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Glory to God

Serving obediently, with humility and love builds God's Kingdom. Kevin O'Dea shares stories of dedication and the eternal impacts of everyday acts of faith.

Scriptures Referenced

1 Samuel 8:4-7; Matthew:6:1, 10:32, 16:26-27; Acts 12:20-23, 13:42-46, 14:8-20; Romans 6:20-23; Philippians 2:5-10; Hebrews 11:6; James 1:17, 4:10; Revelation 22:12-13

Key Insights

  • Becoming like Jesus will do more to bring people to Jesus than any program or event.
  • When something extraordinary happens, it’s easy to elevate people above God.
  • In our culture, just serving without getting anything in return, has largely become a lost concept.
  • Sometimes the promises we are believing God for are not for us, but for a generation to come.
  • Don’t let your disobedience in the past affect your obedience in the present.
  • God will use your sore spots to train you.
  • Self-centeredness will always taint your experience.
  • The Lord is refining you to be more like Him.
  • Your obedience could literally save somebody’s life for eternity.
  • God owes us nothing, yet He will reward us if we seek Him earnestly.

Prayer Targets

Please join us in prayer for:

  • A hunger for the Word.
  • Tears for the lost.
  • Testimonies to share.

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

Gathering Times

  • Sundays, 9:00 AM
  • Sundays, 11:00 AM
  • Thursdays, 6:00 PM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

Additional Resources

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
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I usually do this on the last Sunday of October, but do you know how hard it is to get a group

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of pastors in the same room on a Sunday?

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That's very difficult.

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Guys, you are incredibly blessed.

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We are incredibly blessed.

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I am incredibly blessed to have a group of associate pastors at this church who love

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and serve the way that they do.

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The group of people behind me have been faithful, have been loyal, have been servant-hearted

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for multiple years, even before I got into this position.

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You know, I was told by several respected business people and even ministry people that

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whenever I stepped into this role as lead pastor, I needed to clear the deck.

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And it didn't resonate with my spirit to clear the deck because you don't clear the deck

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with family.

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You guys are my family.

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And there is nobody that I would rather do this journey with than the people who are

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on the stage, whether you're on time or not, Justin.

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The way that you guys have picked up the mantles that you've been charged with, the way that

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you execute them is why we have the DNA in this house the way that we do.

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You guys shepherd from a posture looking through the lands of Jesus, and you deeply care for

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these people.

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And I know that if we didn't do this, you would do your job with as much excellence

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as you do right now.

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But I wanted to appreciate you guys.

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I wanted to recognize you for your fingerprints being all over this house in the hearts of

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the people.

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The longevity of the staff here goes to show not that, "Hey, look at us.

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Look what we've done."

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It goes to show the grace of God, the grace of the Lord in each of your lives and the

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way that you have ministered.

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The Lord gave me three words for this church body whenever I stepped in this role to love

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big, huge hearts on this stage.

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To live truth, you guys have a relationship with the Word of God and you live the truth

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of God's Word.

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And we are a healthy family because you shepherd so well.

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So I just want to thank you.

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I want to thank you for serving the body.

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I want to thank you for loving the body and loving me.

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Thank you for putting up with my shenanigans and all of the things that I asked you to

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do and going with me.

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I think the greatest gift is to know that I unequivocally, unquestionably know that

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your yes is on the table.

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If I go, you're coming with me.

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And I can't tell you there's not a greater gift.

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So we have something small for you that they're going to bring out, and I just want to say

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we appreciate you guys.

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Do you love the pastoral team here at Springhouse, guys?

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Yeah, yeah.

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Now I believe it was Pastor Barbie.

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Come on y'all.

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Come on.

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Now I believe it was Pastor Barbie who said a few weeks ago it doesn't matter how much

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fruit you have, only if it's good fruit.

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That's all good fruit, so hopefully you can eat it.

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Would you guys just gather here in front of me?

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Would you all stretch your hands?

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I pray over these guys.

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And you're going to not see Pastor Barbie for a few weeks because she's going on sabbatical.

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So I didn't want you to think she left her, you know, and you know, I get to repay her

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for some remarks she made about me last time I was on sabbatical.

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It's going to be great.

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It's going to be fun.

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Let's pray.

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Father, I thank you so much for the gifts that you've given us.

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The greatest gift you ever gave us was your son Jesus.

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I thank you Lord for the pastors that you have assigned to this house, including Jonathan.

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And I thank you Lord for the people that are standing on this stage.

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And I ask Lord that you would continue to use them God.

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Father, I thank you for their appointment.

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I thank you that they walk with it with excellence.

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Lord I thank you that they walk in integrity God.

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And I thank you Lord that their desires to truly please you.

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I pray Lord as they love our body big, as they live your truth, and as they sow into

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healthy family, I pray Lord that we'll return to their families and to their homes a thousandfold God.

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I pray that you would cover them, put a hedge of protection around them, us, as a body.

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And I pray Lord that you would continue to use them as your oil pours down their head

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to their feet, that they would walk in peace and that we would continue to maintain unity

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in you.

