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Choosing Sides

What does it mean to follow Christ, even in the face of persecution? Listen as Pastor Kevin shares how God called, delivered, and sent the apostles back into a place of persecution, and how they responded.

Scriptures Referenced

Daniel 31:30; Matthew 7:21, 10:32-33 John 13:34-35; Acts 5:17-42; Romans 1:16; Philippians 2:9-11

Key Insights

  • The American Christian has very little clue about real persecution.
  • We must obey God rather than human beings.
  • The name of Jesus is the most powerful name.
  • Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life.
  • The enemy has his plan, but God’s plan will always prevail.
  • You have good news. You’re supposed to share it.

About Springhouse

If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We are home to a vibrant children’s ministry, powerful middle school and youth ministries, and incredible ministries for men and women of all ages. Our local and global outreaches include partnerships with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and more. 

Additionally, we are home to Springhouse Theatre, an award-winning theatre in the Nashville area. Through the theatre, we serve both the greater Nashville theatre community, and thousands of patrons each year, and we are expanding our vision to impact the culture through the arts into additional mediums and through an expanding network of relationships.

We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Additional Resources

Gathering Times

  • Sundays, 9:00 AM
  • Sundays, 10:30 AM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
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- Well good morning church.

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It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord today

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because God is on the throne.

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And I prefer it that way 'cause when I get on the throne

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it doesn't go well for my life.

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What about you?

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Well some of you get off of it then.

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Couple of, just two other things

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in addition to Katie's announcement.

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If you are new to Springhouse,

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which I did meet a few of you this morning.

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If you're new to Springhouse or newer to Springhouse,

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we have a newcomer's lunch on September 8th.

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We'd like to invite you to be a part of.

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Our pastoral staff will be there to meet you

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and to show you and to tell you about their ministries.

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And so we'd like to invite you to be a part of that.

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Now what we want you to do is we want you to register

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so that we can have enough food, okay?

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So you register by that QR code.

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There's some placards out in the foyer

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that you can get the QR code as well

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and you can register for the luncheon.

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If you don't register and you wanna come, still come.

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I'll let you have my sandwich.

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But I want you to come and let us have an opportunity

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to hug your neck and meet you

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and tell you about Springhouse.

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And then second, this seems to be pretty early

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and seems to be thematic today too.

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But this is a little early for us to announce this.

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But I'm doing this because we had to scramble

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and make room last year

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because I was so surprised by the response.

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But in January, we will be doing a marriage retreat, okay?

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For married couples.

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So you got men's retreat, women's retreat, marriage retreat.

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Okay, so this will be in January.

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We're only gonna take 30 couples

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and the registration's open now.

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So you can go on the app if you're interested

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in that more details will come as we get closer to, okay?

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We are continuing our series, His Church.

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His Church, guys, are you growing

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through what you're learning through the Word of God?

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Well, praise the Lord.

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I'm glad that we're growing.

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We're gonna read in just a second,

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picking up in Acts chapter five, where we are right now.

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We talked about last night, last night.

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I was at the men's retreat last night,

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so I'm a little foggy today.

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Lord, please protect me from just in heaven.

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Things to write down about what I say today.

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Mispronounce words.

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Ananias and Sapphira.

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The Lord took Ananias and Sapphira out

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because they lied to the Holy Spirit.

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And we talked about last week that more than ever,

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more than ever, God added numbers to His kingdom,

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added numbers to His kingdom

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after the purification of the house,

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after the purification of the church.

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And so we're gonna pick up here where people,

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the numbers were being added to the kingdom.

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People were bringing the ones who needed healing

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from being sick.

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They just said if Peter's shadow would cast,

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if his shadow would be cast on him, they would be healed.

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The Holy Spirit was doing amazing, amazing things

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among the people.

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And we're gonna pick up here in verse 17.

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So would you guys stand with me?

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And we're gonna read together with some gusto church

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this morning.

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And, and we're gonna read a lot.

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Are you ready?

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Okay, here we go.

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Then the high priest and all his associates

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who were members of the party of the Sadducees

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were filled with jealousy.

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They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

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But during the night, an angel of the Lord

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opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.

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Go, stand in the temple courts, he said,

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and tell the people all about this new life.

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At daybreak, they entered the temple courts

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as they had been told and began to teach the people.

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When the high priest and his associates arrived,

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they called together the Sanhedrin,

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the full assembly of the elders of Israel,

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and sent to the jail for the apostles.

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But on arriving at the jail,

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the officers did not find them there.

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So they went back and reported,

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we found the jail securely locked

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with the guards standing at the doors,

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but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

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On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard

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and the chief priest were at a loss,

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wondering what this might lead to.

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Then someone came and said, look,

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the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts

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teaching the people.

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At that, the captain went with his officers

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and brought the apostles.

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They did not use force because they feared

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that the people would stone them.

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The apostles were brought in and made to appear

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before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.

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We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name, he said.

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Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching

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and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.

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Peter and the other apostles replied,

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we must obey God rather than human beings.

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The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead,

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whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.

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God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and savior,

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that he might bring Israel to repentance

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and forgive their sins.

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We are witnesses of these things,

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and so is the Holy Spirit,

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whom God has given to those who obey him.

