Read the Word

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- What a blessing to be in the house of the Lord

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this morning, amen.

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Glad that you're here today.

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Yes, and if you're joining here,

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it's on live stream, thank you for joining us today.

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As you guys are bringing your offerings,

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let me give you a few announcements.

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First of all, as the Christmas season had happened,

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I know that there's been a few inconsistencies

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in our communication.

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We're shoring that up in terms of our written communication.

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We're shoring those things up.

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And so I apologize if you've gotten any miscommunication,

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but I wanted to make sure everybody understands

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what's happening over the next few weeks.

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And so would you put that slide up?

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First of all, next Sunday, January 5th,

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our Sunday school, the 12, is gonna start back

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in the fellowship hall.

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Now, let me tell you, you know,

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the new year brings new beginnings.

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I wanna encourage you, if you can get up

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just a little earlier and come at 9 a.m.,

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it's really rich what happens in the 12

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in the fellowship hall.

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Going through the book of Acts,

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several teachers rotating on a schedule,

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and it's essentially a Bible study,

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an interactive Bible study.

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I wanna encourage you, if you have capacity

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in your schedule, to come and be a part

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of the Sunday school at nine o'clock starting next week,

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and then you can come into this gathering

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like you normally do here at 1030.

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Next week, we will begin a new series,

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The Greatest Stories Ever Told,

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and I am super excited about what the Lord has

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for us next year.

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Go on to the next slide.

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Following Thursday on January 9th,

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we will begin our midweek gathering.

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So here's all of the offerings that we have

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for everything outside of the main gathering that night.

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At five p.m., the cafe will open for dinner.

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Now, we're gonna post those menus on Facebook

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and on the app so that you can know

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what is there and available for you.

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But if you wanna just come from work,

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bring your kids and eat and be with us,

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that's a great time to fellowship.

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Six o'clock, junior Bible quiz starts from K through six.

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This is open to anybody in elementary school.

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It's essentially a program to help kids know the Word of God.

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So anybody K through six can come to that.

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Teisha Severes in charge of that.

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Six to seven, preschool is open.

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We do have preschool available with Krista Edwards

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and the team on Thursday nights as well.

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Six to 730, the middle school youth work

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will meet with Doug Jones.

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Six to 730 p.m., the high school youth

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will meet with Pastor James.

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So there's a bit of change in the youth group schedules

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starting on this coming, on January 9th.

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Six to 730 for all youth, okay?

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And then at 715, the young adults

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are gonna be meeting weekly from 715 to 830.

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If you're in the age demographic from 18 to 30,

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we invite you to come.

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Fellas Paul and Kurt Bryson will be leading that.

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And so he would love to see you.

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And then the series that we will be doing in here,

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Pastor Barbie is doing a 12 week series called What Giants?

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And you do not want to miss it.

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So if that is something that you can work

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into your schedule to come on Thursday nights,

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six o'clock, you'll want to be here.

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And then on Sunday, January 12th at 530,

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you've heard Pastor Justin talk about this,

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we're gonna have a chili cook-off.

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And we want you to enter the cook-off, okay?

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We wanna have so much chili, we gotta send some home.

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So register in the app to bring your favorite pot of chili

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and be a part of that.

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And then at 630, this is very important,

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this is a family gathering.

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If you say Springhouse is your church,

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I want you to plan to be here at 630

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for our vision casting service that evening.

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We have some new staff announcements to make,

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some transitions that are happening

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and new ministries that are launching.

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And I want to make you aware of all of the wonderful things

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God has in store for 2025.

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So please come and make that evening a part of your family.

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We will have kids ministry open that night.

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So come, they'll eat chili with us,

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they'll go have fun in the kids' rooms

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and then we'll have a worship service in here

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and we'll share with you everything God has.

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Does that sound good?

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All right.

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We have many great teachers here at Springhouse

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and Pastor Justin's gonna come out again this week, okay?

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But we're gonna give him a break after this week.

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Have you guys appreciated Pastor Justin and everything?

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He's, yeah, it's been fantastic.

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This one was actually on the schedule originally

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so I said you're gonna continue to do this.

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So welcome Pastor Justin, come on.

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(congregation applauding)

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Tired, tired.

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So I tried to message Pastor Kevin last week.

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I said, "Hey, I feel strongly in my spirit

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that you're supposed to."

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It's like wrong, it's not how this works.

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I get to do that with you.

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You don't get to do that with me.

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I was like, "That's not how that works either."

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So no, I am tired, but you know what?

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Where I get refreshed at when you pour out?

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That's the word.

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As this is where I go.

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You pour out, well, how do you get it back in?

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You gotta receive back from the word of God.

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So Pastor Kevin mentioned all the things

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I was gonna mention in this.

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I do wanna let you know for that chili cook-off,

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we will have all the croutrement.

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There will be crackers.

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There'll be green olives, not green olives.

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Somebody like no green olives.

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Green onions, probably.

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Shredded chili, who likes green olives, right?

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All seven of y'all, right?

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There'll be Rolaids, Tums, Pepto Chewables.

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Don't worry, I got you covered.

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Second thing, this is more importantly,

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I want you guys to know,

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and I want you to hear my heart when I say this, okay?

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I don't mean this in any disrespectful way.

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I appreciate your time.

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I don't care anything about that clock.

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I got something I gotta say today.

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And if God moves in your heart,

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I will go put on wet clothes and baptize you.

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We've sent everybody home that wanna go.

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I'll put on wet clothes.

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Johnny G will come up, we'll release the band,

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and that water's already warm.

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So if today's the day that God moved in your life,

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I will put them wet clothes back on and baptize you.

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I have a word that I need to share

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with you guys this morning.

