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There is none that is righteous.

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I was born with sin in iniquity that my mother conceived me.

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I needed Jesus who would take away all my sin.

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Prior to that, I was without covenant.

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I was an alien.

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I had the Bible says I had the wrath of God abiding on me.

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And then Jesus and His mercy came and took all that away.

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You can receive all this for free by faith.

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That's what's being offered to you.

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Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks

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for joining us today as we look into God's Word and

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discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If

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you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free

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to visit us at citylightnyc.com that's citylightnyc.com.

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Pastor Boyan

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Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already

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working in our hearts and minds. As you

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listen to today's teaching, remember that

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you are deeply loved by God. That you

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are surrounded by His grace and that

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He has a real hope and a future for you. Hallelujah. God

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is

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good. He's so

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faithful. And Lord,

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may you keep coming. He came.

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He just,

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shh. But yeah,

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it doesn't mean he has to stop. I pray

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we have Acts chapter 10. Peter got

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interrupted in his sermon. I would

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like to be interrupted in my sermon. Hallelujah. We're

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Lord,

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you know, you have us in the palm of your hand, whatever you

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want to do in here. You're the

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God of miracles. The God

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who reaches in transforms our lives. And I

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have this nice message on paper, but somebody

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needs to hear this. Get out

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of God's way. You have

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some problems and you're coming to God to fix

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your problems, but you're

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coming to Him with a rule book like a menu. God, this

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is what I need you to do. And this

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is how I would feel comfortable that you

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would do it. This is

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how I want, it doesn't work that way. You give

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Him your problem and then step back. It's uncomfortable.

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It feels

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like walking on water. That was

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uncomfortable. But that's

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when His best work is done. Let go.

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God's not

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somebody you hired. He's not

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like an outside consultant. Now you're

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in a pinch. Now I

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hired God. Even paid

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my tithe, paid him. Now I

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want him to tackle this issue that I have. We all

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have, and it easily comes back, even when

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it's down, these layers over our heart. Let God

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peel you like an onion layer upon layer upon layer and let

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that brick wall fall down. That's when

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He has access to the real youth. When you're

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intimate with Him, you open up. That's when

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He can do what He really wants to do. That's when

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miracles start popping like popcorn. But you've

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got a yield. Hallelujah. Well,

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we

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had a wonderful volunteer party yesterday. So grateful

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for all of the volunteers at CityLight. And we have

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that annual party. We try to

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honor you all the time. We're grateful for

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you all the time. But that's our

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way of just saying an extra special thank you and honoring all

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of the people that serve at CityLight. We have a huge

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percentage of members and attenders that actually serve. And

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we're grateful for

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that. That doesn't mean that

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we should stop. If you're not serving,

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find a place to serve. You can serve. Someone

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can serve as

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little as once a month, right? But get involved. Yeah.

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Don't just come

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to

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church, be the church. Look at Him. He's

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not even five

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minutes in. He's rebuked me 17

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times already. I heard that was

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the Grace Church. I checked out the

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Google reviews. Everyone said how nice

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it was. Now He's already offended

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me. 13 ways. He hasn't

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even started

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preaching really. But let's look at

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that video from the Volunteer Party yesterday. Welcome back Carter. I

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love royalty-free internet

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music. There's just a certain

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anointing on it and makes God's anointing

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leave. But no, we had

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a great time. Thank you to all

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of our volunteers. Everyone you see there

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is a volunteer. Our awesome ministry of

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helps. I always read Romans

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chapter 16 at the Volunteer Party where the Apostle Paul

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lists over 20 names an entire chapter in

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the Bible. And these people's names,

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you never heard of them before? You'll never heard of

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them again. But they're immortalized in

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the Word of God. Guys with names like

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Rufus. How that later turned

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into a dog's name, I don't know. But there were humans

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named Rufus. Paul said I want

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to honor Phoebe. Rufus. And other Greek

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names

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I mispronounced yesterday. But what's the point

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of an entire chapter, Roman 16, it shows you that

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Paul knew every one of them and God knows every

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one of them. And they were really

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volunteers, helps ministry. Those called alongside to

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lay up bricks in this building that is God, not

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a physical church building, but the building of

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the body of Christ, that God is building

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up. Hallelujah. Are you ready

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to

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receive this morning? That's great. For the

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first two

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rows. That's great. Also, summer

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life groups

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are started. Yeah. They last for

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only

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six weeks, and are only 75

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minutes in length. Normal life groups in

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the fall and spring are 12 weeks long,

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and everybody has a

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different book. In the summer we

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all read one book. In this book in

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particular, I wanted you to read, and it'll make even

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more sense when I'm done preaching today. But it's a way

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to avoid the summer slump. Summer swamp is a

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better term. What is it about

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the summer that things, just, I've been doing

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this enough decades now to know that things just get

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swampy. And people can kind

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of lose the fire. And you don't want

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that to happen. You want to stay

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plugged in. Six weeks, 75 minutes,

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it's a way to stoke the flame. Meet all some people.

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Be disciples. Oh, I'm

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already a

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disciple. Great. Help disciple others.

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Amen. Are you ready

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for

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the word of God this morning? Yes. Okay. Many of

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you

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know

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my story that I immigrated here when I was five

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years old in the early 80s. And I came from

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a country formerly known as Yugoslavia. It's now six other

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countries. And every summer I

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would go back there to visit family and

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spend the summers there. And that first summer

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in 1982, I was six years old. I went back. And

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since I was

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six, I didn't know how to swim yet. My grandfather wanted to

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teach me how to swim. And it's in Montenegro,

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a little beach called Igolo. And it's like a

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little bay area. And the background was

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the former dictator, Tito's giant villa, a

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giant lawn. And that's where my

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grandfather, I can remember this

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like it happened yesterday where he taught me

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how to swim. And one of the

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first things I did when I learned how to swim was start to use a

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floaty. I couldn't use one

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before, because if I flipped

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over, I drowned. But now I learned

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how to swim. And I would always

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see the adults on, floaty is a term

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for everything. floaty could be like

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things you put around your arms. But I'm talking about

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the ones you kick back and relax and lie on, right? And I'd see adults

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doing that just laying out their hands behind their

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head, floating. And I wanted to

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be a big boy. So I'm six years

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old. I borrowed my older

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cousins floaty, bringing in three feet

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into the water. I can see my

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grandfather right there. And I get on

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the floaty. I put my hands

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behind my back. And I am big

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bow. I am a hater.

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I remember I'm looking

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at the clouds. I closed my eyes.

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And I didn't fall

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asleep. I just closed my

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eyes for about three or four minutes. And I then went

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to open my eyes. I went, huh? And

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I was looking

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at a completely different place. And when where's my

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grandfather? I started to panic

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right away. I'd only gone about

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50 or 100 meters to the right. Not even that far.