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Father, I thank you for your word.

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I thank you that your word brings light

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and it brings life.

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I pray, Lord, that it would change us from the inside out.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Amen, you may be seated.

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Today we're gonna talk about persecution.

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Welcome to Springhouse.

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Today we're gonna talk about persecution.

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Can I just tell you this morning,

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if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,

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at some point in your life,

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you should be facing some point of persecution.

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There should be something in your life at times,

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not forced, but there should come a point in your life,

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and probably multiple points,

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where you come up against something

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that causes you to have to lean further into your faith

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as opposed to leaning into the world.

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As a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ,

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we are not supposed to look like the world.

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In other words, if I were to take the population

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of Springhouse here and double it,

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the double side being of the world,

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and everyone in here being believers,

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we should look different than the world.

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We should look different than the world.

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And so in that, we succumb at times

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to moments of persecution,

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because if we are gonna stand on the truth of God's word,

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if we are gonna believe what God's word says,

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then it causes us to react, it causes us to say things,

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it causes us to do things

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that would not be the choice path of the world.

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If we really believe what the word of God says,

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if we really believe in this Jesus

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who saved us from our sins,

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who was beaten and put on a cross,

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and rose again three days later,

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if we really believe in who we say we believe,

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then our lives ought to look completely different

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than the world with which we live.

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The American church, the American Christian

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has very little clue about real persecution.

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The American Christian has very little clue

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about real persecution.

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We tend to think that since they don't have

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our favorite flavor of coffee cream out in the foyer,

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that we are being persecuted for Jesus Christ.

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We tend to come in and say,

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"Man, that air conditioning is working this morning.

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"I am being persecuted by being here for Jesus Christ."

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We are cushy and comfortable,

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but we have really little idea

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what it is to truly be persecuted.

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I heard a story once, there were about 1,000 people

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who gathered in the Middle East under a tent,

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a big tent, actually it was enclosed, an enclosed tent,

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and they were gathered to worship.

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They wanted to worship the Lord.

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And so they get together and the musicians got up

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and the worship leaders got up

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and they started to worship the Lord,

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hands raised, reckless abandon.

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And somewhere in the middle of the service,

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a mob comes into the tent with automatic rifles.

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They come in and they surround all the people

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and everybody stops.

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They don't continue to worship, fear took over

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the whole mass population.

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Can you imagine if it happened here?

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Fear taking over, is this it?

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Is this going to be the end of us today?

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What's going on?

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Who sent these people in here?

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All the questions.

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And the leader of the mob said to the group,

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"If you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,

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"we want you to stay.

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"But if you are not a believer, you are free to go."

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The room cleared all but 50 people, all but 50 people.

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Once they closed the tent, the automatic rifles

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were pointed into the air and they shot them up in the air.

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After shooting them up in the air,

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they laid the automatic rifles down,

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they took off their mask and they said to the 50 people,

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"We just wanted to worship with those

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"who were really Christian."

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When it comes to your faith in Jesus Christ,

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are you willing to put your life on the line

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for the one you say you believe in?

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American Christians, us, we really don't have a clue

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when it comes to being truly persecuted.

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As we read the scripture,

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we're looking at two different groups

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and we're looking at the Sadducees here.

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And it dawned on me when I was reading this week

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that there may be people who,

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have you ever read the scripture and you look at Pharisees

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and you look at Sadducees and you're like,

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"I don't really know what the difference is here.

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"I know that they are religious leaders."

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They are religious leaders.

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I wanna differentiate because it's important this morning

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for us to know the difference

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between a Pharisee and a Sadducee.

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So a Pharisee, and there's some other differences,

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but these are core here.

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The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ

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and afterlife and spiritual beings.

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So the religious people, the Pharisees,

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they believed that Jesus Christ rose from the dead,

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the afterlife and spiritual beings such as angels and demons.

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But the Sadducees in contrast

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did not believe in the resurrection,

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did not believe in the afterlife or spiritual beings.

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They saw Jesus, they acknowledged Jesus,

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but they did not acknowledge anything post death.

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So can you imagine that all you get

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is the 80 years here on earth, 90 years here on earth,

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and it's over, that's it.

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Back into the dust, there's nothing left.

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Guys, we know that that's not true

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because Jesus Christ is sitting right hand of God

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and we have an eternity that waits for us.

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And so the Sadducees were clearly in the wrong,

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but it's important for us to understand

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the point of view of the Sadducees

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to appreciate what's being written,

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what Luke is writing here in the book of Acts.

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So the Sadducees are here

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and they are noticing that at Solomon's colonnade,

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thousands upon thousands upon thousands

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of believers and converts are worshiping Jesus Christ,

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are being taught about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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The apostles are teaching.

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And as you remember last week, I told you more than ever,

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numbers are being added to their numbers.

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So much so that they are, like I said before,

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they're bringing sick people.

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And if Peter's shadow would just be casted on them,

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they would be healed.

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The Holy Spirit was doing a mighty work.

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But the word tells us that the Sadducees,

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the Sadducees who did not believe this,

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they were caught up in jealousy.

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It says they became jealous.

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Have you ever been jealous of something going on around you?

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Excuse me, have you ever been jealous of someone

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being elevated above you?