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In Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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Thank you guys so much.

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[applause]

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Okay, I'm coming down to the floor because I want to spit on the front row.

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That's holy spit.

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Three reasons why I chose to do that today.

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The first I've already told you.

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It's hard, thank you buddy.

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It's hard to get the pastors all in one room together on a Sunday.

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The second reason is we have a picnic following this gathering.

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Are you not excited about the picnic?

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Okay, I'm excited about the picnic.

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These pastors are going to be out there.

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I want you to find them and hug their necks and tell them how much you appreciate them.

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Is that sound good?

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Can you do that for me?

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Thumbs up?

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Are we good?

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Are we live this morning?

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Okay.

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All right, good deal.

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And lastly, I wanted to do this today because of the message I'm about to speak.

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And you'll see why once we get done with it.

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Let's stand together and read the scripture.

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"In Lystra there set a man who was lame.

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He had been that way from birth and never walked.

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He listened to Paul as he was speaking.

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Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed, and called out, 'Stand

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up on your feet.'

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At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

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When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lyconian language, 'The gods

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have come down to us in human form.'

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Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.

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The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside of the city, brought bulls and reeds

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to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

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But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed

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out into the crowd, shouting, 'Friends, why are you doing this?

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We too are only human like you.

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We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the

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living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.'

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In the past, he let all nations go their own way.

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He has not left himself without testimony.

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He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons.

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He provides you with plenty of foods and fills your heart with joy.

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In these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

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Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over.

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They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

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But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.

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The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derby.

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They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples.

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Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging

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them to remain true to the faith.

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They said, 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.'"

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Father, I thank you for your word and I thank you that it brings life.

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I pray, Lord, that you would transform us from the inside out today.

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I pray that our hearts would be pliable, God, and I pray, Lord, that you would always remain

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in the center of everything we do.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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You may be seated.

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Couple of things real quick that I missed at the top.

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Thursday night, a new series is starting with Pastor Justin.

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So I invite you to come and be a part of that through series.

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It's called, I had it in my notes, but I'm not going to go back to it.

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It's based on 1 John, Desires.

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It's about desires, I believe.

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It's a desire word.

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Come Thursday night, six o'clock.

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And then of course the picnic.

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I already talked to you about that.

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Okay.

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Wanted to do that.

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Okay.

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We're in Acts chapter 14.

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Now we've kind of gone a little bit around and jumped some.

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So we were in Acts chapter 11 last week.

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Wasn't that a phenomenal word from Pastor James?

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Really good word from Pastor James.

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Then we were in Acts chapter, we were in Acts chapter 12, we were in Acts chapter 13 the

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week before that.

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And now we're jumping to Acts chapter 14.

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So real quick in review in chapter 11, we meet Barnabas and Paul and Barnabas become

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traveling partners and they begin to go out and to do the work of preaching the gospel.

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And in chapter 12, the focus of the chapter shifts to a man named Peter.

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And we talked about Peter.

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Remember Peter was put in the jail cell and the Lord provided an angel to come and bust

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Peter out of that jail cell and walked him out liberated from that jail.

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So we talked about that in chapter 12.

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What we didn't talk about in chapter 12 was the king at the time, King Herod, he was in

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charge and he got up in front of the people after this event and he began to make some

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declarations and he began to make some proclamations, but he did not acknowledge God.

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And the word tells us in chapter 12 that the angel of the Lord came and struck Herod down

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and he was eaten by worms.

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How many would like to be eaten by worms?

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Nobody here hopefully.

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Okay, get your life right.

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Get your life right church.

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Okay.

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So the angel of the Lord comes and he strikes Herod down.

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So you've got Peter broken free from prison.

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You've got Herod being struck down from the angel of the Lord.

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These two events, if I was there as a believer looking at this, I kind of would go, whoa,

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I don't know if I want to be in this church or this setting because those are some big,

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big events.

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In verse 24 it says this, "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."

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The word of God continued to spread and flourish.

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I want us to continue to put in front of us that the sanctification of the church, us

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looking like Jesus Christ is going to add numbers to the kingdom far greater than any

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show, any program, any tent, any picnic that we do.

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That we would become like Christ Jesus.

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That when people look at us and meet us, that they would see Jesus Christ.

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When they see Jesus, numbers are added to the kingdom.

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Amen.

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And so we continue in chapter 13, Pastor Barbie several weeks ago talked about the false prophet

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and sorcerer whom Paul filled with the Holy Spirit said, "You're a child of the devil.

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You're a child of the devil."

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It takes real boldness to tell somebody, well, it didn't take boldness, I guess too much

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to tell somebody that they're filled, that they're the child of the devil.

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But you don't need to say that unless you're filled with the Holy Spirit, right?

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That's not very kind.

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It's probably not kind either way, but one's true and one's false, right?

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We want to only speak the things that we are filled by the Holy Spirit and told to say.

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So Paul and Barnabas continue to preach the gospel and what we see is increasing faith.

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We see their faith increase, their confidence in presenting the gospel continues to increase,

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but guess what else increases?

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Persecution.

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What else increases is that they have opposition.