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It's probably one of the most important words

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that I'm gonna share with you.

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It's an honor to share this word.

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And so I understand we have time constraints,

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but we are not gonna stifle a move of God based on a clock.

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(congregation applauding)

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You hear what I'm saying?

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Five minutes or 10 minutes or two, no, fine.

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(laughing)

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Listen, well, hang on, Pastor.

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I don't know about two hours.

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You're gonna hear the whole month of December.

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If I couldn't say it in the whole month,

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then I shouldn't have said it, right?

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Each year at Springhouse, we close the year

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and begin the next with this message.

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Read the word and why.

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Last year, I was able to bring the same message,

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and I was joking.

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I was like, you know, they brought me in

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and relief pitcher after all of the good pitchers

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have gone up and like the game's well out of reach.

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You know what I'm talking about, like garbage time.

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They just throw me out there.

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This year, I feel like I need somebody

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to come and relieve me,

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if you've been with us the last month.

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But in reality, I'm honored to bring this

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because this is a powerful message.

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This is one message that I live by.

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If you've heard me speak anytime,

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I wanna share what the word has to say.

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I can get up here and I can tell you testimonies,

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and I can tell you stories and make you laugh and cry,

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but you're gonna forget about that.

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And if I don't give you anything of substance,

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I don't give you God's word,

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then what have I really given you?

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You know, you might not remember me in five minutes,

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five months, or even five years from now,

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but God's word is eternal

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and has power to change your life.

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And so if I don't, if I just get up here

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and make you laugh and make you cry

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and send you out into the world,

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and I've not equipped you with anything

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to fight the fight that you're in,

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to see the goodness of God

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played out in your ordinary, everyday life,

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I have done you a disservice and I have made this about me.

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So now you may laugh because I'm a good storyteller

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and I just tell real life stories from my life,

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and I'm gonna make you cry

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because you can see the goodness of God

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played out in real time in front of you.

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But if I don't give you any substance,

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I've not done anything for you, okay?

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So if you're able to stand, would you please stand

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and we're gonna get right into the word.

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We're gonna read one passage out of the book of Hebrews.

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Are we ready?

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Here we go.

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For the word of God is living and active,

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sharper than any two-edged sword,

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piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,

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of joints and of marrow,

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and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

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And no creature is hidden from his sight,

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but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him

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to whom we must give an account.

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Father, I thank you for your word.

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I thank you for the life that it brings.

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God, I ask that your anointing would continue to rest on me,

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that you would open the hearts of your people

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to an encounter with you,

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that the name of Jesus would be glorified and magnified

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through the message today,

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and through the power of the Holy Ghost

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who would change and transform us

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and create a passionate love for your word.

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It's in Christ's name I pray, amen and amen.

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You guys can be seated.

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So like I said, I'm honored to bring this message today

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and there's really two things we're gonna talk about, okay?

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One, why should I study the word of God?

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Why should I study the word?

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And two, how do I study the word of God?

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So why should I study and how do I study?

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Before we get into this,

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it's important to note several things.

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How did we get the Bible?

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Who wrote it?

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Where did it come from?

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These are all questions you have.

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I don't care if you're a seasoned saint

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or if you are new to the faith

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and you're planning to read the scriptures

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along with us this year

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as we move into the greatest stories ever told.

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And usually January is a great time

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for people to start setting goals

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and to start getting into things

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and creating new habits and disciplines.

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So this is a perfect time for you to get your mind right

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and get ready and focused as we move out into this year.

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The Bible is commonly referred to as the word of God

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and this is true.

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However, the word of God predates the Bible,

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especially in its current form.

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You understand what I'm saying?

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The word of God predates the Bible.

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Are you tracking?

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Okay, I'm talking semantics here and this is important.

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John 1, one through three says,

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"In the beginning was the word

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"and the word was with God and the word was God.

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"He was in the beginning with God.

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"All things were made through him

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"and without him was not anything made that was made."

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Now, who is this passage talking about?

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Who?

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Jesus, it's not a rhetorical question, okay?

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So this passage out of John lets us know

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Jesus Christ is the word of God.

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Now, this echoes the opening line in Genesis,

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"In the beginning, God created."

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The word Greek here is logos.

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It conveys the idea of divine self-expression or speech.

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The first thing we need to understand about God's word is,

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God's word is effective.

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He speaks things into existence.

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God speaks things into existence.

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Genesis 1, three says,

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"And God said, 'Let there be light.'"

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And there was light.

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He said it and then it happened.

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Creation responds to the Creator's voice.

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Are you hearing me?

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"He said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

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Psalm 33, six, "By the word of the Lord,

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"the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth,

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"all their hosts."

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Have you ever heard Pastor Kevin

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talk about this star breather God?

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He, it's one of his favorite phrases and descriptions of God.

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Have you heard him say that?

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This star breathing God.

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Where does he get that idea from?

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He don't just make that up.

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This is where he got that from.

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"That by the breath of his mouth,

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"the heavens and their hosts were formed and created."

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Psalm 107, 20.

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You guys have heard me mention multiple times

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the one-year discipleship program

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for men with life controlling problems.

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You've heard of that, right?

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This is my fancy way of saying there's a drug rehab, okay?

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That I went to in 2011.

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And the founding verse for Renewed Life Ministries

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is Psalm 107, 20.

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It says, "He sent out his word and healed them

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"and delivered them from their destruction."

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And this ministry is founded on this idea

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that drugs and alcohol are not really the root problem,

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but even when we find out what the root issue is,

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God's word is capable of healing you

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and delivering you from your destruction.

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And so God sent out his word to heal them and deliver them.

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Let me tell you guys, whatever you're going through,

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God's word is powerful enough to heal you

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and deliver you from your destruction.

