources available,
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through abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream
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Services. Visit us online at Calvary, Co
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dot church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now, here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen, take your Bibles.
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Open them to Jeremiah chapter 18, Jeremiah chapter 18, and
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Ezekiel chapter. 34, Jeremiah 18 and Ezekiel. 34 in a Bible study
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that I've entitled having your Shepherds and pastor's heart,
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and this is servants class. Number two, Now, serving
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alongside of your pastor and Shepherd, Jesus.
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It's very important. You recognize that your pastor
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is the chief Shepherd, Jesus himself.
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All of us as servants and pastors and leaders are under
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Shepherds. We all serve the chief Shepherd
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together, when we serve alongside of our pastor and
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Shepherd Jesus, it's vital that we have his heart.
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His pastor's heart. Let me give you Insight a little
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bit on what that looks like from Jesus own lips.
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You can just jot it down. I'm going to read it to you from
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the New Living Translation, John chapter 10.
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Beginning in verse 11. Listen to what Jesus says John
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10:11 and following I am the Good Shepherd, the Good
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Shepherd, sacrifices, his life for the Sheep.
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A Hired Hand will run. When he sees a wolf coming, he
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will abandon the Sheep because they don't belong to him, and he
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isn't their Shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and
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scatters the flock. The Hired Hand runs away because
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he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about
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the Sheep. I am the Good Shepherd.
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I know my own sheep and they They know me just as my father
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knows me and I know the father So I sacrifice my life for the
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Sheep. Jesus makes a clear distinction
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between a Shepherd's Heart. And a Hired Hand or you might
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hear this word as you read it in the new King James, A hireling
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and there's a big difference between the two.
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They may appear to be the same for a while but when serving
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doesn't line up with their motives or danger approaches
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like a wolf, Jesus says, The Hired Hand runs away.
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Not only does a Hired Hand run away but the hireling abandons
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the flock when things get tough. The hireling runs away.
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But Jesus says, even if things get tough, I'm sacrifice.
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I've already sacrificed as a Shepherd.
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I'm going to take care of the flock and that's what's expected
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of us here. It is necessary.
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That you be a, it's necessary that you have a pastor's heart,
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not that you be a pastor. When you hear pastors hard on
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what you can easily dismiss yourself like last time in our
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previous study together, where the word Minister can throw you
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will, you know, I'll never be a minister or I'll never be a
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pastor. So these things don't apply to
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me. You know, that's not true.
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The word Minister just means servant and Pastor just means
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Shepherd, you don't have to have the title, or the role or the
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position, but you must have, if you're going to take care of the
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shepherd's flock, then you better have his heart.
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There's nothing less is acceptable that you cultivate
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that heart. I believe if we're going to
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serve God by serving his people, a pastor's heart is something to
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start praying for right now. It's asking God to make you more
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like him and to help you see the church and people like he does.
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We learned last time that it's very encouraging to know that
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God will use anyone. He doesn't use Perfect People,
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none of us are perfect. There's never been a perfect
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person, but God will use anyone. God does use anyone?
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God will use you as you yield yourself to him.
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He's preparing you for it shaping, you and molding, you, a
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great picture of that is in Jeremiah chapter 18, Jeremiah
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chapter 18, in the ministry, life of Jeremiah, he was told to
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go to The Potter's House and there he would see an example,
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which would prepare him to hear a word from God.
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He's in the midst and serving in the middle of his ministry, he's
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serving a resistant and rebellious nation.
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And in this season he says go down to The Potter's House and
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there he's going to notice something and here's what I want
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you to notice. There's a lot of different
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angles to take this section of scripture but here's an angle, I
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want you to consider, I want you to consider the care and concern
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of the Potter. I want you to think through the
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care and concern of the Potter of what he does with the clay
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and how he care how careful he is.
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Taking that lump of clay and making it into something useful
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that has great usefulness. useful and usefulness, notice
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with me, in verse 1 of chapter 18, the word, which came to
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Jeremiah from the Lord saying, Arise and go down to The
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Potter's House and they're all cause you to hear my words, then
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I went down to The Potter's House and there he was making
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something at the wheel and the vessel that he made of clay was
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marred in the hand of the Potter.
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So he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the
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Potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came
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to me saying, O House of Israel. Can I not do with you as this
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Potter, says the Look as the clay is in The Potters hand.