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It doesn't necessarily get easier, it gets harder.

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Have you ever found that in your walk, that the closer you get to Jesus, it gets harder?

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It gets harder.

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But we are not by ourselves and all alone.

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We have a Holy Spirit who protects us and guides us and leads us and empowers us.

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And so in verses 44 and 45 of Acts chapter 13, "On the next Sabbath, almost the whole

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city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

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When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy."

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Would you say the word jealousy?

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Jealousy.

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Jealousy is extremely crippling.

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The Jewish leaders were filled with jealousy.

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Why were they jealous?

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They were jealous because they were not getting the following and the accolades and the notoriety

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as these lowly apostles in giving the word of God.

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And they were jealous.

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And we're gonna see what they do with their jealousy here in just a moment.

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So they begin to contradict what Paul was saying and they heaped abuse on him because

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of their jealousy.

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So this brings us to where we are today with Paul and Barnabas and they go into a city

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called Iconium and then to Lystra where we read that Paul sees a lame man.

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He sees a lame man and he looks at this lame man and he says, "Get up and walk."

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Oh, that we would have the boldness and the faith to look at crippled, look at lame, look

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at the death, look at mute, look at the blind and say, "See, walk, be healed."

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Do you know that God moves in that way today?

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Church, he will move in that way today.

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It only takes faith.

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It takes faith and listening to the obedience of the Holy Spirit.

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So Paul looks at this lame man, he says, "Get up and walk."

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And he gets up and walk and something crazy happens.

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The people of Lystra look at Paul and Barnabas and they say, "You must be gods."

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And so they named Barnabas Zeus and they named Paul Hermes because he was the big speaker

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and they say, "We're gonna give you the accolades and we're gonna give you the praise of these

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gods and we're gonna lift you up and we're gonna elevate you as gods."

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Now, as we sit here as believers and we hear this story, we read this story and we think

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about all this, guess what we do?

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We go, "That's crazy.

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That is so crazy.

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How could they mistaken Paul and Barnabas for some gods?

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How could they do that?"

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But can I tell you, we do that all the time.

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We idolize people so fast.

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Some of us grew up with posters, giant posters of basketball and football players in our

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bedrooms just posted.

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We looked at it, we said, "I'm gonna be like them.

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Oh, I'm gonna be like them.

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I'm gonna be like them when I grow up."

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We idolize people.

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We put people on pedestals.

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We will follow the one who is popular, the one who's good looking, the one who has a

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great personality all the time.

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We do it all the time and it just happens in a snap.

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It happens so quickly.

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These people said, "You're gods and we're gonna give you the accolades of gods."

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Thankfully, Paul and Barnabas had the sense to rend their clothes and say, "No, no, no,

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no, no, no.

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You don't understand.

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We are human just like you.

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We are one of you.

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We are in need of a sovereign God just like you.

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And let me tell you that there's a testimony they're saying to the people.

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There's a testament of God's move in your life, the way he provides for you, the way

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he gives you abundant joy, the way he supplies all of your needs.

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And they're trying to motivate the people to see the one true living God.

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Now here's a problem.

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Remember those jealous Jews?

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Those jealous Jews are combating that message with a different message and confusing the

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people.

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See, jealousy confuses things.

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Jealousy causes you to act in a certain way, have attitude in a way that can really cause

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destruction.

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It causes you not to see people, causes you to see yourself.

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So these Jews seeing themselves and walking in jealousy, they decided to take Paul.

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They confused the people and the people decided to take Paul and they decided to go out and

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to stone him.

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But man, miracle of miracles, Paul does not die.

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Now I'm pretty sure it felt great to get stoned.

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I meant with rocks.

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And you know, and I, and it, no, no, it didn't, it didn't feel good.

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I'm sure Paul was a mess, but he was alive.

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And you know what?

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Paul counts it all joy to be able to suffer for the cause of Christ.

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When was the last time you suffered for the cause?

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The cause of Christ.

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When something extraordinary takes place, we have this natural inclination to elevate

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people above God.

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We would rather be enslaved to flawed humans than to be liberated by a God who breathes

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stars, the God of the universe.

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Over in 1 Samuel chapter 8, we read of a story of the Israelites.

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Samuel is there and the Israelites are here talking to Samuel and you know what they're

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saying?

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They're saying, "We want a king."

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But you know what was crazy about them saying, "We want a king?"

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They had a king.

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They had a king.

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Let's read what it says in verse four.

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So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.

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They said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow your ways.

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Now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have."

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But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel.

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So he prayed to the Lord and the Lord told him, "Listen to all that the people are saying

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to you."

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And then the Lord says this, and guys, this is such a sobering statement.

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It is not you who they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

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Oh, may that never be said of my life.

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Oh, may that never be said of our lives that the Lord God Almighty says that we have rejected

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him as our king.

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But guys, we are so fickle.

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We change day by day.

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We so long to idolize or to promote or to elevate flesh and blood, to attribute the

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things that God is doing to a human, to a person that we can see.

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Do you know what?

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Guys, if you just pay attention, you can see God, you can hear God, you can feel God.