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And then in Isaiah 55, 10 through 11, it says,

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"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

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"and do not return there, but water the earth,

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"making it bring forth and sprout,

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"giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

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"so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

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"It shall not return to me empty,

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"but shall accomplish that which I purpose

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"and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent."

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God's word is effective and he speaks things into existence.

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God speaks things into existence.

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You know, I love the way this plays out in the scriptures.

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When he finds Gideon,

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Gideon is hiding in a wine press threshing wheat.

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If you don't know what either of those things are,

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I'm gonna tell you right now,

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you don't thresh wheat in a wine press.

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The way this works is they would take and scoop up,

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they would scoop up the wheat and the chaff

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and they would throw it in the air

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and the wind would separate it.

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Are you following me?

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There was no wind in this wine press.

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He's in a wine press.

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You're not supposed to do that there.

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And when God meets him, he says,

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"Gideon, you mighty man of valor."

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And the guy is hiding.

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Those two don't connect, do they?

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But God has the ability, right?

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To call you what he sees in you.

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And he makes in you by his call, what he called you.

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Do you follow me?

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He said, "You're hiding and you don't feel

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"like a mighty man of valor,

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"but I'm telling you who you are

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"and by me telling you who you are,

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"you will become the thing I say you are."

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Because that's how powerful his word is.

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God's word is how he relates to his people.

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This is how he relates to his people through the Bible.

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"After these things, the word of the Lord

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"came to Abram in a vision,

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"fear not, Abram, I am your shield.

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"Your reward shall be very great."

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This is how God reveals himself to his people.

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Simply, there is a difference between the Bible

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and God's word, but since the Bible

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is how we know the difference,

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that means the Bible is God's word.

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Does that make sense?

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The word is eternal.

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God's word is eternal.

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The Bible has a beginning and history point, okay?

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So while this is God's word,

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God's word predates the scriptures.

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God is the source of all information in the Bible.

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2 Timothy 2, 3, 16, I don't like this side.

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I'm gonna look at this side.

Speaker: 00:15:47

I'm sorry, y'all.

Speaker: 00:15:48

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:15:51

"All scripture is breathed out by God

Speaker: 00:15:53

"and profitable for teaching," that's what I'm doing,

Speaker: 00:15:56

"for reproof," don't like that,

Speaker: 00:15:59

"for correction," like that even less,

Speaker: 00:16:02

"and for training in righteousness,"

Speaker: 00:16:04

righteousness, this is right living,

Speaker: 00:16:06

"that the man or woman of God may be complete,

Speaker: 00:16:09

"equipped for every good work."

Speaker: 00:16:10

I'm not adding woman there,

Speaker: 00:16:12

saying the word man here means

Speaker: 00:16:14

that the person reading would be affected by it.

Speaker: 00:16:18

"That the person may be complete,

Speaker: 00:16:20

"equipped for every good work."

Speaker: 00:16:24

The problem is we don't like the parts in the scripture

Speaker: 00:16:28

that do the reproving and the correction.

Speaker: 00:16:31

We don't like those parts, why?

Speaker: 00:16:34

Because I don't like to be corrected.

Speaker: 00:16:37

Who likes to be told you're wrong?

Speaker: 00:16:40

Any guy that, is anybody married in here?

Speaker: 00:16:44

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:16:47

We was riding down the road yesterday,

Speaker: 00:16:51

me and my wife trying to figure out the three things

Speaker: 00:16:53

that you're not supposed to do with gremlins.

Speaker: 00:16:55

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:16:58

And I was like, "Can't get them wet,

Speaker: 00:17:00

"don't feed them after midnight."

Speaker: 00:17:01

And she was like, "And sunlight."

Speaker: 00:17:02

I was like, "It's not sunlight."

Speaker: 00:17:03

She was like, "Let me just look this up."

Speaker: 00:17:05

And avoid direct sunlight, I was like, "I was wrong, fine.

Speaker: 00:17:08

"Is that what you wanted?"

Speaker: 00:17:09

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:17:11

It's literally happened on the way to watching Moana.

Speaker: 00:17:13

Like, I mean, it's not like,

Speaker: 00:17:15

I didn't like it, I didn't even like being wrong

Speaker: 00:17:18

about what Mogwai, this is a made up story.

Speaker: 00:17:22

Imagine when the word says,

Speaker: 00:17:24

"Hey, the way you're speaking to people is wrong.

Speaker: 00:17:27

"The way you're thinking is wrong.

Speaker: 00:17:29

"The way you're acting is wrong.

Speaker: 00:17:31

"These are real life matters."

Speaker: 00:17:34

Like, care about what you can't do with Mogwai?

Speaker: 00:17:36

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:17:38

I broke the little thing on this,

Speaker: 00:17:39

that's why I keep pulling on that.

Speaker: 00:17:44

The Bible in its current form was written by 35 authors

Speaker: 00:17:47

over a period of 1500 years.

Speaker: 00:17:49

Our codex contains 66 books,

Speaker: 00:17:51

39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament.

Speaker: 00:17:54

This contains history, poetry, wisdom writings,

Speaker: 00:17:58

prophecy, parables and teachings, love songs,

Speaker: 00:18:01

worship directives, laws and sacrifices, beauty, sin, death

Speaker: 00:18:06

and eyewitness testimony.

Speaker: 00:18:08

And we are a blessed people to have access

Speaker: 00:18:10

to the revealed character and will of God

Speaker: 00:18:12

in such a complete form.

Speaker: 00:18:15

You have no idea how blessed you are

Speaker: 00:18:17

to be able to have access to this in its complete form.

Speaker: 00:18:20

Now, why should I read and study the word?