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But I started crying,

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screaming. Ah! Dino! We just

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grandpa!

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Where

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are you? And

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he comes running.

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He's all over here.

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And I realized, huh?

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The current. Even though

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it's a

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bay, very few waves and ripples, it just happened. I

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drifted away. I

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want to tell

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you right now that the greatest enemy that I see when people, you know,

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when they backslide fully and forsake the faith, when they walk away

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from the Lord, you're really seeing the

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final result. You're seeing the final

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phase, what happened and how they got there is much more subtle

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and it's slow drift. And nobody is immune

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to it. I just want to

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read to you several statements. The danger is not

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usually rebellion overnight. You might hear, so

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all of somebody just looks like they lost their mind. They just rebelled against

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God. They used to be

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on fire. They used to come

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to church. They were a leader.

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And now they're completely,

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did you see their

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social media and what they're posting? They've gone nuts. That

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didn't happen overnight.

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You're just seeing the

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fruit underneath that for months, maybe years, they were

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slowly, slowly drifting. So the danger is

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not rebellion overnight. The danger is drift.

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It's not an explosion.

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It's slow erosion. It's

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not a sudden

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fall, but a slow cooling

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of the heart. And so Christianity and

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our fire, our passion for the

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Lord, it's something that has

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to be maintained. This is something I'm

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beginning to teach my kids. You know, when they're

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young, everything's exciting. I mean, when they're

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young, you want to pray out, pray out. Jesus, close your eyes.

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What do you see?

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I see Jesus. You

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know, everything's exciting.

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And then slowly, especially,

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where's my son? Where's

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the victor? Where

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is he? He

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went, what? He

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went downstairs. Michelle,

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run downstairs. Bring

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him up here.

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Yeah, he just went.

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Look, it's like he

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could pay him off. He's got lawyers. He

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just went. Actually,

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he's volunteering. He

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should be behind

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the camera, but I just noticed,

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as I'm talking about my family, that Vlad, we look

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nothing alike. You cannot be my

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son. Emily, can you help

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me out with the young victor? With the wherever? No,

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but wherever he

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went. Oh, he went to

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the restroom. Michelle's going to have

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a hard time. Okay. This could turn

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into

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a real life example of how not the

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parent right about now. I met this investor,

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successful investor. And he said to

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me, you know, all companies, no matter

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how hot they are, they trend to zero,

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eventually. And he's telling me

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about where billionaires park and keep their

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money. Which haven't you ever

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wondered, where do they keep their money? I have always wondered

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that. I mean, it's not

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at the local city bank. It's not. Where do

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you keep

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5.6 billion? Do you have a

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concentrated position? I mean, are you

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all in Tesla? Are you all in

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Bitcoin? Turns out the majority

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of them, they keep their money

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in the S&P. They've diversified over hundreds

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of companies because all companies, eventually,

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no matter how hot

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they are, trend to zero. Like, when I was

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a kid, you know, it was a really

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hot company, IBM. IBM was in. One

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was the last

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time you even saw an IBM. Over time, all companies

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eventually collapse or get taken over

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or get bought out or become irrelevant. Do you remember when

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you were in 10th grade, you learned about this

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thing called entropy, that things that are

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in order tend to chaos and disorder? I'm experiencing that in

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my house in the Poconos. During COVID, we bought

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a house in the Poconos. I hardly go there

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because I'm pretty busy on the weekends. So we've gotten up

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now. We're going there like

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three, four times a year. I mean, the kids

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and Emily go in the summer. But most of the

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year, it's sitting empty. Is there your Airbnb

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in being it? No. What's the point

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of

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taking off our shoes every time we go into the

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house? And not stepping on

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the couch is what, have you ever... You've

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been a renter.

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You know what you

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did to that house? I don't want... I

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know what I

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do to a hotel. Anyway. It's a joke.

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You

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know where I

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went back to James Gaffigan. You know James Gaffigan?

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He talked about coming

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out of the shower naked in the hotel room and sitting naked on

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the couch. And then he said,

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as I sat naked

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on that hotel couch, the thought occurred to

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me. I may not be

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the first person doing this. Everybody behaves differently in

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a room. That's not their own,

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you know. In the Poconos, the

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forest is fighting

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for my house. It's coming in. Like

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the worst thing

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for a house is not to live

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in the house and maintain the house. Things tend to disorder.

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Things tend to drift.

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Things tend to entropy.

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And I want to

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finish strong. I'm looking at my

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life. I'm a little concerned

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about the present. I'm looking at 40

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years from now. How will I finish

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the race? Will I cross the

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finish line? Will I do it

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with strength? Or, you know what

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used to terrify me? When I first got

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saved, I was 16, served

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the Lord, then went off to

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college, joined the on fire

353
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radical group of college kids, and we go to

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the local church. And you can't help

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but notice all the older people love us. They love us. They

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love us. And

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they say, oh,

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you're fiery. And you're so zealous.

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And we're all there,

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we're in love with Jesus. And then during the

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sermon, I'll look around. And

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it's like all

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the older people who had test them I've been saved 20

364
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years. So I got saved

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in the early 70s. The great revival that

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swept through Long Island. And you look at

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them. And they're like zoned

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out during worship, yawning during the preaching

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of the Word. And I had that

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as an 18-year-old. I thought, why? Why

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do some of

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these adults that have been saved the longest? You think they know

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God, the deepest. And they look totally

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like they're bored of God. How do you get

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bored of God? The things of God

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are bottomless. He's not simple. He's

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not simple. Oh,

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I figured you

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out on board now. It's a never-ending journey.

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And then you realize

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as you get older, you're like, oh, okay,

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it does take a fanning and a stoking of

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the flame. Because things tend towards

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entropy. Things tend towards drift.

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And I don't want

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that for me. I don't want that

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for you. No, no, no. We've

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got to finish

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strong. Look at the Apostle

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Paul. Second Timothy, chapters four,

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six through eight. He says, I have

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fought for I'm already being poured out as a drink offering.

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I mean, he knew

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in his spirit it was time for him to go. And look, by the

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way, I can just preach your message and I'm already being

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poured out as a drink offering. Because you know what

397
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he was saying? I'm dying empty. It

398
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was Miles Monroe

399
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who said, the wealthiest places in

400
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the world are not the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. They're

401
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not the diamond

402
00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.000
mines of South Africa. The wealthiest place in

403
00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.000
the world is out Wall Street. The wealthiest place in

404
00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.000
the world is cemeteries. Because of all these

405
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people who've died, pregnant, full, full of vision. They're

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in the tomb.