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He is real.

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He is real.

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He is real.

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You don't have to have a person come to represent the Lord for you.

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He uses people and people do represent him, but you can have a relationship with God Almighty.

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He is real.

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This is Mellow Yellow.

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Mellow Yellow has been around for a while.

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This is actually a can from the 1990s, the early 1990s.

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And I was in fifth grade at one point and I had a teacher named Miss Lightford and she

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wanted to lose weight.

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But she loved Mellow Yellow.

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And so she would drink Mellow Yellow pretty religiously.

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And she just finally said, "Class, I've got to make a deal with you.

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I can't be drinking Mellow Yellow all the time.

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And so if you come into my classroom and you see a Mellow Yellow sitting on my desk, the

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first one who tells me or catches me in that, I'm going to give you a Mellow Yellow.

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Now I'm going to tell you, fifth graders love Mellow Yellow.

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No weight loss plan, doesn't matter.

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We're good.

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We want the Mellow Yellow.

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So we're always looking for this Mellow Yellow can.

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Well, it was after an elective one day and I came into the classroom and I was the first

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one there and guess what?

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Miss Lightford had a big old Mellow Yellow sitting right there on her desk.

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My buddy John came behind me and I said, "John, she's got a Mellow Yellow on her desk."

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And right behind John comes Miss Lightford and John turns around and says, "Miss Lightford,

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you got a Mellow Yellow on your desk."

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And Miss Lightford says, "John, you get a Mellow Yellow."

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Now I thought totally John being my buddy was going to say, "Well, it was actually Kevin

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who caught the Mellow Yellow."

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But he said, "Yes!"

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And she gave him the Mellow Yellow.

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I was so upset.

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I was so, I mean, it's decades later.

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I'm still holding a grudge.

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Pray for me.

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I mean, that should have been my Mellow Yellow.

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That should have been my Mellow Yellow.

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What do you do when you don't get the recognition you deserve?

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What do you do when you don't get the recognition you think you deserve?

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Let's face it.

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All of us are going to do things from time to time that do not get recognized or appreciated.

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And I might go a step further.

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Listen to me, church.

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I might go a step further.

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I believe the Lord has asked you to do things that you don't get appreciated for.

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I believe the Lord is asking you to do things that you don't get recognition because He

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has a greater reward for you.

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And anytime you take the recognition, it's as if there is one stool here and you're trying

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to have one side of your behind on it with God.

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God does not like to share the stool with anybody.

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It's either all him or I guess the alternative is all you.

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We live in a society and time and space where people are so sensitive to attaboys and good

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jobs and elevation and promotion that we find very little space to serve in a way that gets

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us out of the way and illuminates the one who really does the work.

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I'm reminded of Rhonda Frazier who diligently served forever on the Salt Theater Council,

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Springhouse Theater Council.

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And I remember I used to serve on that board.

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I remember the time they were trying to pay her some money for the work she was doing

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to recognize her.

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And she basically laughed out loud and said, the first thing was we could not pay her enough

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for the work that she was doing, the fingerprints.

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You can't pay Rhonda enough to do what she's doing, first of all.

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But she was doing it for a greater purpose.

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She wasn't doing it for a paycheck or an accolade or recognition.

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She was doing it to serve.

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And can I tell you guys in our society and our climate and our culture, just serving

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has become a lost, lost idea that we would actually just serve without getting anything

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in return.

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That our first thought process is if I do this, I need this.

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Or I have served for this amount of years, for this amount of time, and nobody's pulling

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me on stage.

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Nobody's putting me in the limelight.

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What would it look like if you abandoned those thought processes and surrendered to the Lord

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Jesus Christ and said, Lord, I give this as a gift to you.

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Can you imagine if I gave Kirk a gift and I had a string tied to it and said, OK, now

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I want you to pay me back for this gift that I've given you and just held it?

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That would have been a great object lesson.

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I could have walked around this entire place with a string holding onto this.

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But some of us are holding onto strings from our service for years.

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And we hold onto them and we say, you owe me something.

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You owe me something.

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And God is today wanting you to release and surrender that need to be edified and given

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accolades from man and allow him to fill that place and to reward you for what you've done.

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Any talent or gift or special ability you have comes from him.

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The word says in James, do not be deceived, my brothers and sisters.

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Every good and perfect gift comes from above, comes down from the Father of heavenly lights

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who does not change like the shifting shadows.

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Guys, we change.

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He doesn't change.

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He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

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And so that brings us to a sobering truth that it does not begin and end with you.

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In fact, I would rephrase that and say it actually continues with me and continues with

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somebody else.

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It continues with me and it continues with something else.

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Here's the thing, the rope, remember the rope analogy.

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You got about this much of the rope that's red.

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This is our life.

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And then you got all of eternity.

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What you do in this red part has everything to do with what happens in eternity.

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And so the persecution, the persecution, the lack of appreciation, if you will, the lack

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of recognition or whatever it is that the man is not giving you here, God is going to

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well make up for here.

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If your heart is in the place and you're doing it for him.