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Now the Sadducees were not necessarily jealous.

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They weren't jealous of the people's relationship

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with the Lord.

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The Sadducees were jealous

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of their positional relationship with the people.

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And so they were seeing all of these masses gather

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around these apostles and the Sadducees are saying,

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wait a second, we're the religious leaders here.

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We should be in these high places.

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We should be the ones drawing the crowds.

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And they got caught up in jealousy.

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Jealousy is a byproduct of fear.

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It causes one to say, I don't think I'm good enough

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or I'm worth enough.

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It calls into question the relationship.

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And like I said, the Sadducees were not concerned

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about their relationship with the Lord

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as much as they were concerned

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about their positional relationship with the people.

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The mass gathering took attention away from them.

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And they wanted the attention.

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They wanted the leadership.

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So they make a decision to arrest the apostles.

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They arrest the apostles and they take the apostles

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and they put them in jail.

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They put them in jail.

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And so they're in jail and the apostles are there

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and in the middle of the night, an angel comes.

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An angel comes and unlocks the door.

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Now guys, I want you to understand something.

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God leaves no stone unturned.

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He is intentional on everything he does, okay?

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An angel comes and unlocks the door,

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brings the apostles out.

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And I wanna stop right there for just a second.

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What did we just say the Sadducees did not believe in?

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The resurrection and spiritual beings.

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Isn't God a mastermind?

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That something miraculous was going to happen here,

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that the Sadducees are gonna happen upon this jail cell

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where the apostles have disappeared

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and there's no evidence of anything happening

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except for you can only explain it

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to be supernatural intervention.

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God's up to something.

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He wants to show these Sadducees his power,

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his might, his glory, his supernatural movement.

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So an angel pulls them out of jail

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and he gives them a directive.

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He says, I want you to go back to the colonnade

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and I want you to preach out in the open the word of God.

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Now I want you to think about that for just a second.

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You have just been caught and thrown into jail

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for proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ.

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And an angel lets you out of jail and says,

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now this is what I want you to do.

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I want you to go back into the spotlight again

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and I want you to preach the word of God.

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Now most of us, this is what we like.

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God, I need you to free me from my jail.

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Okay, jail could be anything.

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Lord, I need you to free me from my jail.

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And the Lord comes along and he frees you from your jail

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and guess what, you take off running.

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But here's the thing, anytime God moves in your life,

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he always has instructions to follow.

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He never is going to free you from something

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so that you can be elevated and that you can be lifted up.

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He's gonna free you from stuff so that he can be exalted.

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So when he frees you from stuff,

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there's going to be some instructions behind that.

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Every single time, he's going to make himself exalted

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and acknowledged.

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This is why when you have a testimony of God's faithfulness,

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you're supposed to share that thing.

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It's not because I did anything.

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It's not because I'm good enough.

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It's because he moved in my life.

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He did the thing.

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And so he says, I want you to go

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and I want you to preach again in the open

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and I want you to risk everything.

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Can you imagine?

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Now, I believe the apostles were filled with faith.

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So I can't really imagine them having too much

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of a problem going out there,

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especially seeing an angel who opens the door.

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But just let's make them human for just a minute

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'cause they were human and think about man.

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So wait a minute, you want me to go put myself,

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but if I'm in jail now, then it seems to reason

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that if I get caught out there again,

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the consequences are going to be greater.

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Yes, the consequences are going to be,

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church, I want to ask you today,

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are you willing to put your life on the line

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when the Holy Spirit asks you to put your life on the line?

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I want us to understand today that the Holy Spirit of God

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will always meet you where you are.

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If he asks you to do something,

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he never sends you out alone.

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He'll be right there with you.

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You can trust that he will equip you, he will protect you.

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He will give you every tool you need

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if he asks you to do something.

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Guys, are you willing to lean in and obey the Holy Spirit

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when the Holy Spirit of God asks you to do something?

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There's a guy by the name John Bunyan.

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Some of you may know that name, John Bunyan.

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If you're familiar with Pilgrim's Progress,

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he is the author of Pilgrim's Progress.

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And in the mid 1600s, John Bunyan was confronted

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with King Charles II.

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And he was confronted because he went out to preach

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the gospel and he did not have a license to do so.

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And so he's pulled in by the king and the king says,

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"You don't have a license to do this,

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"so you're gonna be thrown into jail."

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However, John, I wanna give you an out here.

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I wanna give you a way out.

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We can either throw you in jail for doing this,

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or if you promise never to speak that gospel again,

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you can be set free.

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And he looks at those who accuse him

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and they're going to throw him in jail and said,

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"If you free me right now, I'm going right back out there

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"to preach the gospel that I know is true."

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They throw him in jail for 12 and a half years,

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and in 12 and a half years, he writes letters,

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he writes Pilgrim's Progress, he writes all of these things.

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And guess what happens the day he gets out of jail?

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He goes right back out there to start ministering

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the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Are you willing to put your life on the line

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for the one you say you believe in?

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The one that we just worshiped for a half hour,

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45 minutes.

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The one you're throwing your hands up

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with reckless abandon and saying,

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heal me, you are the author and the finisher of my faith.