407
00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.000
They're in the coffin.

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But they never wrote

409
00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000
that book. They were supposed to

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00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:54.000
write. They never started that

411
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.000
business. They never planted that

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00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:56.000
church. God put that treasure

413
00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.000
in them. And they never gave

414
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.000
birth to it. They're dead six feet

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00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.000
under buried. That's wealth underground. Paul

416
00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.000
didn't have that

417
00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.000
testimony. He said everything that

418
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was in my heart to do. I did. All that

419
00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.000
God put

420
00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.000
in me. He got out of

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me. I'm being poured out

422
00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.000
a total drink offering. I'm done. I want

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to die

424
00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.000
empty. I don't want to

425
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die full. Empty. All that you

426
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.000
put

427
00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:22.000
in me. Lord, get it out

428
00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.000
of me. Hallelujah. He knew in

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his

430
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:27.000
spirit. It's time for me

431
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to go. I believe that's good.

432
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That's healthy. When you're

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walking close

434
00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.000
to the Lord, you think death is

435
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.000
a surprise? Everybody went down in

436
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.000
Tampa. Pastor, all the Holy

437
00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:39.000
Ghosts all the time. And it's not faith

438
00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:42.000
and doubt and unbelief. I'm just feeling my

439
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.000
spirit. The Lord is shh.

440
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:46.000
I'm transitioning over. Next

441
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.000
verse, verse seven.

442
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.000
I fought the good

443
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fight. I have finished the

444
00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.000
race. I have kept the

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faith. No drift, no slow

446
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:06.000
decline. But I'm crossing the

447
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.000
finish line with gusto. Can you shout amen?

448
00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:11.000
Finally, there is laid

449
00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.000
up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the

450
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:18.000
righteous judge will give to me on that day. And not to me

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only but also to all who have loved his appearing. Acts 20, verse 24.

452
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However, I consider my

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life worth nothing to me. My only aim is

454
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:44.000
to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. The task of testifying

455
00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.000
to the good news of God's grace. Just say this out

456
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loud as a confession of faith. I'm going to finish

457
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:55.000
the race with strength. First Corinthians 9, 24.

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And then I want

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00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:02.000
to go into a questionnaire that we should ask ourselves at least once a week. Spiritual checkups are healthy.

460
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.000
And we should all

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00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.000
conduct spiritual checkups on ourselves. Because we have line

462
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.000
spots and drift happens. Ideally, you have people

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around you that keep you from drifting. But we live in

464
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a culture and a time where in America really, you know, when you

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visit other places and you're in touch with other cultures, you realize there's other

466
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cultures that people are in your business all the time. And that's normal. They

467
00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.000
still have the

468
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mentality of a village that's normal. They realize the benefit

469
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.000
of that. Not so great for

470
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privacy. Not so great for

471
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that. America has. It runs

472
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through everything.

473
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Nation was birthed in

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independence and rebellion. It's a fact. And

475
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so what runs

476
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.000
through us is a fiercely independent spirit. So even in close

477
00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.000
relationships, there's taboo subjects to talk about. Like how often do

478
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.000
you have a friend that goes, you know, I feel like you've missed church a lot lately. Or you're coming to

479
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.000
church all the time, but it's not the same. Are you all right?

480
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:06.000
Who are you to

481
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.000
question me? But the Bible says

482
00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.000
faithful are the wounds of a friend. A real friend will

483
00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.000
ask some difficult questions. But we live in

484
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:17.000
a culture where that doesn't often happen. It's like, why are

485
00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.000
you digging in my salad? I leave you alone.

486
00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:20.000
Leave me alone. It's

487
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none of your

488
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:25.000
business. That's between me. I

489
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.000
once asked that.

490
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.000
That's between when I

491
00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:32.000
was doing evangelism, you know, in college door to door. I said, you know,

492
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.000
if you were to die today, do you know for certain that you go to heaven? And the person went

493
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.000
back, that's between me and my God. Oh, okay. I'm here

494
00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:41.000
to help.

495
00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:46.000
That's private. Jesus didn't

496
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.000
keep things

497
00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:49.000
private. He died naked on

498
00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:52.000
a mountain, elevated on a cross. There's no closet Christianity,

499
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.000
amen. Anything holy can be

500
00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.000
shattered from the rooftops. So, do you know

501
00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:05.000
that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize, run in such a

502
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:10.000
way as to get the prize with determination, with focus. I'm asking

503
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.000
you today,

504
00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000
how do you, how do you want to be serving the Lord when you're 60, when you're 70, when

505
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:18.000
you're 80, when you're 90? I've made plans. I'm

506
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.000
not going to

507
00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:21.000
retire. You don't see it

508
00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.000
in the Bible. I'm going to refire.

509
00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:24.000
It doesn't mean I'll

510
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.000
be here preaching. I may be at

511
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.000
that time. Pastor Emeritus sitting here.

512
00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:29.000
Just praying into the

513
00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:38.000
thing and discipling and mentoring the next wave of leadership. But where am I

514
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.000
going to go? Go and retire in

515
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.000
Miami. Go to Boca. So

516
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:43.000
I can backslide

517
00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:49.000
and then Satan take me out in my 80s as I slowly drift away. Go live in Margaritaville.

518
00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.000
What? Oh. Run with

519
00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:52.000
determination,

520
00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:54.000
run,

521
00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:02.000
run and see yourself serving the Lord. Hallelujah. Next verse. Verse

522
00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.000
25.

523
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.000
Do you

524
00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.000
not know

525
00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:20.000
that in a race all the runners run, but okay, everyone who

526
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:23.000
competes in the games. It's amazing how much

527
00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.000
power the media team has. I mean, it's like

528
00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:33.000
I'm like, Lord, you control the service, but really? The media team. And

529
00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.000
so if you

530
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.000
start to feel the heavy hand of God on you back there, that's why. Everyone who competes in

531
00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:43.000
the games goes into strict training. They do it to

532
00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:46.000
get a crown that will not last, but we do it

533
00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:51.000
to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not

534
00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:57.000
run like someone running aimlessly. He's saying, I am

535
00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:00.000
efficient. I am focused. I

536
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.000
work smarter, not

537
00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:06.000
harder. I do not fight

538
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:13.000
like a boxer beating the air. I'm not shadow punching

539
00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.000
here. He's saying, I'm not

540
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.000
playing any games. I'm making everything I

541
00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:23.000
do count and it's with purpose. No, I strike a

542
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:28.000
blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not

543
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.000
be disqualified for the prize. So I want to

544
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.000
give you a spiritual health checklist, something that we should

545
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:39.000
ask ourselves at least once a week. And let me just