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Sometimes the promises that we have been believing God for are not for us, but they are for a

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generation to come.

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You are a small part of a very large story.

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And guys, every person in this room, including me, is a supporting cast member.

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He's the main star.

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He's the main star.

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And if there's anybody that's going to be given glory or should be given glory or put

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in the spotlight, it should be our Lord Jesus Christ.

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It should be our Lord Jesus Christ.

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The word says, Jesus says in Matthew, "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge

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before my Father in heaven."

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Guys, I want my name.

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Kevin O'Day said before the God of the universe.

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I want to be one who acknowledges Jesus Christ's name.

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I used to be a young adult pastor many, many, many, many years ago.

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And I actually started, I started as I guess, pastoring young adults back at Chick-fil-A

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between 1996 and 2004.

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And the reason I started a ministry at Chick-fil-A of young adults was because there were a bunch

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of young adults who stopped going to church because the churches weren't offering programming

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for them.

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So they were like, well, there's nothing for me, so I'm not going to go anymore.

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And so that hurt my heart because I was in love with God, with the church.

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I'm in love with Christ.

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And I'm thinking, man, surely we can provide something.

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You know, I've got an idea.

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Chick-fil-A's closed on Sunday.

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They've given me keys.

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I've got access to chicken.

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Sounds like a winning combination, right?

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So I said, why don't you all come, we'll do a Bible study.

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We'll do a small Bible study.

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I'll turn on the fryers.

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We'll cook up some nuggets and we'll have a Bible study.

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You know, that turned into 75 people coming to Chick-fil-A for worship and for the Word

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on Sunday nights.

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It was great.

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It was glorious.

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Last for two or three years, we grew.

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We ended up getting a leadership team.

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We had a worship team.

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We had all of these things going on.

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And at the prime of what was going on, at the middle of where everything was just flourishing,

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and I started to dream about what's next with this thing, God said, Kevin, I want you to

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lay this down.

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And you know what I said?

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Not only did I say, no, my heart posture was, this is my baby.

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Look what I started.

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Look what I built.

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Do you know that next week in our leadership meeting was the very first time I could ever

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remember that we had a disagreement and a fight?

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It was followed by the next month, half of the attendance out the door.

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It was followed then by one of the leaders being accused of something very egregious

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that caused us to have to stop altogether.

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God's hand was removed from it.

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And he had given me some insight before and he said, lay this down.

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And I disobeyed.

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I was hurt.

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I was hurt for a while because I felt like I had to invest.

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I didn't understand.

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It was the prime of what was going on.

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This was a flourishing ministry.

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God, why would you have me lay this down?

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I don't understand.

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And so I was serving here in kids' ministry.

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It was years later and I was dealing with this.

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I was hurt and pain.

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I knew I had a call in my life to minister, but that was just a sore spot in my life.

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And one Wednesday night, I'm walking out of the mailroom down the children's ministry

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hallway and I see this cluster of young adults in the little foyer here.

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And they're going to Starbucks because our church at the time didn't have a meeting place

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or a program for young adults.

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And I looked by and I walked by that and I said, Lord, you better raise somebody up to

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do something about that.

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And I just continued down the hallway.

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The next Wednesday, God, I did not, believe me, I was not looking to be in the position.

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I literally would walk out of the mailroom and there they are again.

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Lord, you need to raise somebody up.

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Lord, you need to raise somebody up.

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You know what God said?

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"Kevin, I want you to lead these young adults."

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I said, "No, sir."

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He said, "Kevin, I want you to lead these young adults."

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Lord, no, I'm hurt from the last time.

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He said, "Don't let your disobedience of the past affect your obedience in the present."

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So I made a deal with God.

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I said, "God, I'll do this for three months, but you need to raise somebody else up to

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lead it."

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And so for three months I led what started to be four or five people, grew to 40 or 50

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people.

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Some of the people sitting in this room were a part of that ministry.

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And I'm sitting three months later across from Ronnie Meek at McDonald's and out of

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the blue, out of the blue, he says, "Kevin, I want to transition you from a children's

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pastor to a young adult pastor, the anointing and oils on your life."

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And I became a young adult pastor here at this church.

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God will use your sore spots to train you to understand what your place is and who this

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is really about.

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And I learned, I was humbled.

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I was humbled.

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The Word says this, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."

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He will lift you up.

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I would much rather Him lift me up than me trying to lift up myself.

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So when we become participants in setting the stage for Him to receive the glory, then

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we become receivers of His blessing.

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Who would like to be blessed by the Lord?

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Anybody want to be blessed?

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I want to be blessed by the Lord.

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Well, when we set up the stage for Him to receive the glory, the blessings are abundant

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because He is faithful to take care of those who will get out of the way and point others

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to Him.

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Self-centeredness will always taint your experience.

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When you are the center of attention, when you are the center of what's going on, when

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you're the one who says, "Look at me, I'm in the center, I'm in the limelight," when

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that is you, when you're in the center, then it taints your experience.

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It doesn't just taint your experience, it taints everybody else's experience.