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We, I so worship you, God, you're the same God

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yesterday, today, forevermore.

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God, I need you, all of this.

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We cry out to him because we need him

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to meet our immediate circumstances,

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because we need him to put French vanilla coffee creamer

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out there when there is none.

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God, would you please move?

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Yet, when we are walking by people who on their way to hell,

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we will not even open our mouth.

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Because we are scared, or we're about ourself,

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or we're not listening.

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Time is of essence, people.

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Because there's coming a day where glory to glory,

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he's gonna split the sky.

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And God's most favorite resource to use

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to advance his kingdom is you, is you.

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What are you doing with your faith?

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What are you doing with your walk, with your life?

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Is it eternal focus, or is it centered on you?

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And so they find out that they are preaching the gospel,

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again, out in Solomon's colonnade,

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and they go out there and notice the,

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it says they go out there and they ask them to come back,

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and they say, come on, and they don't take them by force,

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because they're afraid of the people.

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They're afraid of the people.

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Now, this tells me a little bit

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about the character of the apostles,

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because the apostles could have right then and there

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just gone toe to toe with the Sadducees

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and said, we're not going anywhere with you.

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But yet, the Sadducees were in authority.

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So they responded to the authority,

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trusting that the Holy Spirit

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was gonna work everything out.

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So they go back in with the Sadducees,

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and the Sadducees look at them and they say this,

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we gave you strict orders not to teach in the name.

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What do you notice about this?

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They do not say the name, just the name.

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Can I tell you that there is no greater name

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on the face of this planet than the name Jesus Christ?

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There is no greater name than the name of Jesus.

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And the apostles respond with this, they say,

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we must obey God rather than human beings.

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Guys, I have to tell you, there are gonna come times

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when you have a choice to obey a human or obey God,

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and I tell you, always go with God.

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Make sure it's God, because if it's not God,

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it's gonna be a mess.

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But if the Holy Spirit's telling you to go left

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and everybody else telling you to go right,

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you better go left and you better trust

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that he's gonna meet you right there in your left turn.

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There have been moments in my life

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where everyone in my ear is saying, you need to do this,

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but the Holy Spirit is saying, do this other thing.

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And I am so thankful as I look back on some of those times

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that I chose to go with the Holy Spirit.

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I chose to go with the Holy Spirit.

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The times when I've missed it and I've gone with humans,

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it has always failed.

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It has always failed.

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This is why it's so important,

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if you're in somebody's ear trying to lead them,

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you better make sure you're hearing

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from the Holy Spirit as well.

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Because when you're giving advice

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and you're telling people what they ought to do,

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because it naturally seems like what you should do,

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naturally, do you know we serve a supernatural God?

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That means beyond the natural.

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And so when somebody's saying,

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I don't know if you should believe for that,

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I don't know if you should do this,

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this is what you should do.

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And the Holy Spirit of God has told you to do something else,

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always lean into the Holy Spirit.

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He'll meet you every single time.

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He'll meet you every single time.

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So they just say the name.

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Listen, the consequences of not obeying man

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pale greatly of the consequences of not obeying God.

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The apostles were preaching not just in the name,

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but in the name of Jesus, the name of Jesus Christ.

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The name of Jesus is powerful.

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There is nothing greater in this world

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than the name of Jesus.

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Listen, a believer without the name of Jesus

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is no believer at all.

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A church without the name of Jesus is no church at all.

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A gospel without the name of Jesus is no gospel at all.

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Jesus, as Paul writes in Philippians,

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it says this, God has exalted Jesus to the highest place

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and given him the name that is above every other name.

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Guys, whatever label the culture has given you,

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whatever name it's trying to call you,

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whatever thing you're trying to lean into

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that the culture of the world is saying,

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God has given Jesus a name above all of those names.

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It is the most powerful name on there,

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this most powerful name that we lean into.

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No other name is above this name

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and every knee is going to bow.

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Not some knees, not the knees that choose,

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not just every single knee is going to bow

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and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

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It's going to happen.

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And so here's the tension.

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We either, we either are going to,

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we're either gonna bow willfully in submission

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or we're gonna be forced in confession,

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one way or the other.

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And I wanna be on the side of willful submission

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because when I bow my knee in willful submission,

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I get to exalt the king and I get to see him

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for the mercy and grace he gives instead of being condemned.

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Let me tell you something, every knee is gonna bow.

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Every tongue is going, that is the bottom line period

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at the end of sentence, every knee is going to bow.

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Every tongue is going to confess that he is Lord,

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that he is Lord.

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You belong to a kingdom and you have a king.

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This is not a democracy.

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As much as you might not like some of the things

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that the Lord has put in his word, it is not a democracy.

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We serve a king and he is a sovereign, just king.

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A sovereign, just king who loves you.

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The word, we talked about this before,

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the word is the constitution of the kingdom.

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It is what we look at to order our life.

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It's where we go to get the answers that we need

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to life's problems.

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The Lord is never going to go against his word.

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Well, the Holy Spirit told me to do X,

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but it's not in God's word.

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It doesn't line up with God's word.

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The Holy Spirit didn't tell you to do that.

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It will always line up with his word.

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It always, he doesn't change, he's flawless in his character.

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He's flawless in his character.