Speaker: 00:18:23

Why should you read and study the word?

Speaker: 00:18:25

Well, the historical and cultural significance of the Bible

Speaker: 00:18:29

makes it a worthwhile read.

Speaker: 00:18:31

However, that is the least reason

Speaker: 00:18:32

you should read and study.

Speaker: 00:18:34

There are many reasons, but I just wanna highlight a few.

Speaker: 00:18:37

The first is the Bible is how God reveals his character.

Speaker: 00:18:42

This is how God reveals his character.

Speaker: 00:18:45

The Bible was written for us, but not to us.

Speaker: 00:18:50

The Bible was written for you,

Speaker: 00:18:52

but it was not written to you, okay?

Speaker: 00:18:55

This scripture here is probably one of the most famous

Speaker: 00:18:59

Christian hope verses there is.

Speaker: 00:19:01

How many people have this on a sign

Speaker: 00:19:04

in their house somewhere, right?

Speaker: 00:19:06

You go to any Christian bookstore and this is our,

Speaker: 00:19:10

this is where we plant our flag.

Speaker: 00:19:12

This is our hope flag.

Speaker: 00:19:14

I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord.

Speaker: 00:19:17

Plans for welfare and not for evil

Speaker: 00:19:19

to give you a future and a hope.

Speaker: 00:19:22

Do you know who this was written to?

Speaker: 00:19:24

Israel, and they were in the midst of Babylonian captivity.

Speaker: 00:19:30

These people were in bondage, in slavery.

Speaker: 00:19:34

So their circumstances said one thing,

Speaker: 00:19:38

this was their reality.

Speaker: 00:19:40

Our reality is we are in slavery,

Speaker: 00:19:42

but the truth was that God had not forgotten about them

Speaker: 00:19:46

and was giving them a promise.

Speaker: 00:19:48

Do you understand that truth is different from your reality?

Speaker: 00:19:51

Your reality may say one thing about your circumstances,

Speaker: 00:19:56

but the truth says a completely different thing.

Speaker: 00:19:59

And so why do we hold on to this promise?

Speaker: 00:20:02

That this is not, this promise is not for me.

Speaker: 00:20:04

Why?

Speaker: 00:20:05

Because it reveals God's character.

Speaker: 00:20:07

The Bible shows us that this is the type of God we serve

Speaker: 00:20:11

that even though their circumstances were less than ideal,

Speaker: 00:20:14

He gave them a promised future and a hope.

Speaker: 00:20:18

And you can stand on that.

Speaker: 00:20:20

So the reason we claim this promise

Speaker: 00:20:22

is not because this promise is for us,

Speaker: 00:20:24

it's because that same God, if He did it for them,

Speaker: 00:20:27

He'll do it for me.

Speaker: 00:20:28

If He set that guy free,

Speaker: 00:20:30

well, Ross is up there, if he'll save us,

Speaker: 00:20:33

I'm like, shut up, don't tell everybody that, right?

Speaker: 00:20:36

Ross, don't align yourself with this, right?

Speaker: 00:20:39

That's the thing,

Speaker: 00:20:42

He understands what this verse is trying to say.

Speaker: 00:20:45

If God will do it for them, He'll do it for me.

Speaker: 00:20:48

That's how we can claim this.

Speaker: 00:20:50

This promise is not for you,

Speaker: 00:20:52

or it's not to you, but it's for you.

Speaker: 00:20:54

Does that make sense?

Speaker: 00:20:56

The lens through which we view the Bible

Speaker: 00:20:59

is based on our understanding of God.

Speaker: 00:21:01

Exodus 34, six through seven,

Speaker: 00:21:03

the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord,

Speaker: 00:21:06

the Lord God, a merciful and gracious,

Speaker: 00:21:10

slow to anger and abounding

Speaker: 00:21:14

and steadfast love and faithfulness,

Speaker: 00:21:16

keeping steadfast love for thousands,

Speaker: 00:21:20

forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,

Speaker: 00:21:23

but who will by no means clear the guilty,

Speaker: 00:21:26

visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children

Speaker: 00:21:28

and the children's children

Speaker: 00:21:29

to the third and fourth generation.

Speaker: 00:21:31

What He's saying here is,

Speaker: 00:21:33

you can understand who I am when you read

Speaker: 00:21:36

and interact with the scriptures.

Speaker: 00:21:38

There are consequences to our actions.

Speaker: 00:21:42

And have you ever felt like God is just waiting on you

Speaker: 00:21:45

to mess up so He can hammer you?

Speaker: 00:21:48

You ever felt like that?

Speaker: 00:21:49

Like any wrong move, or if I say the wrong thing,

Speaker: 00:21:52

the hammer's gonna fall on me,

Speaker: 00:21:54

and this is all gonna fall apart

Speaker: 00:21:55

as if it's being held together by you

Speaker: 00:21:58

and your behavior somehow.

Speaker: 00:21:59

Right, that's a wrong thinking.

Speaker: 00:22:02

The hammer fell on Jesus Christ.

Speaker: 00:22:04

And because of that, we can be set free.

Speaker: 00:22:07

How do I know?

Speaker: 00:22:08

It's in the words, what the word tells me.

Speaker: 00:22:10

God is full of patience, love, kindness, justice, and wisdom.

Speaker: 00:22:19

When you read the scriptures, look for Him first.

Speaker: 00:22:22

Most of us suffer from main character syndrome.

Speaker: 00:22:25

You think you're the main character of the story.

Speaker: 00:22:29

You think every time you open a Bible,

Speaker: 00:22:31

it's about how I'm supposed, what is this about me?

Speaker: 00:22:35

What is this about my life?