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Because out of your self-centeredness, you begin to treat people a lot differently than

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what you need to treat them.

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Can I say to you, do you know that God actually sees value in the person that you despise?

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In the person you can't stand?

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God actually sees value in them.

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So what you're thinking about that person, what you say about that person, how you treat

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that person, you're treating somebody who God says, "I see value in that person."

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That's why I need the Holy Spirit to empower me, to give me a lens to see people the way

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He sees them.

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Because sometimes I don't see people in a very healthy, "Lord, clean these glasses."

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And He says, "Let me empower you as you work through what you've got."

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And a lot of times it's not them, it's you.

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So as you work through it, let me empower you to see them the way that I see them.

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This is macaroni and cheese.

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I love macaroni and cheese.

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I don't know about you, but I am a mac and cheese connoisseur, and it's gotta be good.

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It's gotta be good.

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And guys, I've tasted some of your mac...

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Well, I won't say that.

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Okay.

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Macaroni and cheese, okay?

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Some of you know this story, I'm gonna tell it real quickly.

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We were doing a newcomer's lunch, and I walked in and Ms. Gina Gibson and a team were back

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there just taking the kitchen over.

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It was great.

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And I smelled this food and I walk in, and guys, I'm one of the pastors here.

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I wasn't the lead pastor at the time, but I was one of the pastors.

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I think I was a youth pastor at the time.

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And I walked in and man, I tell you what we're supposed to do as pastors at those lunches

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is meet with you guys, is learn your names and talk with you.

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Do you know, I saw that macaroni and cheese.

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I grabbed the plate and got right in line.

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I did not wait.

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I didn't think about anybody else in the room.

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I literally saw the macaroni and cheese and my body went plate.

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And I was like fourth in line.

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Well, and I'm waiting and I cannot wait to get that.

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It looks so good.

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It's bubbly.

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It was great.

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And so I'm waiting in line and down the hallway comes Pastor Bruce Kobel.

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Now Bruce Kobel was our missions pastor for forever.

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And one of Bruce's big things is when you are a leader, you eat last.

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And it was the same like reaction my body had to grabbing a plate.

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When I saw him, I went whoop, about step.

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Because I was, and it wasn't even the Holy Spirit.

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I just didn't want to get in trouble by Bruce.

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Okay, let me just be real.

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Okay.

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I knew Bruce would be, that eyebrow would go up.

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So I turned around and now, now not only do I not have macaroni and cheese, but I'm mad

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and I'm upset because I see all of the hawking, no, all of the people in there taking all

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the macaroni and cheese and there I am back in the back and I'm sitting here, I'm going

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to be left with bean casserole.

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And so here I am just waiting in line.

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And do you know Bruce walks in the room and about the eighth person in line, he shakes

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their hand and they invite Bruce to get in line.

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And he gets in line.

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Oh, it gets worse.

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Not only is Bruce eighth in line, guess who gets the last scoop of macaroni and cheese?

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Bruce Kobel.

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I was livid.

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I don't remember one person's name from that lunch.

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I don't remember anything.

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I was so, I was so upset, but let me tell you what I did remember.

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I got up close to the bar, there's a couple of people in front of me.

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I'm at the end.

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I'm going to be the last person.

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And Ms. Jeannie pulls out, sees me and pulls out a brand new fresh pan, macaroni and cheese

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and sets it down knowing that I'm coming in the line.

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Do you know that that was the worst plate of macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten in

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my life?

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And it wasn't because it didn't taste good.

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It's because I was hanging my head in shame because I disobeyed the Holy Spirit.

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I made it about myself.

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I was self-centered.

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And you know what?

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It taints your experience when you make it about you.

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It taints your experience when you make it about you.

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Anytime you have a me focus, you will sacrifice the things that really matter.

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The Lord gave me a word for Springhouse at the top of the word, the top of the year.

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Does anybody remember what it was?

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Okay.

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Has anybody been walking through it?

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I didn't forget about the word.

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The Lord gave me the word.

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Okay.

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Refined.

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I've talked and cried with some of you who have been walking through a refining season

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this year.

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If you look up and you think of January, February, March, you think of obstacles you've had to

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go through this year, trying circumstances, heartbreaks.

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The Lord is refining you to be more like Him.

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And whenever we are refined, we have an opportunity to look more like Him or look more like our

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disgusting selves.

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And my prayer has been this year is that as we are being refined as a church, that I look

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more like Him, that you look more like Him in the refining process.

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Jesus came to give us an abundant life and you can shortchange yourself on that abundant

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life when you magnify yourself more than you magnify Him.

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Spirit gives birth to spirit.

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Flesh gives birth to flesh.

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The refining process separates those who want to have a relationship with the Lord and those

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who just want to play church on Sunday.

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And so Paul and Barnabas say, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom

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of God."

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And I know that this is, I know that we are accustomed to being told in the American church

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that it is about goosebumps and feel good and good lattes coming into cushy chairs and

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a nice show for worship.

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But guys, it's not about any of that.

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It is about God Almighty.

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And can I tell you, He is going to put you in places as you are being refined, that you

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are going to suffer for Christ.