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He doesn't make mistakes and you're not a mistake.

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So the enemy is working tirelessly right now, today.

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The enemy of your soul, the enemy of your life

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is working tirelessly to denounce the name of Jesus.

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But every time he tries, he fails

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because the enemy has his plan,

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but God's plan will always prevail.

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The enemy has his plan, whatever it is in your life

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that you're looking at and you're like,

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I don't understand, the enemy is messing with me,

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this is going on, the thoughts that are produced

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in your mind, God has a plan that will always prevail.

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But God, Kevin, I've messed up the plan.

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You don't know, he told me to do this, I did this,

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I messed up this, I did all this.

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You know what, God is a genius.

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He's able to come right back around

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and take an ashy situation and make it beautiful.

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God's word will always stand.

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His word, his plan will always prevail

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every single time, every single time.

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So the job of the Holy Spirit,

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what is the job of the Holy Spirit?

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It is to point people to?

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Point people to?

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The job of the Holy Spirit is to point people to Jesus.

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So when he tells you to go somewhere,

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to witness to someone, to pray for someone,

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it's always about exalting the name of Jesus.

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It's always about ultimately pointing people to Jesus.

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There were three guys in the book of Daniel, chapter three,

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Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what wonderful names.

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Some of you should adopt those names

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into your babies as they're coming, okay?

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Shadrach, Meshach, I would love a little Meshach

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running around here, okay?

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Abednego, okay?

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And these three guys are willing,

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they are willing, listen to me,

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they're willing to obey, listen,

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they're willing to obey the king Nebuchadnezzar

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up to the point when he says, bow down and worship me.

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And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say,

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whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

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their ear days lay long, they have been drawn.

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We will do what you ask us to do,

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but we will bow to no man because we serve a glorious God.

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And they have a fiery furnace in front of them,

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and they are threatened with their lives.

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And Nebuchadnezzar says, if you do not bow down

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and worship me, I'm gonna throw you into this fire.

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And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say,

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put me in there, put me in there.

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I'm gonna turn it up, I'm gonna turn up the heat.

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They say, we will not bow down, put us in there.

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But can I tell you that when Shadrach, Meshach,

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and Abednego were put in the fire,

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there was a fourth man in that fire.

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There was a holy God that was waiting

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in the midst of that circumstance

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that no man is going to prevail over my plan, says the Lord.

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If you will choose the Lord, even in the midst of tension,

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even in the midst whenever there is something in front of you

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that doesn't seem comfortable, that doesn't seem right,

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that seems to be a consequence for you,

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turning your back on the world and going to God,

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he will always meet you right there.

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There was a fourth man in the fire.

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There was a fourth man in the fire.

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Guys, I'm asking you today, are you willing,

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are you willing to put your life on the line?

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And so today, here's the point,

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here's the crux of my message today.

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This is a fundamental question I wanna ask you,

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and it's a sobering question.

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I don't want everyone to take it seriously in this place.

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Here's the question I have for you, Springhouse Church.

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Are you ashamed of Jesus?

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Are you ashamed of Jesus?

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In order to not be ashamed of Jesus,

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the very first step is you have to unquestionably

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acknowledge the reality of his existence.

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I was 16 years old when I wanted,

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there are times still even in my life

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as a flawed 40-year-old, there are times in my life

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when I wake up and I ask God,

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I say, why am I even alive today?

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Why would you even have me here today?

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God, I am not worth anything being here on this earth.

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Take my life.

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And 16, I decided to take that in my own hands,

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and I took my car on Old Nashville Highway up to the hill,

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and my plan was to ram my car into a newly built CVS wall

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that was going up right next door to the church.

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And so I got up to that hill, and I turned around,

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and tears just streaming down my eyes,

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90 miles an hour I start to take off toward this wall,

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and something happened to me that has never happened

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in the other decades of my life.

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Never has this happened except for this one moment, guys,

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when I hit that bank, I heard the audible voice of God say,

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I'm not finished with you yet.

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And because of that experience with the Holy Spirit,

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every one of you have the ability

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to turn around and deny this God,

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but I do not get that privilege because I know he is real.

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I know that he is alive.

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I know that he has a plan for my life.

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I don't have the ability to deny Christ.

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I don't, because he's real.

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I would be lying to myself.

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I'd be lying to you if I turned my back and said,

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he doesn't exist, because I know he does.

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And in order for us to be in a place

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where we are not ashamed of Jesus,

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we have to be in a place where we undeniably

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don't question but acknowledge his existence.

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Church, are you ashamed of Jesus?

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I remember a time at Chick-fil-A,

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I used to work at Chick-fil-A eight years,

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and there was this guy,

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it was my second half of those eight years,

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I was at this store, and this guy comes in,

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and he wants to introduce me to his friend.

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One of my employees wanted to introduce me to his friend.

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I think his name was Jeff.

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And he walks in, and I get out behind the counter,

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and I go shake his hand, and the employee says,

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hey, Jeff, this is Kevin O'Day.

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He says, I've heard of you.

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You're that Jesus guy.

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And I immediately thought to myself,

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how embarrassing that I would be called that Jesus guy.

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Do you know that there is no better higher compliment

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to be called than that Jesus guy?