546
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.000
say this, I recognize that drift happens. I recognize that you

547
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:53.000
have to have things set up in your life to combat drift. I'm not talking about

548
00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.000
backsliding. In fact, just with

549
00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.000
somebody I'm mentoring, I said, be careful you're not

550
00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.000
drifting. The first thing they

551
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.000
said was, I'm not backsliding. I said, I didn't

552
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.000
say backsliding. Be careful you're not

553
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.000
drifting. I'm not having sex,

554
00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.000
I'm like, bro. Okay, I'm glad. But

555
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.000
I didn't mention

556
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.000
any of those things. I'm just talking about

557
00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.000
drifting. We have to keep

558
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:24.000
a fire in our relationship. I mean, we don't

559
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:27.000
want to just drift slowly. Drifting is subtle. It's

560
00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.000
subtle until it

561
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.000
isn't. Then all of a

562
00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.000
sudden you're doing things you never thought you'd be doing. You go to read

563
00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:40.000
the Bible and you're like, oh, satanic confusion comes in

564
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.000
because you haven't kept your mind sharp with the word of God. So we need spiritual

565
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.000
health checkups. So here's several questions

566
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.000
number one. And this is an

567
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.000
important one. I could have put

568
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.000
it anywhere but I put it number one because it's the most offensive one. Has my giving and

569
00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:04.000
my generosity toward God's kingdom increased or decreased? Why is it offensive

570
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.000
because it has to do with money? Why is that offensive?

571
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:07.000
Because money is people's

572
00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:09.000
God. And the moment you

573
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:13.000
mentioned money, people start winging out. Especially when a pastor

574
00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.000
mentions money. It's their self interest

575
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000
there and why he's preaching that. No, Jesus said that.

576
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:23.000
He's the one who

577
00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:30.000
continuously connected how you handle money and generosity to your heart condition. He said, quote, where

578
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:37.000
your treasure is, there your heart is also. So if you want

579
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:48.000
to know how on fire you are, stick a thermometer in your giving and see how it reads. When people are in

580
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:54.000
love with God, they are aware of how much they've been given and they hold the

581
00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:58.000
things of this earth loosely. And so your giving

582
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:03.000
is a reflection of how much God has captured your heart. One of the first

583
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.000
things to go before you backslide, not one of the first, always the first thing

584
00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.000
to go is people stop giving. And I'll just say

585
00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:15.000
this, I haven't counted an offering in over 20 years. I have no clue.

586
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:16.000
But the reality is

587
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:22.000
when CityLight was eight people, I was counting the offering. That was awkward and weird.

588
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.000
I couldn't wait to stop

589
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.000
counting the offering. But that's the one thing

590
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.000
I was told is, but then I quickly noticed. All of a sudden someone

591
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.000
stops giving or they're like completely lower their giving. You're like, huh, then they

592
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:39.000
stop giving and then you never see them. Oh, Jesus is Lord of

593
00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:42.000
all. Really, you're wallet too. There

594
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.000
is a connection. When

595
00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:47.000
God in Acts chapter

596
00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:52.000
10 was looking for somebody to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. He sent an angel to

597
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:55.000
Cornelius. And that angel said, I've

598
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000
come here. You got God's attention because

599
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.000
of your prayers and your giving. Wow. You connect giving to

600
00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.000
the

601
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.000
anointing to prayers? Yeah, because it shows what's

602
00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.000
in people's hearts. People who I'm close to,

603
00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.000
they all have something in common. They're generous. And if you're

604
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:13.000
new here,

605
00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:16.000
you don't know my story. I gave 2.131 million dollars

606
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:21.000
to the church personally last year. I paid back the church

607
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.000
everything. It's ever paid me since

608
00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.000
2002. I can't go into any

609
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:27.000
more details. Ask another member. They've heard

610
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.000
it already, enough

611
00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:31.000
times. But in case somebody, you

612
00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:33.000
have a guest, oh, God. It's the first time here

613
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.000
and he's talking about money as his first point. All right, I'm fine. God

614
00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:37.000
has blessed me. My

615
00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:38.000
cup, run it over.

616
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.000
How did J. Z. say

617
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:42.000
it? Run it over with honey.

618
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:43.000
All right. My cup, run

619
00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.000
it. I

620
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:45.000
can't rhyme it. He

621
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:46.000
does that word bending

622
00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.000
where he rhymes anything with anything. And I did that so

623
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.000
he would continue to have my heart. Every time you give, you're

624
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.000
showing God, you can trust me with more. Money hasn't become my God.

625
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.000
Hallelujah. So stick with the

626
00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.000
moment

627
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.000
in your giving. And it doesn't just have

628
00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:06.000
to do with a tie than the offering. It's how you treat people.

629
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.000
When I'm looking for close

630
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.000
friends, they have to be generous. I want to go out

631
00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:19.000
with people where I have to pay for that check. Pretend to go to the

632
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.000
bathroom and pay for that check. Because if I don't, they'll

633
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:24.000
do that. You know, you're the same

634
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:30.000
way. Not maybe this way, but

635
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.000
how long does your cheap skate friendship last? How long is it? How

636
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:36.000
long do you go

637
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.000
on with somebody who's always calculating in their mind? And I'm going to make

638
00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:44.000
sure I come out on top and they got last time. Somebody with a scrawny skinny

639
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:48.000
heart like that, something is wrong. Something is broken. They need

640
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.000
Jesus. They need

641
00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:50.000
healing. But we

642
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:51.000
can't go deep

643
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:55.000
because you're a heart that is close to give, is a heart that is

644
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:58.000
close to receive. Amen. So number one in

645
00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:00.000
a

646
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:05.000
spiritual checklist is stick a thermometer in your giving and go. And honestly, check your, evaluate

647
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.000
your generosity. Number two, important question, which

648
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:16.000
is why I see so many of you with your phones taking notes. Have I become slower to

649
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:24.000
forgive and quicker to take offense? How am I forgiving? These

650
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.000
two questions are actually

651
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:32.000
so important. How is my giving and

652
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.000
how quickly do I forgive people? Because when you're walking with

653
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:43.000
the Lord, you are acutely aware of all of the crud, the nonsense, the sin he

654
00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:47.000
has forgiven you. And you're so grateful that

655
00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:52.000
you go through life with soft, gracious, merciful eyes, and you extend that forgiveness

656
00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:01.000
quickly to others. When you're quick to take

657
00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:08.000
offense, you're not living in light of how much God has forgiven you. Your heart has shriveled up.