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And it's a short span.

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It's a little bit, guys, our suffering is sometimes that our coffee is lukewarm instead

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of piping hot.

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I mean, goodness gracious, we do not suffer the way that there are others across the world,

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especially Paul and Barnabas, but you are going to be called as He's raising you up.

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And as you are becoming less of yourself, He is going to call you up to look more and

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more like Him.

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Now I know so many of you look like Him right now.

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Is that true?

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Okay, well, I was going to have you come and take over because I certainly need to be listening

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to the person who looks.

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I've got work to do on my journey.

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I'm going to have to lay down my pride.

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I'm going to have to lay down my ego.

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I'm going to have to lay down the things I want to do at times.

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My selfishness, I got to lay that stuff down.

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That doesn't feel good.

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Do you know all of those things are wonderful in the world?

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The world wants you to be full of pride.

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The world wants you to be selfish.

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The world wants you to do every, you wake up in the morning and you decide what you're

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going to do.

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Nobody's going to tell you what you're going to do.

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You do what you want to do.

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This feels good.

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I'm going to do it.

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Man, I got to call.

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I got to go do this thing.

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I'm just not going to do it or whatever it is.

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To suffer for Christ, we must go through some hardships.

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Let's look at some of the rewards because we talk about rewards.

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Let's look at some of the earthly rewards that some of the predominant figures in scripture

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receive because I don't, but I haven't found it.

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Barbie, maybe you can correct me.

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I haven't found it in scripture yet where somebody was spreading the gospel and God

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said we would like to take a moment and a time out to render a certificate of completion

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and appreciation for Kurt Bryson and his willingness to give the gospel.

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Would all the angels please stand and applaud Kurt.

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That's not happened anywhere in scripture.

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I don't see that.

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In fact, it's quite opposite.

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It looks like this.

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John the Baptist beheaded.

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Congratulations, John.

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Thank you for being an advocate for Jesus Christ.

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Steven, stone to death.

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Thank you, Steven, for having the faith to stand up and speak out about the gospel of

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Christ.

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Peter, we're going to crucify you.

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Now Peter, he was like, listen, if you're going to crucify me, crucify me upside down

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because I'm not worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ Jesus.

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Oh, what heart posture.

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Oh, would that be our life in the way that we would live and the way that we would think

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when it comes to how we would suffer for the cause of Christ.

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Guys, the bottom line is this.

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Do you believe what you say you believe?

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Do you believe in who you say you believe?

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Because if you do, the work that you do on this planet isn't for naught.

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It's not for nothing.

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If you believe what you say you believe, there is a great reward on the other side.

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There is a reward that pales in comparison to anything somebody here could say to you

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or give you or do for you.

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This is what the scripture says in Romans.

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When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

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What benefit did it reap at that time?

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The things that you are now ashamed of, these things result in death.

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But now you have been set free from sin and you become slaves of God.

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The benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life.

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For the wages of sin is death and the gift of God is eternal life.

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Guys, the price of my sin is death.

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But do you know what God did?

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He exchanged my death for life.

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He exchanged my death for life.

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You know what that means?

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God owes me nothing.

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I was dead but now alive.

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Do you know what my posture should be?

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God, whatever you want from me, whatever you need me to do, I don't care what they say

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about me.

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I don't care what they do to me.

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God, if you tell me to do it, my yes is on the table.

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You rendered my death.

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You took my death from me and you gave me life.

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You gave me eternal life.

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God, whatever you need from me, I worship you with reckless abandon.

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I don't have to be 15 minutes late to church because I want to get here early because I

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want to worship with the saints.

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They don't have to beg me to serve somewhere because I'm going to render myself available

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to serve in this race and I'm going to run it well because I know I've got a gift and

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a talent and an ability that you've given me.

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God, I'm not going to be self-centered and I'm not going to be chasing after my own glory.

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I'm going to work as unto you because I know that on the other side, not only am I going

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to be rewarded for it, but I'm advancing your kingdom.

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I'm advancing your kingdom.

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All those guys I mentioned, Peter, John the Baptist, and who else did I mention?

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Steven.

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They were rendering the gospel in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

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They were advancing God's kingdom.

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Your obedience could literally help save somebody's life for eternity.

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And when I say somebody, God works in multiples, I mean somebodies because it's not just about

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the 80 years here on this earth, 90 years here on this earth.

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If I lead Noah Jansen to the Lord as a teenager and he leads multiple people in his thirties

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to the Lord, who then lead multiple people to the Lord and their forties and multiple

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people, do you see how it continues to matriculate?

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God, he was talking, Cole was talking about a cloud of witnesses.

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We are a part of a large story and it's a wonderful, glorious story.

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And all of it points to him, not to us.

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It points to him.

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God owes me nothing.

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In your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ.

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This is Jesus Christ.

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This is God Almighty.

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If we didn't have a better example, this is God Almighty, powerful God Almighty who breathes

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stars.

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It says, "Who being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something

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to be used for his own advantage, rather made himself nothing by taking on the nature of

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a servant being made in human likeness and being found in the appearance of a man, he

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humbled himself."