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So are you in my hand? O House of Israel.
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Three parts to this true story three parts that will help us
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understand the heart of the father.
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Number one is the Potter and the Potter here represents God.
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The Potter is there at the wheel, which is the second part.
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The wheel, the wheel was the tool that he used and the wheel
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was useful, when it was spinning and spinning and spinning.
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Sometimes it would spin very fast, sometimes it would spin
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very slowly but as it spun, it would move the clay, which is
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the third part. So the Potter represents God,
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the wheel represents life and life circumstances.
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And then the clay not very valuable, very, very common, the
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clay it represents you, and me. It's very common, there's a lot
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of clay, but in The Potter's hands, don't miss that.
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Everything that's happening in The Potter's House is happening
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at the direction of the Potter, and he says it a couple of
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times. The clay is in The Potters
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hands. Yeah.
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The clay doesn't have much value, it's very common.
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And yet in the hands of a skilled Potter, it can becomes a
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vessel that is both useful and has great utility or usefulness
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and what a picture of Our Lives. Very common.
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Most of us, we were living Our Lives, you know, in Rebellion to
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God and then God took that lump of clay and plopped it on the
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wheel and began to fashion and mold Our Lives.
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This is the illustration. That's given to Jeremiah as a
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message to the rebellious Nation.
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Check out the Potter, see what he's doing.
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And here's the word of the Lord. And the word of the Lord was.
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Oh, Israel. Can I do with you as with this
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Potter? It's a statement of God's
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sovereignty. God's right.
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He has the right to deal with the nation.
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Just as much as the Potter has a right to deal with the clay.
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And basically, the message from Jeremiah is look, you're
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resistant and rebellious but if you turn back to me, I'll
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receive you. I'll take you back.
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But it also speaks to us as we bring it down a level by
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application and that is God has the right to do with you.
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Whatever he wants and every area of your life you're the clay.
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You're not the Potter later on in the New Testament.
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Paul will pick up on this and say, you know what, what right
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does the clay have to say anything to the Potter.
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And yet, so much resistance and Rebellion, I'm not naive enough.
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Being a pastor and a fellow believer.
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I'm not naive enough to know that in this room and every
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other service there are resistant rebellious people
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among us. Resistant to the will of God
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into the ways of God and to the calling of God in your life.
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And can't you just hear the Potter?
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Can't you just hear the Potter? He's saying, no, just relax,
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relax, but we get so caught up with circumstances and
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difficulties and it would be very scary.
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The whole scenario would be very scary if we didn't understand
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who the Potter was. Knowing his character and his
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nature. This is why we pray and why we
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read the Bible to get to know. God better not to learn a bunch
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of religious activities but the more you love God, the more, you
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know, God the more you love God, the more you love, God, the
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more, you know, him you're naturally drawn to people you
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love and to people, you know, love you.
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We know from the Bible characteristics of God that he's
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holy and good that he's just and loving and righteous and
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faithful. Psalm 25 verse 10 says, all the
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paths of the Lord are mercy and Truth.
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Psalm 19 verse 9 speaks of the fear of the Lord being clean
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enduring forever and the judgments of the Lord are true
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and righteous. we know in the New Testament in first, John
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That God is love. We don't need to be afraid of
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his work in our lives. What he wants to do in and
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through us. We know that he's good, we know
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that he's faithful and that means you can trust him with
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your life and stop fighting his plan for your life.
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You can choose to surrender and to submit and to yield yourself
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to The Potter's work. As the father is molding and
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shaping us. Sometimes.
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It's just so exciting, it is so wonderful.
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You think of when you were a new believer, you thinking about
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that new Believers eel, they just went God, you've deliver
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me, you've taken me out of the pit out of the Miry.
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Clay. You remove that addiction you
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remove my anger, you remove so much of my life and mold me,
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Lord shape me Lord. It's such a wonderful time to
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know that God is working and so much, we love we're Courage.
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But then like with the Potters, he's watching this particular
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event in verse 4. Everything's being shaped into
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the vessel that the Potter wants and all of a sudden it says, the
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vessel he made of clay was marred.
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You might have a note in your Bible.
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That this word means ruined, the vessel he was making was ruined
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but don't forget, don't miss we get we focus so much on the
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ruining that we forget, that it's ruined in The Potters hand.