658
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.000
You've become the Grinch whose

659
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:16.000
heart was two sizes too small. Can you imagine you have

660
00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:22.000
been forgiven of all of your sins past, present, and future? That's a lot. And then

661
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:24.000
somebody offends you

662
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.000
and you, you get an attitude with them. And you get hurt. And

663
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:29.000
you get all cold

664
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.000
and bitter. You just fell into a

665
00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:33.000
demonic trap. The Bible talks about the

666
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:36.000
root of bitterness. It defiles many. When you're

667
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.000
close with the

668
00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:45.000
Lord, you're living in light of this revelation. Everything about my life, prior

669
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:54.000
to Jesus, everything about my very existence was in a front to heaven. You're aware of that, right?

670
00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:57.000
I'll just talk about me

671
00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:59.000
then. But the Bible says it's

672
00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:02.000
about all of humanity. There is none that seeks

673
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.000
after God. There is none that is

674
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:06.000
righteous. I was born with sin

675
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:11.000
in iniquity that my mother conceived me. I needed a savior. I

676
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:13.000
needed Jesus who would

677
00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:16.000
take away all my sin. Prior to that, I was

678
00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.000
without covenant. I was an alien. I

679
00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:20.000
had the, the Bible

680
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.000
says I had the wrath of God abiding on me. And then Jesus and His

681
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.000
mercy came and took all that away. If you haven't made Jesus

682
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:32.000
your Lord in savior, you can receive all this for free by faith. That's what's being offered to

683
00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.000
you. And he did that for

684
00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:38.000
me. Now, someone's going to come

685
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.000
and offend me. And I'm going to hold

686
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:43.000
a grudge against them. What? Jesus spoke to this

687
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:44.000
specifically.

688
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:46.000
He told the parable. He

689
00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.000
talked about a man

690
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:51.000
who had a debt. You can do the calculations.

691
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:53.000
Last time I did these

692
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:59.000
calculations 20, 25 years ago was something between 20 and 30 million dollars. This is like Matthew 18,

693
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:03.000
Matthew 9th, Matthew 18-ish. And he was forgiven this

694
00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:07.000
20 to 30 million dollar debt by the king. He owed it to the

695
00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:08.000
king. And the king said, you

696
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:13.000
know, back then, when you needed to pay off a debt, they didn't garnish your wages. They put you in prison.

697
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:15.000
Slave camps and things like

698
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:18.000
that. So he was on his

699
00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:24.000
way and he fell on his knees as a please forgive me and the king graciously forgave him. And as he was leaving

700
00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:32.000
being forgiven on his way back home, he ran into a lower servant who owed him the equivalent of about 20 bucks. And that servant fell on

701
00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:36.000
his knees and said, please forgive me. And he said, no. The

702
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000
Bible actually says he

703
00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:44.000
grabbed him by the throat and said, he was Tony soprano. Grab them by the throat

704
00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:53.000
and said, pay me what you owe me with my big. And when the king heard

705
00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:59.000
of that, he said, grab that wicked servant. And this is the quote,

706
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:04.000
hand him over to the torturers. So Jesus gave this parable

707
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:15.000
to demonstrate that servant is an example of a Christian who was pardoned of a 30 million dollar debt he could never ever pay. But then he wouldn't pardon

708
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.000
someone else. What happens to that Christian?

709
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:20.000
They live life in a

710
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:23.000
tortured state. They're handed over to the

711
00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.000
torturers. If you're hanging onto Britannus,

712
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.000
you're hanging onto a grudge. That is showing that you're

713
00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:33.000
not walking in full revelation about God has forgiven you. You've come out of intimacy

714
00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:35.000
with the Lord. You got a Grinch-like heart.

715
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:38.000
You said, what's step one?

716
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.000
Step one is recognizing how

717
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:47.000
much what garbage truck full of junk God has forgiven you. We always tend to minimize

718
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:50.000
our own sins. Sometimes we act like we're

719
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:53.000
doing God a favor by serving him. Be glad for the oxygen

720
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:56.000
in your nostrils. Be glad for another day.

721
00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:59.000
You think about your sin.

722
00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:02.000
Now multiply that by a

723
00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.000
thousand. That's actually your sin count.

724
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.000
Don't do it too long.

725
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.000
You'll get depressed. Focus on

726
00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:08.000
the blood, forgiveness,

727
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:11.000
the new birth. But you've been forgiven so

728
00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:14.000
much. Hallelujah. There's some people they

729
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:15.000
look

730
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.000
for offense. They're like an offense assignment.

731
00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:19.000
You know these people. Maybe

732
00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:21.000
you are these people.

733
00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:23.000
I'm so glad you're here

734
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:26.000
to hear this. But there's people. They cannot

735
00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:27.000
wait to be

736
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:29.000
offended. They look for offense. They're

737
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:30.000
online. You can say

738
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.000
online. I

739
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.000
really like bananas. What

740
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.000
do you mean you

741
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.000
hate oranges? They're ready to rumble. They're

742
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.000
looking to be. And

743
00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:42.000
you know what it

744
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:43.000
is? They don't even get offended.

745
00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.000
They take offense. Somebody said,

746
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:46.000
oh, I don't

747
00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:48.000
like that person. They offended me. They just

748
00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:49.000
went about their

749
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:51.000
business. They don't even know what

750
00:34:51.000 --> 00:34:52.000
they did wrong. You took offense. Any opportunity

751
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:53.000
to get offended.

752
00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:55.000
And by the way, culture

753
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:58.000
in the last 10 to 15 years has really accelerated this. Because

754
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:00.000
we reward victimhood. We

755
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.000
prize anyone who's been

756
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:04.000
hurt. We lift them up. So

757
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:05.000
now everybody like victimhood

758
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.000
has become a currency in today's culture. So everybody's

759
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:09.000
running to be

760
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.000
a victim. Why are you nodding that

761
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.000
way? I mean, that's offensive. You've

762
00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.000
hurt my feelings. It

763
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:18.000
seems like you're into

764
00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:20.000
the service. But I don't like the

765
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.000
energy. I'm not comfortable with you

766
00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:27.000
that way. That's the new thing. I'm

767
00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:28.000
not comfortable. My daughter

768
00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:29.000
started saying that.

769
00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:30.000
I don't know where she

770
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:31.000
learned it. Well, I know where she

771
00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:35.000
learned it in school. But I'm not good. Because

772
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:36.000
what do you say

773
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:37.000
to someone? Fella told me. He smokes

774
00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:38.000
cigars. He smelled

775
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:39.000
like cigar smoke.

776
00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:40.000
He went to the bank.

777
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:41.000
And the teller said, I'm

778
00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.000
not comfortable with you right now. And he's like, what do

779
00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:45.000
you want me to do? I've been smoking? Yeah, I

780
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:46.000
smoke cigars. But

781
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.000
I'm not comfortable with

782
00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:53.000
you right now. I just want my money.