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There is no better thing to be pegged for

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than to wear the name of Jesus Christ,

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the name above every other name on your sleeve,

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that when people see you, they know you because of him.

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They know you as Jesus.

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And I was so embarrassed, Lord, forgive me even today

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as I think about it and tell the story again,

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that I would deny your existence,

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that I would be embarrassed by the one who saved my life,

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who took me out of the muck and mire,

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the one who I cannot deny his existence.

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Guys, this is why Ruby can be on the verge of death,

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and all I can say is you're sovereign, God.

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Do your will, but I know that you're real.

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I'm not gonna question your reality.

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This is why when my wife is having her first baby,

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and she's losing the blood and could lose her life,

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God, I cannot deny your reality.

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You are sovereign.

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I might not know why, I might not understand it,

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but I'm not gonna question whether you are real.

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I'm not gonna question whether you are real.

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Are you ashamed of Jesus?

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Paul says this over in the book of Romans.

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It says, I am not ashamed of the gospel

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because it is the power of God that brings salvation

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to everyone who believes.

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This is not just a verse of comfort.

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This is a verse declaring war on the world.

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This is a verse that says, whatever you throw my way,

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I am not ashamed of the God of this universe.

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I am not ashamed of anything that is standing before me.

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I'm going to stand firm in my foundation of the truth.

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Now, here's the thing.

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If you don't know the truth,

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then it's very hard not to be ashamed

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because you don't know who you believe in.

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So it's so important that you have a relationship

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with the word of God so that you understand

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who it is that you say you believe in.

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Otherwise, it's very confusing.

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And when we get doubled up with the world, guess what?

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You smell like the world, you look like the world,

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you sound like the world.

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Are you a Christian really?

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Are you a believer really?

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Not everyone who says to me, says Jesus, Lord, Lord,

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will enter the kingdom of heaven,

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but only the one who does the will of my Father

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who's in heaven.

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How do we know the will of God?

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The word of God.

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The word of God.

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The Holy Spirit gives us the strength.

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Am I 100% in obeying the will of God?

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Guys, you better betcha I'm the most flawed person

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in the room, but I have this Holy Spirit,

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this gift who's walking beside me,

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this gift of the Holy Spirit.

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When I start going this way, he says,

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ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.

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Turn around and go this way.

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Turn around and go this way, Kev.

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I want to make Jesus famous through your life.

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I want to tell people I wanna advance my kingdom.

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You need to put down those drugs.

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You need to put down that pride.

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You need to stop going back to those old vices,

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those old things that formed,

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the reason Christ liberated you from your sin,

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the reason he liberated you from your sin

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is so that you could be free.

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And with your freedom, you would proclaim

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the gospel of Jesus Christ

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and lead people into his kingdom.

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Are you ashamed of the gospel?

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Jesus says, whoever acknowledges me,

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this is so sobering, before others,

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I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,

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looks into this, but whoever disowns me before others,

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I will disown before my Father in heaven.

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Guys, I wish sometimes we could only believe

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some of the Bible, but we actually have to believe

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the entire thing.

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(congregation murmuring)

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This is Jesus Christ.

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This is Jesus Christ.

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Are you ashamed of Jesus?

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Part of the reason why I think we get hung up

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is because we don't really lean in and understand

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the reality of how limited our life is here on earth

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compared to our overall existence.

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I've shared this before,

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but your life is so much more

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than just this little time on earth.

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Your existence goes on and on and on and on and on

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and on and on and on and on and on and on.

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It just continues and continues and continues.

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This is your existence, this is your being.

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This part is how much we spend on earth.

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And whatever you choose to do with this part

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has everything to do with what's gonna happen

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with this part.

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(congregation murmuring)

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Here's the glorious thing.

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From the moment of your death here on earth,

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there's no more persecution.

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There's no more trial, there's no more brokenness.

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The Bible tells us he's gonna wipe every single tear

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from every eye.

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Some of you have been contending with brokenness and pain

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and all of the things that are going on in your life,

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not understanding a promise that was not fulfilled,

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all of these things, that all ends

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when you enter into eternity.

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But what you do with that during this part

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determines what this part's gonna look like.

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And it also determines other people

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who are watching you say, I believe

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who I say I believe in.

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I don't understand, you should be really upset with God.

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You should be really mad at God for X, Y, and Z.

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Man, I don't understand why you're going back to church

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and worship it.

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Didn't he say he was gonna do that

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and he didn't do yada, yada, yada?

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And you watch that person pull up

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because of the power of the Holy Spirit,

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because of the peace that the Holy Spirit gives,

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and all of a sudden you've got people just rallying around

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and numbers more than ever are added to the kingdom.

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And you say, I don't understand why I had to go there.

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And the Lord Almighty says, son, daughter,

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just wait and see, you are part of my bigger plan.

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Christ died on the cross for you.

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He was not in the wrong.

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The righteousness of God nailed to a tree.

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We must understand that our existence

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is so much more than the red part.

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So what is the barometer or the litmus test

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of whether or not we are truly ashamed of Jesus?

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What's the litmus, what are we supposed to look at?

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Like, what do we see?

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Like, how do I know, like, am I ashamed, not ashamed?