Speaker: 00:22:37

What do I need to know?

Speaker: 00:22:39

What if we started looking to see who God is

Speaker: 00:22:41

and God's story, and then He reveals to us

Speaker: 00:22:44

how we fit into that and stop making ourselves

Speaker: 00:22:47

the center of attention sometimes?

Speaker: 00:22:49

The next thing about God's word

Speaker: 00:22:51

is it gives instruction for our daily life.

Speaker: 00:22:54

2 Timothy 3.16, we read that all scripture

Speaker: 00:22:57

is breathed out by God.

Speaker: 00:22:58

It's a Rhema word, it's a living word.

Speaker: 00:23:01

And it's profitable for teaching, reproof, correction,

Speaker: 00:23:04

and training in righteousness.

Speaker: 00:23:07

Certain aspects of this daily life

Speaker: 00:23:09

are definitely tied to the cultural times

Speaker: 00:23:12

it was written in.

Speaker: 00:23:12

But there are things that transcend culture.

Speaker: 00:23:15

Are you ready for this?

Speaker: 00:23:16

Be kind.

Speaker: 00:23:17

Do good unto others, love your enemies,

Speaker: 00:23:24

pray for those who despitefully use you.

Speaker: 00:23:27

(man whistles)

Speaker: 00:23:30

That's not for Middle Eastern people.

Speaker: 00:23:33

He didn't just tell ancient Near East

Speaker: 00:23:36

or Western societies to be kind.

Speaker: 00:23:39

So many times we wanna read the word

Speaker: 00:23:43

or we wanna ask God, what is your plan for my life?

Speaker: 00:23:45

And He's like, how about you just do the things

Speaker: 00:23:47

I've told you to do first?

Speaker: 00:23:49

How about you be slow to speak and slow to get angry?

Speaker: 00:23:53

Let's start there.

Speaker: 00:23:55

Can we start with the basics of my will for your life?

Speaker: 00:23:59

Before we talk about the most detailed and nuanced

Speaker: 00:24:01

and if you should move to Montana,

Speaker: 00:24:04

how about stop talking crazy to your neighbor?

Speaker: 00:24:06

I'm just saying like we wanna go with the,

Speaker: 00:24:10

God teach me how to write cursive.

Speaker: 00:24:12

He's like, you don't even know your ABCs.

Speaker: 00:24:14

You don't even know your ABCs,

Speaker: 00:24:15

you asked me to do swirly letters?

Speaker: 00:24:17

Absolutely not.

Speaker: 00:24:18

Bible, understanding God's word,

Speaker: 00:24:24

why you should read the word.

Speaker: 00:24:25

The third reason is it guards against false teaching.

Speaker: 00:24:29

It guards against false teaching.

Speaker: 00:24:30

2 Timothy 2, 16 through 18 says this,

Speaker: 00:24:32

"Avoid a reverent Bible for it will lead people

Speaker: 00:24:35

into more and more ungodliness

Speaker: 00:24:37

and their talk will spread like gangrene.

Speaker: 00:24:39

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus."

Speaker: 00:24:42

He called them out by name.

Speaker: 00:24:43

How would you like to be known?

Speaker: 00:24:46

How would you like to be known throughout history

Speaker: 00:24:49

for spreading false information about the gospel?

Speaker: 00:24:54

Who have swerved from the truth

Speaker: 00:24:56

saying the resurrection has already happened.

Speaker: 00:24:59

False teaching is a disease

Speaker: 00:25:03

and if left unchecked, it will spread and corrupt the body.

Speaker: 00:25:06

That's what he's saying here.

Speaker: 00:25:09

False teaching is a disease.

Speaker: 00:25:10

You should read the word so that you can know it.

Speaker: 00:25:13

It'll guard you against it.

Speaker: 00:25:14

And it increases wisdom and discernment.

Speaker: 00:25:19

Psalm 119, 11 says,

Speaker: 00:25:21

"I have stored up your word in my heart."

Speaker: 00:25:26

Maybe.

Speaker: 00:25:28

"I have stored up your word in my heart

Speaker: 00:25:30

that I might not sin against you."

Speaker: 00:25:31

Stored up your word in my heart.

Speaker: 00:25:33

He says, "I have taken your word

Speaker: 00:25:36

and I have hidden it inside of me

Speaker: 00:25:39

so that no matter where I go, your word is with me."

Speaker: 00:25:42

I don't always have access to the Bible,

Speaker: 00:25:45

but I always have access to the word.

Speaker: 00:25:48

That's why scripture memorization is so important.

Speaker: 00:25:51

Scripture is that you read it, write it and speak it.

Speaker: 00:25:54

Why?

Speaker: 00:25:55

You use different parts of your brain.

Speaker: 00:25:57

When you say something, you use one part of your brain.

Speaker: 00:25:59

When you read something, you use a different part.

Speaker: 00:26:01

And when you write something, you use a different part.

Speaker: 00:26:03

And you're more likely to retain the information

Speaker: 00:26:06

if you read it, write it and say it.

Speaker: 00:26:08

Put some water in the bucket

Speaker: 00:26:12

so that you'll have water when you need it.

Speaker: 00:26:13

And I don't care if you say,

Speaker: 00:26:15

"Well, you don't understand, I've got a bad memory.

Speaker: 00:26:18

I can't memorize stuff."

Speaker: 00:26:19

I say, "Well, some of you guys got a bad golf swing

Speaker: 00:26:22

and that don't stop you from playing golf, does it?"

Speaker: 00:26:24

(congregation laughing)

Speaker: 00:26:26

Does it?

Speaker: 00:26:27

Does it?

Speaker: 00:26:29

No.