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If God Almighty humbles himself, what ought we be doing?

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By being obedient to death.

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Why does it reiterate even death on a cross?

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Because death on a cross was the most grueling death that you could pay.

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Therefore God exalted Jesus.

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So what was the consequence of Jesus's actions?

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God exalted Jesus to the highest place.

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Gave Jesus the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus what should happen?

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Every knee will bow on heaven and earth and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ

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is Lord.

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Hallelujah.

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Hallelujah.

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So God owes me nothing yet.

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He will reward me if I will seek him earnestly.

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What kind of God is this?

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What kind of God is this that he trades death for life, dies himself, but yet wants to still

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gain a reward you for your faithfulness and the things that you do.

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What kind of God is this that we serve?

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An incredible glory.

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Who would not want to know this God?

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Who would not want to know this amazing, amazing King?

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He talks about rewards.

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Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe

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that he is this.

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And what?

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He rewards those who earnestly seek him.

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What good would it be for somebody to gain the whole world but forfeit their own soul?

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Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

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For the Son of Man is going to come in the Father's glory with his angels and then he's

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going to do what?

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He will reward each person to what they have done.

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Be careful to not practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

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Those are the people that hold up signs and say, "Look what I'm doing.

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Look what I brought.

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Look what I, look how I'm serving.

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Look at all the time I'm doing.

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Look at all the calls I'm on."

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If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

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I was so glad last week that James put up Kirk Whitlur's picture because a majority

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of you don't actually know Kirk.

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But if you know Kirk, you know Kirk.

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Because Kirk has a way one time in his presence to make you feel like you have just hung the

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moon because he's such an encourager.

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Kirk's life is not about Kirk.

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It's about glorifying Jesus Christ.

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And so I believe that Kirk is a hero of the faith.

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Let me tell you some other heroes.

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People that, there's a few of them sitting in this room right now and a majority of you

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don't even know who they are.

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This is DJ Matthews on the top left.

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Worship team, you can come out.

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She has served faithfully in our kids' ministry for over two decades.

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And I'm talking about in moments and times when we had nobody else show up, DJ was there,

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loving on kids.

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I don't think DJ's ever been on this platform.

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I don't think she's ever been down here, but she has served faithfully in kids' ministry.

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Second lady on the bottom, her name is Alice Bagwell.

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Alice has been a Tabor.

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Alice Bagwell is a former named Tabor.

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She is a warrior for the kingdom.

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She has been faithful.

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She has encouraged Pastor Ronnie and the staff here for a year.

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She has sown into this ministry and she has believed in what the Lord is doing in this

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place and continues to be faithful.

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Kelly King on the top right, the Lord told me back when I was a young adult pastor, he

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said, I want you to come into this space and I want you to pray from five in the morning

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to six in the morning every week.

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Do you know that Kelly for three years showed up every single Tuesday with me?

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So many times, so many times.

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There's just the two of us.

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We're just praying for an hour, for an hour.

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She's a silent ninja, silent Christian ninja.

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I want to be there when Jesus acknowledges these people for their acts of service.

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I want to see what the Lord does for them because he's a rewarder of those who earnestly

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seek him and these earnestly seek him.

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They do it for no recognition.

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They do it because they love Jesus Christ.

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And there are many others in here that do the same thing.

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In Revelation, he says, look, I am coming soon.

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My reward is with me and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

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He says, I am the alpha and Omega.

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I am the first and last.

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I am the beginning and the end.

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It stops with him.

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It starts with him.

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Everything in between is him.

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It's not about us.

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It's not about us.

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It's about this great glorious God.

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And I used to say, and I still mean it.

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I want them to shut heaven down when Kevin O'Day is called up for accountability for

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the things that I've done here, because I want them to have to just scoop treasure and

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treasure at my feet.

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Why?

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Because I want to be up in heaven looking at you and saying, look what I got.

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No.

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I want insurmountable treasure in heaven because what I believe is going to happen is that

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once everybody has their treasure, we're going to look at Jesus and we're going to scoop

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all that treasure and put it right back at his feet.

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And I want so much treasure.

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I want you all have to wait in line.

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Go get some macaroni and cheese.

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I'm going to be putting treasure at Jesus's feet because he's worthy, because he paid

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a price for my life.

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He paid an ultimate price for my life and I deserve nothing, nothing more from him.

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And it is such a privilege and honor to serve him.

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And where I mess up, he gives me the fifth chance and the eighth chance and the 20th

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chance and the hundred chance to do it over and do it over and do it over.

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And he says, come my child.

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And he still has some type of reward for me.

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What kind of God is this?

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He is a great glorious God.

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Do you know him today, church?

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Do you know him?

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Do you serve him?

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Do you worship him?

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Would you stand with me this morning?

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We are not going to have an altar call.

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We are just going to end this by praising this great glorious God with reckless abandon

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as if he matters.

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He matters so much more than anybody else or anything else that we've put our minds

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to our hearts to today.

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So let's worship the altar spaces open and it probably a good idea if you came and worshiped.

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