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All of these things, I can sum it up in one word.

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Love.

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The barometer and the litmus test

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of whether or not you are ashamed of Jesus Christ

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is you looking like and acting like Him on earth, on earth.

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I say this with such humility,

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but I have been so ridiculed and made fun of in my life

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for the deep way I love people.

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I have been so made fun of.

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I've been so ridiculed.

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Again, I say this with such humility

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because they say it's so weird the way you love.

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It's so weird, it's so strange.

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You know what, it is weird.

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Because it's not like the culture, it's not like the world.

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It should look like the kingdom.

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Because this is what Christ says.

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He says this, He says, love one another, what?

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As I have loved you.

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Jesus Christ loved you to the point of death on the cross.

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There is no more selfless act

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than Jesus dying on a holy perfect God

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dying on a cross for you.

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There's no more selfless act.

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So guys, every single one, who here every day

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needs to be reminded by God that He loves you?

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Raise your hand.

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I need to be reminded by God.

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Okay, if it's true that we are to love one another

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as He has loved us, then that tells me

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if every day I need to be reminded from Him,

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then you better, I love you.

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I love you.

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Kurt, I love you.

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Hannah, I love you.

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Do you have anything?

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Is there anything I can do for you?

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Do you need anything?

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What can I do?

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How can I serve you?

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How can I be less of me?

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How can I, Dave, I love you.

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How can I serve you?

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What can I do to wash your feet?

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Jesus washed people's feet.

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How can I serve?

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Every day.

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Man, you told me you loved me five days ago.

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You don't need to tell me for another month.

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No, every day.

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Moment by moment, I'm gonna tell you again.

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I'm gonna tell you again.

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I'm gonna tell you again.

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That's so weird.

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Here's the thing.

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You know what's crazy about this weird love?

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When it's removed, you miss it.

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- Yeah. - Yeah.

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- When it goes away, you go, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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I didn't realize I had something really, really good.

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And that's why the love of Christ

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is so attractive to a world.

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That's why instead of looking at the world and saying,

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this is what you've done wrong,

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we showed them the love of Christ

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and they are drawn into the kingdom.

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I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ and his love for me.

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I'm not ashamed to love you

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even though you smack me in the face,

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even though you put me down,

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even though you got a fiery furnace waiting for me.

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I'm here, I'm gonna love you.

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- Yeah. - Yeah.

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- I'm gonna love you.

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I'm gonna see you the way that Christ sees you.

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I'm gonna turn the other cheek.

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I'm gonna, I'm not ashamed.

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I'm not ashamed.

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There were two primary things that people accused Jesus of

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that got him on that cross.

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The first one was being God.

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The second one was how big he loved.

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The emptiness and void that every single one of us

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have in our life can only be filled by the love

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of the God of the universe.

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And he chooses his people, his most precious resource is you

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to help fill those gaps through the Holy Spirit.

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Are you ashamed of Jesus?

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More than what's coming out of your mouth,

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I'm talking about your actions.

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Are you ashamed?

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Does your life speak or shout,

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I'm ashamed of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

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You have the answer for a dying world.

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Not an answer, you have the answer.

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Jesus said, I am the way.

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I am the truth.

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I am the life.

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If I hold in my hand, if I hold in my hand the antidote

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for Dana's life, and I know that if all I have to do,

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she's dying, and if I hand this to her,

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go and take this, if I hand this to her and she takes it,

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she's alive.

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Why in the world would I not want to make sure Dana has that?

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And you all have been equipped with every,

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you have the answer to dying world.

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You have the answer even within the church.

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People who say, I believe, you have the answer

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for people who need healing,

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who need a move and a touch from God, you have the answer.

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You've been equipped.

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Why would we not, why would we hold on to what we have?

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Is this good this morning or no?

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(congregation cheering)

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Listen.

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Worship team, you can make your way back out.

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How we love the dying world around us, it matters.

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How we love one another, it actually, it matters.

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If you're going to be persecuted in this life,

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let it be because you loved too big.

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If you're going to be persecuted in this life,

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let it be because you loved too big.

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Later in the scripture, after what we read,

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Gamaliel comes around because they brought these guys

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into the Sanhedrin and they've arrested them again.

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But you know something different about Gamaliel?

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Gamaliel is a Pharisee.

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Remember we talked about Pharisees, Sadducees?

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Think about this.

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In the midst of trial, we threw you in jail

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and you went back and did the exact same thing

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we told you not to do?

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Oh, y'all are about to suffer this.

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And the Lord raises up a Pharisee named Gamaliel, yeah.

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I call him G, he raises up G.

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Everybody needs a G in their life.

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And he says, wait a minute, guys.

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You've seen how this works out.

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If what these guys, if what these apostles are saying

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is of man's hands, it's gonna fail.

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But if it's God, you can't do anything about it anyway.

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So let's just take our hands off of this

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and let it play out the way it's going to play out.

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Isn't it interesting?

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The Sadducees have to contend with the gospel.

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They have to contend with a mysterious angel that comes in

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and the Lord's gonna raise up a Pharisee in the same story.

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The one who does believe in the resurrection to say,

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hey, let's leave these guys alone

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and see how this plays out.