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God is still there even though the bottom falls out, even
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though, great failure is taking place, everything collapses seen
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this with Potter's. Watching them work and then
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seeing a little mistake and they stick their thumb in and
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destroys the whole thing. But they don't in a disposable
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culture like we're in today. I'm so grateful that God doesn't
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neither does this Potter nor does our God.
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Take that lump of clay and just throw it away and say, it's the
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Clay's fault and we would just throw it away.
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We don't need you anymore. No, what does he do?
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It says it was Martin ruin, but he made it again into another
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vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to me.
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He builds you up and now you're something new that God of the
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Second Chance. The third chance.
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He's ready to refashion and remold you, if you'll come to
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him in Repentance and humility and Brokenness and stop fighting
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him, he's ready to do it again and do it again, and do it
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again, because he's faithful, even when we are, faithless, he
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remains faithful and this Brokenness, this difficulty, I
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mean, it comes on the Wheel. And being on the wheel is not
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all that fun. Sometimes the wheel spins so
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fast. And getting dizzy, doesn't
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doesn't work for me. I don't know how it works for
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you, but when I get dizzy and I'm spun around something
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happens, I'm not going to describe it to you, but it's not
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good and I don't do well getting dizzy.
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I mean, even if we were to go to an amusement park, now, I'm not
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going in the teacups, you know, I'm not going on Dumbo ride, I'm
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not going around, I'm not getting dizzy but life can be
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like that. Sometimes the wheels so fast, so
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fast, so fast so fast, and we just don't know what guys.
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Guys doing we don't know what is happening.
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And it were feeling God, work and shape it and then boom, the
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bottom falls out. We know what that looks like in
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our lives, sometimes things are ruined in your life because of
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your own sinful choices. And the only way out is you have
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to take responsibility for your sinful choices, and repent and
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won't come any other way. And that's hard to admit, that
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what I'm going through is because of me.
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This is, it's me, it's, it's not the wheel spinning and it's me,
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it's, I'm the one, it's because of my sin.
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But, you know, other times other times, the difficulty you're
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facing is because of someone else's sin, someone you love or
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care for someone close to you or someone is chosen to rebel
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against God and you have to deal with the consequences in.
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Your life is marred in The Potters hands.
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Many times. It's a combination of the two
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living in a fallen World facing Temptation.
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It's all sorts of things surrounding but we are but we're
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in the Potter's hands. This is an important
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illustration on at least a couple different angles for the
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sake of our church and serving in our church.
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Number one, all that were describing here, the the
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unpredictability of Life, the damaging effects of sin.
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The for many people, they don't, they're not even in this like
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the spinning, the spinning of the wheel and the hands of the
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Potter is actually just to bring them to the end of themselves.
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So they will repent all of these illustrations.
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Is represent the people that come into church, the people
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you're going to be serving. This is their lives that are
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messed up and ruined. I'm not going to ask for a
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hands, but many people come to church on the heels of some
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devastating situation, then they turn back to God.
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I know that's how I walked into a church.
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I walked into a church with my marriage in shambles and my wife
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ready to leave me. I walked into a church just
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after I got pulled. It over and ticketed for
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another. Another crime committed while
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driving on top of the other ones.
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Now I'm facing jail time because of my sinful behaviors, and
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everything's falling apart my finances, my marriage, my life,
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and it was in that moment of time that my phone rang out of
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the blue from someone, I haven't spoken to and forever who
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invited me to church. So you got my life falling apart
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and an invitation to church. And I walked into a church just
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like this. And so In California.
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Calvary Chapel in Downey. California is why I walked in
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and I walked in Hopeless. God met me there.
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Well, same thing happens. Here you may be here today
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because I different different circumstances.
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Same end. You don't know what to do with
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your life, the world what? It promised didn't really give
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you anything. You did some things on your own,
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didn't really like you. You're at a place where you need
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to come to Faith in Jesus. And you need to be met by men
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and women in a church that will love you and serve you with the
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Heart of Jesus. Super important, that's one
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application. The other application is more
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personal. This is your story while you're
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serving others God is shaping. You serving others gives
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exponential growth in your spiritual life.
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You grow very, very quickly when you learn to sacrifice yourself
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and think of others more highly than yourself.
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When you start to schedule your life around other people's
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needs, and not your own needs. When your patient with others,
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when you show preference to others, when you walk in
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humility, God grows you up very quickly.
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You're not like the hireling that when things get tough, you
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just run away and abandon the Sheep know.