783
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:56.000
It's a way to paint

784
00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:59.000
someone into a court. I'm sorry. My very existence

785
00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:00.000
is making

786
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000
you uncomfortable. How do I change this?

787
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:03.000
I just want to deposit

788
00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:08.000
this check. Hallelujah. Forgive. You know all

789
00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:11.000
of

790
00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:14.000
therapy.

791
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:15.000
I'm going to save you

792
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:17.000
tens of thousands of dollars. All of therapy can be

793
00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:20.000
summarized in one word. All inner healing. All where

794
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:21.000
they eventually trying

795
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:23.000
to get you to. You ready? Forgive. Forgive. You

796
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:24.000
don't know.

797
00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:26.000
But

798
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:27.000
it's

799
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.000
hard. I know.

800
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:29.000
Sometimes forgiveness isn't

801
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:30.000
most of

802
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:33.000
the time. If it's real bitterness, you're

803
00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:36.000
not going to just go, okay, fine. I forgive them. It's going

804
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:37.000
to be a

805
00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:39.000
daily process. Sometimes a hundred times a

806
00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:41.000
day. But every time you think

807
00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:43.000
of them and your body tenses up. And you imagine choking them?

808
00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:45.000
Now shift that. And so

809
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.000
a hundred times

810
00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:51.000
a day, you're going to have to go, I release them. I cancel their debt. Say

811
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.000
that out of it.

812
00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:54.000
I cancel it because you're

813
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:57.000
holding a debt against them. You want retribution. You want

814
00:36:57.000 --> 00:36:58.000
vengeance. You want...

815
00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.000
You're even upset

816
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:00.000
that God,

817
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.000
God who can be the great smiter, hasn't smitten them yet. You're

818
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:06.000
like, God, why not?

819
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:09.000
And that's where Jesus served

820
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:11.000
another man. He's like, I make my

821
00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:14.000
son to shine on the just and on the unjust. I make my reign to

822
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:18.000
fall on the just and the unjust. And you're back in the

823
00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:21.000
Old Testament and go, but you said vengeance is mine. Say, it's the Lord. You

824
00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:22.000
know what there's, let

825
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:24.000
me just put a pause on that sermon. There's a scripture in Romans

826
00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:28.000
that says, if somebody offends you, hurts

827
00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:30.000
you, give them a cup of

828
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:32.000
cold water. For in so doing, you

829
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:37.000
will heap colds of fire upon their head. How many of you know

830
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.000
that verse? All right. That's great. 20

831
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:41.000
of you

832
00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:42.000
are reading

833
00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:43.000
your Bible. I'm so encouraged to pass

834
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:46.000
to this church. Next sermon is going to

835
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.000
be on biblical literacy. Next time they don't miss

836
00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:51.000
it. So some Christians get very

837
00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:53.000
excited. They think it's a formula

838
00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:56.000
and how to get God to punish someone else. Because they read that as,

839
00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:58.000
oh, if someone hurts me,

840
00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:01.000
I give them a cup of cold water. And then God is obligated

841
00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:06.000
to heap colds of hot fire on their heads. Yeah. Really what that's saying

842
00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:08.000
is,

843
00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:10.000
colds, ashes, was a sign

844
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.000
of repentance. It means that when you

845
00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:17.000
are kind to someone who has been unkind to you, your kindness will draw them

846
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:22.000
to putting ashes on their head to actually repenting. The same way how God's

847
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:27.000
kindness towards us causes us to repent. Because while we were still

848
00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:32.000
sinners, he was kind to us and he loved us and he forgave us. Amen. Remember, that person who

849
00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:33.000
hurt

850
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:36.000
you, I'm not belittling whatever they

851
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:39.000
did. But you're giving them a

852
00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:43.000
gift. Do they deserve it? No.

853
00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:44.000
But you got a

854
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:45.000
gift.

855
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:46.000
Did you deserve it? No.

856
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:47.000
So give that same

857
00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:48.000
gift.

858
00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:51.000
And don't get too bogged

859
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:54.000
down in the fine print. Whenever I start hitting, bitterness,

860
00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:59.000
resentment, because there's full blown unforgiveness,

861
00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:01.000
then there's the twin cousins

862
00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:05.000
that are more sneaky, bitterness and resentment. Full blown unforgiveness, you can

863
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:08.000
see 10 miles away. But you know when somebody

864
00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:11.000
mentions that person's name and you just, and it's like somebody threw

865
00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:14.000
a few grains of sand in your heart? Yeah. God's after that. He

866
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:15.000
doesn't

867
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:16.000
want those grains

868
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:18.000
of sand in your heart. When you tense up, so

869
00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:20.000
whenever I preach on that, the people with issues then

870
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.000
want to talk to me and they get into the nitty gritty. They want to know the

871
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:26.000
rules. They go, all right. So,

872
00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.000
can I forgive? But

873
00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:29.000
not forget. No. You

874
00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.000
got to forgive

875
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:31.000
and

876
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:32.000
forget because God's forgiven. All right. All right. How

877
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:33.000
about this?

878
00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:34.000
I'll forgive,

879
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:35.000
but I won't

880
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.000
trust. All right. Why won't you

881
00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:40.000
trust? Because

882
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:41.000
they hurt me and

883
00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:42.000
I don't want to be heard again. And then what about it

884
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:44.000
in the abusive situation? What about it in the...

885
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.000
Jesus didn't get into all

886
00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:49.000
that. He just said, forgive. You're

887
00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:50.000
in an abusive situation.

888
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.000
Forgive them. Get away from

889
00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:53.000
them. Get

890
00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:54.000
a restraining order as

891
00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:56.000
you forgive them. That's fine. Don't focus on

892
00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:57.000
all the

893
00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:59.000
little rules. Just forgive. How will I

894
00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:01.000
know? You

895
00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:02.000
will know because it'll

896
00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:06.000
feel like an elephant got lifted off of your neck. That's how you know you

897
00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:08.000
forgiven. Hallelujah. Stop nursing that bitterness.

898
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:10.000
There's

899
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.000
a demon that comes

900
00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:17.000
and makes you in a sick way. Feel more righteous as you

901
00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:20.000
rehash that person's offenses. And the only one getting

902
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:26.000
hurt is the person who's been handed over to the torturers. You. Three. Oh, there'll be

903
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.000
no

904
00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:31.000
drift.

905
00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:33.000
No summer swamp. Lord set

906
00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:35.000
us ablaze that

907
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.000
we might burn for you. Like when they saw John

908
00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:45.000
the Baptist, it says he was a bright and shining, burning lamp, cause our flame to not

909
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:48.000
flicker. Hallelujah. We're not going to

910
00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:49.000
be

911
00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:53.000
flashes in the pan, fly by nights. No stories of I remember.