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And so you know what they did to the apostles?

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They pulled them in and they beat them.

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They did, they beat them.

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They didn't slap them on the hand.

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They beat them, okay?

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Let's look at their response, shall we?

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The apostles left the Sanhedrin.

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What's the next word?

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Say it loudly.

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Say it again.

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Because they have been counted worthy

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of suffering disgrace for Jesus.

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Guys, when have you been in a situation?

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Guys, not everything that bad happens to your life

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is of the enemy.

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Sometimes you're in situations that God is saying,

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if you'll just wait on me, I'm right there with you.

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I've taken you through this thing

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because I wanna do something powerful through you.

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And if we could get to a place

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where when we suffer for Christ Jesus,

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we could say, I counted such a joy

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that you counted me worthy enough

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to suffer for you, Christ Jesus.

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Forgive me when I put myself in the center

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and it's all about my comfort

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and what I wanted and the peace that I needed.

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But God, that you would choose to use me

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so that others would know you.

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It says they were beaten and they left rejoicing.

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They were beaten and they left rejoicing.

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And day after day, this is after they've been beat.

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We have a saying over at school that says,

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when you know better, you do better.

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Okay?

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There would be a lot of us say,

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that beating did not feel good.

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So I'm not doing this anymore.

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Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house,

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they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news

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that Jesus was the Messiah.

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Church, you have a choice.

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It is a day by day choice.

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Christ Jesus, Lord, I need your reminder every day

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that you love me.

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But I also understand that your call for me today

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is to pick up my cross and follow you.

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Christ, I understand that you're actually not saying

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that you saved me so that I could try to get as much riches

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as I can accumulate here on earth.

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But that actually, God, that you wanna put me in position

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because of the gifts that you've given me.

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You wanna leverage the gifts, the anointing of the gifts

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that you placed in my life so that I might be leveraged

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to advance your kingdom.

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Glory to glory.

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You wanna use pitiful, broken, a shameful me to do that?

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He says, absolutely.

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You know why?

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Because you're willing to trust me.

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You're willing to trust me.

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Church, are you ashamed of Jesus?

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Because boy, if we could become unashamed

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of the one that we worship, and if we could start to love

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the way that he loves, do you wanna talk about,

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guys, I'm already to a point saying some of you

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need to start coming into early gatherings,

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but this place is gonna be packed.

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This place would be packed because of him.

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Because of him.

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It's no coincidence that Ananias and Sapphira

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are right before this story because it starts

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with the recognition that he is a holy God.

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There are some things I need to clean up in my,

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oh, oh, I'm not supposed to, oh, there's boundaries.

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Oh, I actually gotta, oh, I need to live a life

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that, Lord, is pleasing to you.

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Why?

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Because if you're not doing that,

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then it's a hypocrisy thing that happens

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when you're trying to dish out the Lord.

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Here, I wanna show you Jesus, but I'm not living like him.

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I'm not ashamed of Jesus, I just wanna live for him.

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I'm not ashamed for Jesus, I don't wanna look like him.

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No, we need to look like our savior, God,

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and it's only this, it's right here.

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It's gonna be over soon.

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This tension, this war, this daily struggle

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of getting up every day and deciding,

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I'm gonna pick up my cross and follow him,

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and he never meant for us to do it alone.

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He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.

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So here's the deal.

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You have good news.

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Share it.

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Share it.

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At the grocery near the clerk,

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with the person who cuts you off in traffic,

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with that person you can't stand,

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the people with bad breath.

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Because there's coming a day he's gonna split the sky.

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Well done, good and faithful servant.

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Well done, good and faithful servant.

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Don't you want him to say that to you?

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Can you imagine the God of the universe

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looking at you, Dave, and saying,

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well done, good and faithful.

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You raised your boys well.

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You did everything that you're supposed to do.

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You supported your wife.

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You got in there and you served when you didn't.

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When nobody looked at you and thanked you,

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you continued to serve.

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Well done, good and faithful servant.

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Thank you for being a conduit of grace

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because guess what?

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There are people over here

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that you weren't paying attention to.

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They were looking at you.

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They were watching your life.

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And you didn't get mad when that person did that thing

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or said that thing.

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They'd say, watch that, and they didn't understand that.

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But guess what?

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It nudged them along toward me

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and now there are multitudes in the kingdom

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because you're faithfulness.

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Well done, good and faithful servant.

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Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ?

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Stand with me, church, today.

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We're gonna close out with this worship song

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and here's the call today.

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Once again, these are some hard words and acts

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I told the staff this week.

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Acts is a tremendous book for us to be going through.

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But it calls into question,

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do you really wanna be a Christian?

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Do you really want to do this thing?

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And so this morning, again, I wanna invite you,

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if you want to, you can stay in your seats

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or you can come to the altar space

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if there is a call to surrender,

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if there's a call that you need to say, Lord, forgive me,

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because I at times have been ashamed of you

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and I no longer wanna be ashamed,

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I wanna be used by you,

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I wanna be used for your glory, God.

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Would you choose me, would you use me

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because I understand what you did for me in my life.

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I wanna spend my eternity with you.

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If that is you and you wanna come

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and you wanna worship and make that proclamation,

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come now, let's worship together, worship team.

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