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You're in it with them because we're sheep to and we're not
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going to run away and we're not going to abandon, but we're
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going to stay with you. We're going to be used by God in
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your life and it's very important that you step into to
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serving because that's a place where you will grow quickly.
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Not only that there's a third that was stationed, I think is
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important, especially when it comes to being marred and built
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up into something else. And that is no matter the
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condition of your life today. Believer or unbeliever God is
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not finished with you, he is still working.
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He's not through with your life, not even close.
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Sure, it might be a real mess right now, not where you really
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thought you would be or what you expected at this stage in life.
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But God is still at work and the process begins all over again as
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he remakes us into new vessels, that please him.
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Hey, Jeremiah is coming and going.
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Look, Israel God wants to do a new work, but you he's not he's
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not going to be able to do it without your cooperation.
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And it's a beautiful thing about the Clay's, the clay on The
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Potter's Wheel doesn't have legs and can't run away.
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Like I don't want this anymore, I don't want anything to do with
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you. God, there's nothing once here.
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Plopped on the wheel, you're going to be Actly?
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What God desires you to be and as he shapes and mold you it's a
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beautiful picture. God wants you to be moldable and
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soft in his hands because if a person has a hard heart and
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stubbornly resist, God then God has a right to deal with that
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stuff that stubborn stiff clay so don't resist him.
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Micah chapter 6 and verse 8. The Bible says he has shown you
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o man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but
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to do Really to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
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Another illustration of moldability with the Potter
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comes to us from Isaiah and Isaiah 45:9.
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Listen, Woe to him who strives with his maker.
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Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the Earth.
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Shall the clay, say to him, who forms it?
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What are you making? Or shall your handiwork say?
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He has no hands. Now again, theologically
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theologians over the years have made made this to say and to be
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something really much more complicated than it really is.
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God is saying I'm ready to work in your life.
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Don't resist me. Enjoy my work and I know it can
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be difficult and hard and send will wreck it.
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But I'll rebuild you. I'll work with you, you submit
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yourself, you surrender, and I'll work with you.
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And that's the beautiful work of the ministry in our church.
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And you can see how important it is.
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You've got to have the heart of God because people come in
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really hurt and broken and messed up over years of this
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stuff. Pastor's heart.
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What does it look like? What?
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We see a little bit of insight from Jesus, but I want to show
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you something Ezekiel 34, would you turn there?
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It's to the right of Jeremiah just a few pages.
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Ezekiel chapter 34. We want to serve with a pastor's
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hard. Remember, you don't need to be a
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pastor. To have a pastor's heart.
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When I think of a heart of Pastor or a Heart of Jesus, I
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think of Compassion Care concern, someone that sees needs
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wants to help, doesn't wait to be asked to do something.
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Someone that selfless, someone that self-sacrificial, someone
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that's learning to live a life of self-denial, a heart that
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soft moldable pliable by goddess.
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A heart that is connected to the holy spirit being led by the Lee
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spirit. And here in Ezekiel 34, we see
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first of all what a pastor's heart is not.
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He starts with the - again Ezekiel.
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Another prophet of God speaking on behalf of God, has a very
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strong word of rebuke and indictment to this group of
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spiritual leaders using the illustration of shepherds.
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So, notice with me in verse 1 And the word of the Lord came to
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me saying, son of man prophesy against the Shepherds of Israel
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prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God to the
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Shepherds woe to the Shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves.
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Should not the shepherd's feed. The flocks, you eat the fat.
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Clothe yourselves with. Whoa, you Slaughter the fatlings
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but you don't feed the flock the week.
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You have not strengthened Nor have you healed, those who are
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sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back, what was
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driven away, nor sought what was lost, but with force and
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cruelty, you have ruled them. And notice the response, what
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happened because of bad leadership.
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So they were scattered because there was no Shepherd, they
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became food for the beasts of the field when they were
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scattered my sheep verse 6 and don't miss that word in verse 6,
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circle, it Mark it right. I'd a star next to it.
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The Sheep along to God. When you are serving in the
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church, you're serving in this church.
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The Sheep along to God. You and we are the precious
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sheep of God. They don't belong to you, and
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they don't belong to me and he says, my sheep wandered through
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all the mountains, all every High Hill.
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Yes. My flock was scattered over the
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whole face of the year. No one was seeking or searching
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for them. In a real way, no matter what
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our title is, or what role we have.