Speaker: 00:26:30

There's a quote by Charles Spurgeon

Speaker: 00:26:33

when it comes to discernment.

Speaker: 00:26:34

Discernment is not just knowing the difference

Speaker: 00:26:38

between right and wrong.

Speaker: 00:26:39

It's knowing the difference between right and almost right.

Speaker: 00:26:42

I didn't share this in the first gathering,

Speaker: 00:26:49

but I feel like it's appropriate now, I wanted to share it.

Speaker: 00:26:51

Discernment is knowing the difference

Speaker: 00:26:55

between what's right and what's almost right.

Speaker: 00:26:58

To be almost saved is to be totally lost.

Speaker: 00:27:00

To be almost saved is to be totally lost.

Speaker: 00:27:04

This is a poem by Ezekiel Azzanwoo called "Almost."

Speaker: 00:27:08

One of the most dangerous words in English diction.

Speaker: 00:27:13

If it can be translated into audio, it would sound like,

Speaker: 00:27:17

(imitates drum roll)

Speaker: 00:27:19

from the saxophone of Lisa Simpson.

Speaker: 00:27:22

Two words combined and strategically designed

Speaker: 00:27:25

to create one of the biggest oxymorons

Speaker: 00:27:28

in the history of mankind, almost.

Speaker: 00:27:32

'Cause see, as far as the world's concerned,

Speaker: 00:27:33

you can live your life foul

Speaker: 00:27:35

and you could almost get away with murder

Speaker: 00:27:36

if you have a nice smile.

Speaker: 00:27:38

You could almost meet somebody just to almost sleep around.

Speaker: 00:27:43

Then you can almost go to your local clinic

Speaker: 00:27:45

where you almost had a child.

Speaker: 00:27:47

See, almost is no stranger to Satan and here's proof.

Speaker: 00:27:51

He only tells lies when it's almost the truth

Speaker: 00:27:54

and it's amazing.

Speaker: 00:27:55

In our incompleteness, we find complacency.

Speaker: 00:27:59

So if almost is one of Lucifer's many traits,

Speaker: 00:28:01

we're mighty good at Satan impersonations.

Speaker: 00:28:04

But on the contrary, Christ did his job fully

Speaker: 00:28:07

when he died on the cross like it was his duty

Speaker: 00:28:10

and pardoned my iniquity, which I committed rudely

Speaker: 00:28:12

and resurrected from the grave just to tell death to excuse me

Speaker: 00:28:17

but excuse me, this is your life

Speaker: 00:28:19

and that's something that I cannot impose on

Speaker: 00:28:21

but your body is God's home,

Speaker: 00:28:22

which is alone to get foreclosed on.

Speaker: 00:28:24

See, an almost Christian looks right but lives wrong.

Speaker: 00:28:28

We can't stand the conviction in Romans

Speaker: 00:28:31

so we sit down to be comforted in Psalms.

Speaker: 00:28:33

Never understood worship but we love to sing songs like

Speaker: 00:28:38

♪ I surrender almost ♪

Speaker: 00:28:43

'Cause it's far too expensive for you to spend your life

Speaker: 00:28:46

on something that doesn't appeal to your five senses.

Speaker: 00:28:50

See, nowadays Christianity is like a Louis rag.

Speaker: 00:28:53

No functional use but we'll rock it 'cause it's stylish.

Speaker: 00:28:57

Not righteous but right-ish.

Speaker: 00:29:01

So now all God sees is a pile of ish males

Speaker: 00:29:05

when he intended for Isaac's.

Speaker: 00:29:08

We're moved by how we feel

Speaker: 00:29:10

so we're saved when we feel like it.

Speaker: 00:29:11

So technically we never been saved, we merely tried it

Speaker: 00:29:14

and no wonder we're never sold out

Speaker: 00:29:16

'cause we return it after we buy it.

Speaker: 00:29:18

Let me break it down 'cause you need to be aware

Speaker: 00:29:22

that your life could lack the very standards

Speaker: 00:29:24

that need to be there

Speaker: 00:29:25

'cause on that final day of judgment

Speaker: 00:29:27

when God's receiving his air,

Speaker: 00:29:28

when he say, "Son, well done," or medium rare.

Speaker: 00:29:36

'Cause even by worldly standards,

Speaker: 00:29:38

it would be highly insane for you to spend all of your money

Speaker: 00:29:43

days before you almost get paid.

Speaker: 00:29:45

And parents, would you really send your kids

Speaker: 00:29:47

to a school that's almost safe?

Speaker: 00:29:50

Ladies, would you really date a man

Speaker: 00:29:52

that claims he's almost straight?

Speaker: 00:29:54

But this is the very thing about God

Speaker: 00:29:58

that we all try to get around.

Speaker: 00:30:00

Standards are between two mountains, no middle ground.

Speaker: 00:30:05

So a halfway life is unprofitable to you

Speaker: 00:30:07

'cause after all of these Sunday services,

Speaker: 00:30:09

Bible studies, alter prayer meetings

Speaker: 00:30:11

and everything that comes in between,

Speaker: 00:30:13

God would say, "I never knew you."

Speaker: 00:30:15

But that's not even the worst part

Speaker: 00:30:18

about living your life as neutral.

Speaker: 00:30:20

It's that you was once Arctic

Speaker: 00:30:23

but it's your warmness that's causing him to spew you.

Speaker: 00:30:27

And this is the very thing that had me bound and held down

Speaker: 00:30:30

by the unforgiving gravity of my spiritual reality.

Speaker: 00:30:33

See, I was a Christian or at least I portrayed the fantasy

Speaker: 00:30:37

with a filthy personal life.

Speaker: 00:30:39

God bless you, brother.

Speaker: 00:30:40

How you doing, sister?