912
00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:55.000
I remember when he was

913
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:57.000
on fire. I remember when she was

914
00:40:57.000 --> 00:41:01.000
serving the Lord. Three. Where's my son so

915
00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:03.000
I

916
00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:10.000
can apologize to him? Okay. Am I still burdened

917
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:12.000
for

918
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:21.000
lost people? Am I still burdened? This

919
00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:24.000
is a question number

920
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000
three to ask for our spiritual temperature. Am I still burdened for

921
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:31.000
lost people? Do I care about people's

922
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:34.000
eternity? Do I care about the

923
00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:37.000
realities of heaven and hell? This will always show where

924
00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:42.000
you are, where your fire is every single time. Because when you're drifting from

925
00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:46.000
God, you don't really care anymore. You don't think about that.

926
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:48.000
People, I don't know how

927
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:53.000
it works, they never, they never care. When I got saved, I

928
00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:58.000
realized very quickly, wow, I'm going to heaven. And all these other people

929
00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:02.000
around me that I love that are in my life that I play sports with, it was going into junior

930
00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:07.000
year of high school, all my hangout friends, none of them have Jesus. None of them have received

931
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:09.000
the blood sacrifice. None of them have been

932
00:42:09.000 --> 00:42:11.000
born again. They're all hell bound. How

933
00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:13.000
cruel would it be

934
00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:16.000
if I didn't tell them? It's like everybody's poisoned on

935
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:21.000
an island and you have the antidote and you're like, well, you know, the antidote

936
00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:24.000
is a private thing. People get offended when you

937
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:27.000
discuss the antidote. And they're like, you know,

938
00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:36.000
I don't talk politics, I don't talk antidote. It reminds me of that

939
00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.000
Seinfeld episode. You under 30, there was

940
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.000
in the 90s this show called Seinfeld. It was really big before

941
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:49.000
there wasn't Netflix, before Max. It was a show set

942
00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:53.000
right here in New York City. And Elaine got this boyfriend.

943
00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:55.000
They never called him a

944
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.000
born again Christian, but he was a born again Christian. I kept talking about God,

945
00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:02.000
God, it was into Jesus. And Elaine is an atheist

946
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:04.000
on the show. And she turns to a

947
00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:07.000
boyfriend and says, hey, you're always talking about God. Does it bother you that

948
00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:10.000
I don't believe in God? And the boyfriend says, no,

949
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:15.000
I'm not the one that's going to hell. But most Christians, that was

950
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:18.000
not a good attitude, by the way. That's not how Christians should

951
00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:21.000
be. Yet that is how many

952
00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:24.000
Christians are. We are here, CityLight church

953
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:32.000
exists to broadcast the gospel so people can come to Jesus so they can be transferred from

954
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:37.000
darkness and into his marvelous light. Many people here hear about the

955
00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:42.000
blood of Jesus, the saving grace of God, the power of the cross, the

956
00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:46.000
finished work of the cross, they hear it here for the first time. Those dots are connected and they

957
00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:50.000
realize this is what I need to believe, what I must do to be

958
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:53.000
saved. This is what we live for.

959
00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:55.000
Oh my goodness. This is what

960
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:56.000
we live for.

961
00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:00.000
I love you, I'm sorry. This

962
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:02.000
is why we exist. This

963
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:06.000
is what you drive and

964
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:11.000
propel Christians. I believe the volunteers, the ones

965
00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:15.000
who decided to serve, they get that. They're like, oh, I'm helping build

966
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:20.000
a place that's multiplying the gospel. Stick a thermometer in your personal

967
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:23.000
witness. Do you actually care? Do you

968
00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:24.000
ever pray for your

969
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:29.000
coworkers, your neighbors, your friends? Oh, they're Christian, why? Because they

970
00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:30.000
say they are? You

971
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:31.000
know they have no fruit

972
00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:33.000
of Christianity. Technically, I was a Christian. People

973
00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:35.000
ask, what are you? Well,

974
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:36.000
I'm not Muslim, I'm not

975
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:38.000
Jewish. I'm Greek Orthodox. So yeah, I'm

976
00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:40.000
a Christian. Never

977
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:42.000
read one verse of the

978
00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:46.000
Bible in my life, been to church five times in my life before I was 16, but called myself a Christian. Thank

979
00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.000
God somebody didn't go, oh,

980
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:51.000
you're a Christian, you're good. No, they gave me the gospel.

981
00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:54.000
That's like when people want to

982
00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:58.000
date an unbeliever and you go, hey, are they saved? They go to church. Whenever someone

983
00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:59.000
tells me they go

984
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.000
to church, come on now. When, Christmas and Easter, four times

985
00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:09.000
in the last five years, come on. Are they saved? Amen. Hallelujah. All

986
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:12.000
right. So, how's

987
00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:15.000
my

988
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:17.000
giving?

989
00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:18.000
How quickly

990
00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:21.000
am I forgiving? Am

991
00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:23.000
I still burdened for lost

992
00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:27.000
people? Thank you, Jesus. Am I closer

993
00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:29.000
to God, number

994
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:34.000
four, am I closer to God than I was a year ago? Just ask yourself that. Because there

995
00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:36.000
will be, in your

996
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:42.000
relationship with the Lord, there will be ups and downs. There's lulls. I experienced that. I

997
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:45.000
went through

998
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.000
this thing in

999
00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:51.000
2019. I got touched by the fire

1000
00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:54.000
of a God in a fresh way. It was incredible. I was like

1001
00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.000
praying eight to

1002
00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:58.000
ten hours a day. I know some of you think

1003
00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:03.000
that's what I do now, but it's not. To other things. I was praying

1004
00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:06.000
eight to ten

1005
00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:09.000
hours a day for months and months and months. I would go alone into St.

1006
00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:12.000
Andrews and start at eight in the morning. And I would often have to

1007
00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:15.000
go into seven to eight into the night, 12 hours a day. And it was easy. I couldn't

1008
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:17.000
wait to wake up.

1009
00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:19.000
You know that? That puppy love

1010
00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:20.000
feeling in high

1011
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.000
school when you first fell in love? That's how I felt about Jesus.

1012
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:26.000
I'd wake up like Jesus. And

1013
00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:28.000
then there were seasons where

1014
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:35.000
I wake up and I wake up all, I got a headache. And it's like, I checked my

1015
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:37.000
phone. I remember this season. I checked

1016
00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:38.000
my phone for like

1017
00:46:38.000 --> 00:46:39.000
ten days straight. I was living in Brooklyn at

1018
00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:41.000
the time. Ten days straight. It was February

1019
00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:42.000
and the temperature

1020
00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:46.000
was always below ten degrees for ten days. It was like five degrees. How

1021
00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:47.000
do I go? Six degrees.