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We are all under Shepherds. We serve the chief Shepherd, the
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flock belongs to him, he bought you and he bought me.
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Therefore, he owns Us by his own shed blood, and they, the flock
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belongs to God. And notice I want to give you
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now 10 things. If you're taking notes, ten,
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things that Mark a person without a Shepherd.
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Heart. You're wondering what a pastor's
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heart. It is.
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Or what does it look like? Well, here's 10 ways, it
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doesn't, this is 10 ways that Mark the person without a
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Shepherd card. Number one, selfishness a person
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that's hard isn't connected to God is very selfish.
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We see that here where it says In verse 2, that you feed
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yourself. You fed yourself.
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It's there. The indictment was, as they fed
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themselves and not the flock. They don't care about other
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people's need their selfish. Number two, they used people.
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They used people with the use their position to manipulate and
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use people. We see that here where they, it
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says they ate the fat and clothe themselves.
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They took advantage of the people for their for themselves.
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Thirdly, they took the best. It says that they slaughtered.
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Notice the fatlings. That would be the best of the
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best. They took it for themselves.
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Why? Because they chose to think of
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themselves. They were selfish manipulative
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and they took the best, thirdly? Notice or excuse me forth.
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They ignored needs, they ignored.
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It's how do we see that? Well, the week we're not
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strengthened and the week are pretty obvious.
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You can tell the difference between a strong sheep and a
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week sheep and when you saw that when they saw that, they ignored
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it which is what Jesus would would Jesus would condemn many
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years later when it comes to the parable of the Good Samaritan.
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Where the religious leaders they walked right on by ignoring his
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needs, but it was the Samaritan that stopped and serve their
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needs. One of the things that I teach
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the school ministry here and the servants and leaders of serve
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alongside of me and now you through the servants class,
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anyone that has ever taken the servants class.
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Now, knows this, that the greatest tool that you have, In
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serving others, but besides prayer and reading the word, the
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greatest I put it this way. The greatest practical tool you
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have, we take all the spiritual things are already part of your
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life, but the greatest practical tool you have, that would be
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helpful for you to hone in on and improve is the gift and the
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ability to make good observations observations are
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the greatest, because what you see will, then move, Of you how
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you act, if you don't see it then you won't act on it and
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then if you see something and you ignore it, then it's even
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worse. It's just like Bible study when
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you learn how to study the Bible, like we did you take
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what's known as the inductive Bible study method that has
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three parts to it. Every text you observe the text
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and you make as many observation.
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As you can as you just reading the text, it says this, it says
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this you make observations and then you ask Ian's to get to the
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one interpretation. And then once you get the right
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interpretation, then you can apply it so many different ways,
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but if you don't make your observations correctly, you'll
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never get to the right interpretation.
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You got to make the right observations.
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And I'm telling you, if you will just look around, you'll see
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more than enough people and needs that God would use you to
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me both in the church and outside of the church.
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You got his dropped. You into this generation for his
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purposes for his good. He's making you into the vessel
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for his good so don't ignore needs.
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They won't help you serve well number five.
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Not only did they ignore needs but they disregarded pain.
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They disregarded pain. We see that when it says the
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sick were not healed, you didn't even take care of the sick, you
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ignored, you ignored the week and then you didn't even take
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care of the sick. And they're being there, being
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rebuked for it. Number six, they close their
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eyes to the hurting. We see that with the brokens,
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not bound up. They close their eyes.
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We're not, I'm not even going to deal with it.
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These are people that were entrusted to take care of
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others. I mean, if you put this in
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different, if you put these things in a different context,
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for example, if this was an indictment against a medical
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doctor, You don't want to deal with the sick.
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You don't want to come to your appointments.
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You don't even show up for work anymore.
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You can see that what a doctor was designed to do isn't doing
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it anymore and that's the same in the church.
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Those that have chosen to serve like you have.
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God has given a direction for us and it starts with his heart,
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you don't have to know everything.
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You don't have to know every page of the Bible.
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You don't have to go to Seminary or Bible College.
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Just read your Bible and pray everyday and All of the leading
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of God and he will use you. Everywhere you go.
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You don't want to be on the other side of this where you
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close your eyes. Number 7, another indictment
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was, they paid? No attention.
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You can see it's closely related to making observations.