Speaker: 00:30:41

Personality.

Speaker: 00:30:42

I was a male enveloped by sin 'cause I was stamped a sinner.

Speaker: 00:30:47

My message couldn't be received

Speaker: 00:30:48

'cause I didn't represent the sinner

Speaker: 00:30:50

yet I was almost delivered.

Speaker: 00:30:53

Until that one day when I absolutely,

Speaker: 00:30:55

totally, completely surrendered,

Speaker: 00:30:58

I took heed to a modern prophet

Speaker: 00:31:00

that proclaimed it was time for change.

Speaker: 00:31:02

Now I'm no longer bound to sin, point blank, off the chain.

Speaker: 00:31:07

You can ask Umar Abdul Mutallab

Speaker: 00:31:10

and he would tell you the same.

Speaker: 00:31:12

You don't almost go to jail if you almost blow up a plane,

Speaker: 00:31:16

just like you don't almost go to hell

Speaker: 00:31:18

if you almost get saved.

Speaker: 00:31:19

Despise the cross on which he was slain?

Speaker: 00:31:23

That's the cause for which he came.

Speaker: 00:31:25

Don't worry, I'm almost done.

Speaker: 00:31:26

But before I leave this stage,

Speaker: 00:31:29

we've all worked in sin and death was minimum wage.

Speaker: 00:31:33

I said we've all worked in sin and death was minimum wage,

Speaker: 00:31:37

but if it wasn't for Christ, we would almost got paid.

Speaker: 00:31:41

Discernment is not knowing the difference

Speaker: 00:31:50

between right and wrong.

Speaker: 00:31:52

It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.

Speaker: 00:31:57

And you will not get that anywhere in the world.

Speaker: 00:32:01

You will only get that in the Word.

Speaker: 00:32:03

You will only get it in the Word.

Speaker: 00:32:06

So now we know why we should read the Word.

Speaker: 00:32:11

I'm just gonna spend a few minutes closing

Speaker: 00:32:12

of how we study the Word.

Speaker: 00:32:14

There's a difference between reading and studying.

Speaker: 00:32:18

Reading is the act of understanding written words

Speaker: 00:32:20

while studying is a process of learning about subject.

Speaker: 00:32:23

Many Bible study books out there,

Speaker: 00:32:25

we got Christian bookstores you can go to and get lost in

Speaker: 00:32:30

and you don't know where to go,

Speaker: 00:32:31

but I made it simple for you, okay?

Speaker: 00:32:33

The first thing you need to do is make and follow,

Speaker: 00:32:37

oh, she put it up there, make and follow a plan.

Speaker: 00:32:40

Guess what?

Speaker: 00:32:41

I made you a plan.

Speaker: 00:32:42

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Speaker: 00:32:47

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Speaker: 00:32:50

If you was like, hey, is my goal to lose 10 pounds in 2025?

Speaker: 00:32:53

Well, how you gonna get there?

Speaker: 00:32:54

I don't know, I'm just gonna lose it.

Speaker: 00:32:56

You ain't losing nothing.

Speaker: 00:32:57

You ain't got no plan, you don't have no way to track it.

Speaker: 00:33:00

You don't have any metrics, you don't have anything,

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you've not practiced the art of showing up.

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This allows you the ability to show up.

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I've took all the hard part out of you.

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You can go back there and you can grab one on your way out

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and if those are gone, I'll give you mine.

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I'll put it up on the website every month.

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I'll put it on the app so you can download

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so you ain't got no excuse, but you have to have a plan.

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You have to have a plan.

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Long-term, short-term.

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This will help you build momentum in the plan.

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Look at here, it's already laid out for you.

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You can't see that.

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You have to trust.

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Is this real?

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No, I ain't see that.

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I don't even know why I was like putting my picture up there

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and they're like, okay.

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This is a reading guide.

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And what you can't see is that's week one, day one.

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There's a date by it.

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There's a chapter that you read, okay?

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And it's all right there.

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You can mark it off.

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I've created this.

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A one year, if you're gonna do this and say,

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my goal is to read it for the next year

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to follow along with the greatest stories ever told.

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Well, a year is a big bite.

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That's a big chunk.

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So you gotta break that down and say,

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I'm gonna have the best day tomorrow.

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And then that turns into seven days and that creates a week.

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And then that week creates another week

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and you build momentum and a day is a week

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and a week is a month and months turn to months.

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And then before you know it, you follow this plan, okay?

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The next thing, study with others, okay?

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Theology is best worked out in community.

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If you go on the mountain top by yourself

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and you feel like God has taught you everything

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you need to know about patience

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and you never come off the mountain down into the valley

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where there are other people and potentially children

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to practice that patience, you didn't learn anything.

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What did you learn?

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Right?

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You learned about being patient.

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You didn't learn how to be patient.

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That's the whole thing about the word.

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We can get in here and we can read all these things

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about God, but I don't want to know God.

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I don't wanna just know about God.

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Connecting with others creates accountability

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and connection.

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The next thing you have to create godly habits, okay?

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Create godly habits.

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Carve out a time for you to spend time with God in His word.

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I don't care what time it is as long as it's the same time.

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Are you hearing me?

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And for those of you to say, I don't have time to do this,

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you make time for what's important.

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That's the lamest excuse.

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I don't have time.

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I wish I had time to keep going.

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I literally don't have time.

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But you've got time in the day to carve out space

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to spend time with God in His word, okay?

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You can do as much or as little as you want.

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This is also included in the online study I put together.

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This is a monthly tracker.

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And you can write down little things

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and you see those little fill in bubbles

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like the old school tests we used to have to take

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to stress you out 'cause you didn't know

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if there was actually a number one pencil

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and it had to be a number two pencil.

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You know what I'm talking about?

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Those are habit trackers so that you can track new habits

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and you can do it with other people.

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I've included prayer journals in there

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so you can spend time writing down the things

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that are in your heart,

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the things that you're hoping God to move on.

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This is called a SOAP Bible study.

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SOAP is an acronym.

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Acronym stands for scriptures, observation,

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application and prayer.

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Get a little book like this, a little field notes book

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or this is a pad from Nashville plywood

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with face frame measurements.

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I don't care what it is.

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Get something that you can write these things down.

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What are we doing with our life?

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I spend way too much time arguing about college football

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and about stupid stuff that don't even matter

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and God of the universe has said,

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"I have revealed myself to you.

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"Will you spend time knowing me?"

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He could have gone in any number of ways.

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He came in the flesh.

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He created a universe that displays his splendor and glory.

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Everywhere you look, you see God's goodness

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and he says, "I want to show you who I am.

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"I want to tell you a story

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"about the redemption of mankind.

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"I want to show you how I took a people

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"that was not even a people and I became their God

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"and I brought them through tremendous trials

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"and adversities and I gave them promises

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"and there was ups and downs.

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"They fell away.

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"They worshiped idols.

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"I had to go get them back.

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"They kept going back, selling themselves

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"and I went and got them back

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"and eventually I went and got them for good.

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"And then I brought you into it

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"'cause you weren't in it.

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"So I brought everybody and grafted them in."

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And if God, the God of the universe said,

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"I'm going to write a story

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"and I want to include you, will you read it?"

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I'll put it on the nightstand and open it when I need it.

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Yes.

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We got to limit the excuses and the procrastination.

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The God of the universe wants to connect with us

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and one of the ways he's chosen to do that is with his word.

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If this thing was an ancient scroll

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and you had to drive two hours

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to hear somebody read it every week,

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would you still show up?

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If they could come and haul you away,

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if they found pages of it in your possession,

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would it have more prominence and importance?

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I'm not trying to shame any of us.

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The Holy Spirit has a way of convicting you of that.

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My job is not up here to say,

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"You're not doing this, you should be doing this."

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What my responsibility is to say,

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God has revealed himself to us

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and I would like to invite you to read it with me.

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I'm inviting you.

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I spent time, look, this ain't got nothing to do.

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I spent time just making you a plan

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that way you don't have to do a lot of leg work

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and get frustrated that you can't find the right thing

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and I also made it to where we can all do it together

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and we can talk about it and the women's ministry

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and the worship team and the men's and the kids' man,

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the JDQ he was talking about,

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their memory verses are in here.

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Why?

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'Cause as a family, we want to go together.

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So when I run into Marcus, he'd be like,

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"Man, did you read Joshua 9 this week?

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"Wow, that messed me up."

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You know what?

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I didn't, I need to go back and read it.

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Thank you for holding me on that and doing it together

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with me.

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Is anything I'm saying makes sense?

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Like, he gave it to us, man.

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We could have been born in any time in history

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where we didn't have it and yet here we are now

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on the edge of 2025,

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literally watching the whole back half of the Bible

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come alive.

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Like, I feel like at any time,

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I feel like I literally got a good shot

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of seeing Jesus come back.

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Like, I'm checking stuff up on my pants, I don't know.

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How would you know?

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How would you know if you're just depending on me

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to get up here and tell you?

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How would you know?

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How would you know?

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I'm not crazy.

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Well, that's a bad question.

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(audience laughing)

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We're gonna move into a,

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we're gonna move into our altar call section,

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and I would like to call the elders now.

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If you're an elder or if you are a pastor,

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if you have been anointed and appointed to pray for others,

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I would like to ask you to come down.

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Why do we do this?

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Where do we get this?

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Where do we get any of this from?

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Where do we get these ideas from?

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It's from the Word.

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James chapter five, I wanna read this to you.

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This is what it says in James five, it says,

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"Is anyone among you suffering?"

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Let him pray.

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Is anyone cheerful?

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Let him sing praise.

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Is anyone among you sick?

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Let him call for the elders of the church

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and let them pray over him,

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anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

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And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick,

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and the Lord will raise him up.

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And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

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He didn't even say come to get your sins forgiven.

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He said, "Come and believe that I can heal you

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"and ask the elders to annoy you with oil,

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"and oh, by the way, I'll forgive you sins too."

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Heck of a bonus.

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Therefore, confess your sins to one another.

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Pray for one another that you may be healed.

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The prayer of a righteous person

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has great power as it's working.

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Why do we take communion every week?

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Because the scriptures tell us,

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as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me.

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And by God, if we're gonna remember the Christ,

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we're gonna remember him every week.

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So every week you come in here,

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we're gonna do it in remembrance of him.

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And we're gonna gather down front

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and we're gonna invite those that are sick or hurting

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or need something broken off of them to come,

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and the elders will anoint you with oil and pray over you,

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and the prayer of faith will heal you.

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And then what does he say?

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I've invited you guys.

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I said, "If you ain't got no problems in your life,

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then praise God right now."

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Have I not said that?

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Where do you think I got that from?

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From James.

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If you're sick and you need God to move, come down here.

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And if you're healthy and you wanna see God move,

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then you praise him on that side.

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None of us are exempt,

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but we don't know that if we don't spend time

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knowing God and his word.

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So as I'm inviting you personally

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to go on this journey with me this year,

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to spend time, to carve out time,

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reading the word, studying God's word,

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connecting with his people, connecting with him,

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let's close out this year by either praying or praising

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and committing to journey together.

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Amen.

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Let's worship and pray.

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(gentle music)

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[music fades out]