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They didn't pay attention. you know, when you don't pay
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attention, bad, things happen, when you don't pay attention to
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the details, It's a mistake that is made all too often, and he
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received that because those that were driven away, they weren't
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brought back then, even pay attention to them.
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Number eight, they refused to help the Lost were not sought.
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After it says in verse 4, they refused to help number nine.
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This one, this one is really bad because they did with it says
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with force and cruelty. So they were harsh and angry in
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their leadership and that there is no place for that in the The
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church. Now I can tell you definitively.
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There is no place for that in this church, the people of God
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are to be served in the patience of God and the love of God and
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nobody starting here with all the rest of us has permission
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from God to be harsh or cruel to the people of God, just not
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going to happen here. It's not from the Lord and the
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number 10. Another thing that they were
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condemned for their rebuked is because of their carelessness.
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Their carelessness selfish manipulative took the best
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ignored needs disregarded. Pains they close their eyes to
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the hurting. They paid no attention.
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They refused to help were harsh and angry and careless, how
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would you like to attend a church with leaders and servants
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like that? Come to our church.
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We are the worst people in the whole neighborhood.
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We won't care for, you will take advantage of it.
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I mean, it doesn't it even a lost world.
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Expects more from the church than that.
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And how does God use us that way?
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He drops in us his heart. And if I had to summarize like
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in a very quick short, little phrase, what a pastor's heart
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starts with or how it grows, it would be this that you just
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care. You just care.
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You care about your relationship with God and you care for
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others. How did Jesus say love the Lord.
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God with all your heart, soul and mind.
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Love your neighbor as yourself that you care.
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Because if you care then you will be open.
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If you care for the person, maybe you were maybe today, you
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were sitting there and during the songs.
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The person next to you was crying.
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Well, God could use if you care. God could use that care to reach
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out to the person sitting next to you and find out what's
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happening. Or you might be with someone and
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they're just, you know, not paying attention and they don't
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really care what I'm saying and they're waiting to see what time
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it. You care that made me lead you
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to ask some questions later, today is like, are you?
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Alright, because you seemed really uncomfortable today
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because you care, and it's not just for the sake of
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information. It's not, it's because you care,
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it's because you care about their soul, it doesn't care if
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they pay attention to Bible study, or if they even like the
33:25
church, you care. Out their soul.
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It's the soul that matters and when you care, I mean
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everything's opened up. God will show you things.
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You've never seen before, he reveal things about people that
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you'll never known before. He'll give you the word you
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like, well, I don't know what to say.
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Jesus said, don't worry about it.
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I'll give you what you need in the moment.
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Just get to the moment and I'll give it to you.
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The bottom line in Ministry serving in this church.
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Is that you care? That you love God.
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You love your neighbor serving God.
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Here is not about titles, it's not about positions, it's not
34:05
about power. It's not about climbing any kind
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of ladder or being more important than other people.
34:10
It's not found in canvassing for position, dropping some
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political power play. It's not about making a name for
34:18
yourself or drawing people to yourself.
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We are learning in the servants class that sir Irving is about
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serving. Dying to yourself.
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Self-sacrifice taking the lower position, no matter what title,
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you might have, what responsibilities you might have.
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And here are some things to think about, as we close in your
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personal life, about developing, your pastor's heart for simple
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things. Number one are, you Faithful?
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Are you a faithful person? Because faithfulness is a
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Hallmark of God. Number two.
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Are you available? Are you available?
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God to us is always available. That's he's attentive to our
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needs now. Are you available faithful
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available? Thirdly, are you teachable?
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Are you teachable? Because we always have something
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to learn. We're always going to be growing
35:10
from glory to glory and strength, to strength.
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And are you humble when you need to be corrected?
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Or you got to learn something because you made a mistake, and
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there's gonna be a lot of mistakes serving God.
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Are you, teachable is God, is ready to instruct us a number
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four? Are you spiritual?
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I'm not a poser, not just putting on airs, but you have a
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real relationship with God and you're growing in that
35:34
relationship, you now seek, first, the kingdom of God, and
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his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto.
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You one more scripture, turn over to Luke's gospel.
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Now, in the New Testament in chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, Jesus
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comes into the town, and Of Nazareth.
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Spinners life. The first years of his life
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growing up here. He comes back home.
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He was brought up at says in Luke 4:16 and his custom.
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He came into the synagogue. He was given the book of Isaiah
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and he opened it and started reading it.
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And as he reads this, we see Exactly why he came.
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And listen, he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because
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he has anointed me to preach the gospel, to the poor, he sent me
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to heal the brokenhearted. To preach Deliverance to the
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captives recovery of sight to the blind to set at Liberty,
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those who are oppressed and to preach the acceptable year of
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the Lord. It sounds almost point for point
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about against what was condemned in Ezekiel. 34, this is the
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purpose of the church on the Earth today these very things.
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If this is all you spent your life doing, you would have
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invested your life very well and very eternally.
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So this is all you chose to do the rest of your life was to
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minister to the poor, and to help those that have broken
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hearts, those that are captive to try to help them released.
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Recovery of sight to the blind spiritually, and Akeley to those
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that are oppressed to lead them to Liberty and to preach the
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gospel. The good news that your sins can
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be forgiven. It's a good way to invest your
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life. That's what we invite you to
37:28
when you serve here at this church.
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You're serving a lot of broken hurting people.
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Some of you are those broken hurting people, That has just
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been hard. Hard.
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Upbringing hard, life hard home in.
37:45
This world is hard, but hard is always met with the hope that is
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found by faith in Jesus Christ that you are not a victim of
37:55
your circumstances that you can be in The Potters hand, and he
37:59
can take it all and the New Testament.
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Paul, the Apostle would say to the Roman Believers.
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He would say, we know that all things work together for the
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good, God is working all things together for the good, for those
38:13
that love him and those that are called according to his purpose.
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And there's nothing we can do about our past, changing our
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past, you know, we can change our past as much as we can
38:23
unscramble an egg. It's not going to happen.
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But you know what? We can move forward.
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We can live today and anticipate what God wants to do.
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Tomorrow, should he give it to us?
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So I invite you to serve, I invite you to stick around
38:37
plug-in and let God use you in ways.
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You never ever, ever thought. I mean, some of you, I just
38:44
think I'm just so excited. Some of you right now, a little
38:46
card, you're going to put it in the box and that little card
38:50
putting it in the box, is going to spark a missionary heart that
38:53
you never knew you ever had You are no way Ed.
38:57
Oh, yes way. Yeah.
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So what if he sends me to the middle of the Jungle somewhere?
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I don't want to go there. You still got to get to know
39:06
God. He doesn't play games like that.
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He doesn't say in your prayer life.
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What's the one place? You would never want to go?
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I'm sending you there tomorrow God's not like that.
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Either a he'll send you a place like we're you'll send you a
39:22
place that will bless you. But if there's a place you don't
39:23
want to go he'll he'll gently shape and mold your heart then
39:26
all of a sudden you're like, where are you going?
39:28
Well, I'm going out here to the middle of the Jungle somewhere
39:30
to preach the gospel. But you said you never wanted to
39:34
go there and you're like I know but I want to go now.
39:39
God's not going to be messing with your life.
39:42
He loves you wants to use you greatly if you just trust him
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amen. So father, thank you for this
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time. I know it's beautiful and
39:51
wonderful as we learn how to serve you and you got so much
39:55
going on in the room today that so grateful that you know it all
39:59
you can take care of it all and that you would just I mean,
40:03
seriously, I mean the fact that you would even use us as amazing
40:06
that you would shape us and mold us.
40:10
I pray for those today that the wheel spinning out of control
40:12
right now and they're just scared and they're mad and
40:17
they're frustrated, you would just give Comfort peace to their
40:21
hearts today. There's some grieving among us
40:25
and so I pray Comfort to The Grieving Hearts, there's some
40:27
broken heartedness or prodigal kids.
40:31
Our breaking hearts right now. So I pray for the broken hearts
40:35
and I pray for the prodigals. Get them home. families are
40:40
disintegrating and Vision. Now in the homes because of the
40:45
Gospel wasn't there before, and on, and on the list goes God, we
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commit them to you. We trust you with our lives in
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Jesus name amen. Amen.
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Let's Stand Together church. We pray that you've been
40:58
encouraged by this Bible. Study delivered live from the
41:00
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
41:03
Call us at 877 30 Grace, that's eight seven, seven three zero
41:10
four, seven, two three, To listen to this message in its
41:13
entirety or to join us for our live stream Services.
41:17
Visit us online at Calvary. Co dot church or download our
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free Calvary Church app be blessed as you worship Jesus
41:25
this week.