1022
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:48.000
And I had a

1023
00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:49.000
dog I

1024
00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:53.000
had to walk to. And I slowly waddle over to

1025
00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:56.000
the shower. And when the water hit me,

1026
00:46:56.000 --> 00:47:01.000
I think, I didn't even say good morning. I didn't even think to you.

1027
00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:03.000
I'm not even talking about prayer.

1028
00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:04.000
I'm just talking about the thought

1029
00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:06.000
to God. There are lows. But even there

1030
00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:08.000
are times. I

1031
00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:10.000
can't wait to read the

1032
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:12.000
word. There are times where it's, oh

1033
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:18.000
man, I got to read the word. I'll give you just a secret.

1034
00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:20.000
Be transparent with the Lord. Because

1035
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:22.000
he knows how you're feeling

1036
00:47:22.000 --> 00:47:24.000
about it. He knows what you're going through.

1037
00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:26.000
He continually give yourself to him.

1038
00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:29.000
That thing that Paul said, I'm

1039
00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:32.000
now, I'm being poured out as a drink offering. That speaks to him, dying empty,

1040
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.000
giving his life for the gospel. But it also shows how he

1041
00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:39.000
viewed himself. He's ready to be poured out.

1042
00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:40.000
Be like a vessel that's always

1043
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:43.000
being fully poured out. Nothing held back to the Lord,

1044
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:48.000
even when you're going through the lows. Is this helping anybody today? Amen.

1045
00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:51.000
We're going to receive communion

1046
00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:52.000
here

1047
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:55.000
in just a little bit. Here's another question. Are we at

1048
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:57.000
number five? What

1049
00:47:57.000 --> 00:47:58.000
currently excites me the most?

1050
00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:02.000
And guys, like in a little

1051
00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:05.000
bit, in like five minutes. Thank you, team. They are awesome.

1052
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:07.000
They're like the

1053
00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.000
secret service of

1054
00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:11.000
CityLight. They like heard the code word. He

1055
00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:12.000
says the C word. He said

1056
00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:13.000
communion. Praise God. This is

1057
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:14.000
why we rent

1058
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:17.000
the whole

1059
00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:21.000
penthouse rooftop for our volunteers, because of that caliber of helps. Now

1060
00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:24.000
listen, what do you daydream about?

1061
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:27.000
What really gets your juices flowing? What

1062
00:48:27.000 --> 00:48:29.000
pushes your buttons? What excites you?

1063
00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:30.000
That's what's captured your

1064
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:31.000
heart. So monitor

1065
00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:34.000
that. I used to go

1066
00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:36.000
for decades. I

1067
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:39.000
mean, since I got saved, I

1068
00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:43.000
had a routine where when I would fall asleep, I would think to Jesus, I would

1069
00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:46.000
pray. It would be like I was snuggling

1070
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:48.000
with the Lord every night. How many do you know what I'm

1071
00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:50.000
talking about? You're going to bed. You're like, oh,

1072
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:51.000
Lord. Basically, you just

1073
00:48:51.000 --> 00:48:52.000
open up your heart

1074
00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:54.000
like a sponge and you're receiving his love. You're unburdening

1075
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:56.000
as you drift off to

1076
00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:59.000
sleep. It's a beautiful way to fall asleep.

1077
00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:01.000
It's what I've done for decades. And

1078
00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:03.000
then a couple of years ago,

1079
00:49:03.000 --> 00:49:08.000
when I started making that crazy Bitcoin money, and the option started exploding, and I

1080
00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:10.000
would see, guys, and I

1081
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:15.000
shared this to get this anointing on you. I shared this for the sake of

1082
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:17.000
prosperity, and if it upsets you, I don't

1083
00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:19.000
know what to tell you. That's your problem, not mine. This actually

1084
00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:20.000
happened to my life, so

1085
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:23.000
I'm sharing from it. Like I share with you embarrassing stuff.

1086
00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:25.000
Everybody loves it. I share a success.

1087
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:26.000
I always got

1088
00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:27.000
to talk about that.

1089
00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:29.000
I'm watching my portfolio go up on

1090
00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:36.000
the daily up or down. Five, six, seven years of what my

1091
00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:40.000
annual salary is. That does something to your psyche. So

1092
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:42.000
now I'm going to sleep. On

1093
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:44.000
a bad day, I'm going, oh,

1094
00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:47.000
Lord, will there be anything left? And a good day, I'm starting to

1095
00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:51.000
dream about my portfolio. Like I'm actually thinking of that. I'm

1096
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:53.000
going, wow. Oh, I'm like, five

1097
00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:54.000
X this thing

1098
00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:57.000
by the end of the month. Wow. Like, it happened one night, two

1099
00:49:57.000 --> 00:49:58.000
night,

1100
00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:02.000
three night, four night. Fifth night, I turned to my Michael

1101
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:04.000
Babies. I'm getting sick. Something's wrong. This is

1102
00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:06.000
not good. That's

1103
00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:07.000
by the

1104
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:08.000
way, what many things

1105
00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:11.000
that I did that you don't even know, but part of the reason I gave

1106
00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:15.000
that money, which was, there wasn't a tithe. That was many multiples of a tithe.

1107
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:17.000
Because when you give, you're showing that

1108
00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:21.000
thing doesn't have a power over you. You're showing it doesn't have a hold

1109
00:50:21.000 --> 00:50:23.000
on you. When you give, you're showing, all right,

1110
00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:26.000
that is not my God. And now, Lord, you can trust me

1111
00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:29.000
with more, but it's not. Lord, you set the level of my

1112
00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:32.000
prosperity. That's by the way, in Proverbs, that

1113
00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:36.000
the Lord sets the level of your prosperity. But just note, He wants you to

1114
00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:39.000
prosper. But anyway, back to this. I knew

1115
00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:40.000
something was wrong because something

1116
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.000
else, in this case, prophets captured my heart. And that's what

1117
00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:46.000
I was thinking about.

1118
00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:48.000
That's what I was danger. You say,

1119
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:49.000
oh, I don't have that

1120
00:50:49.000 --> 00:50:50.000
problem. But maybe you're falling asleep thinking about

1121
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:53.000
your problems. You're rehashing your problems. Listen, there's people

1122
00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:55.000
who are addicted to

1123
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:58.000
anxiety. They're addicted to ruminating thoughts. Their thoughts,

1124
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.000
they just go all over

1125
00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:05.000
the place, go all around the room, and then just come back to you.

1126
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:06.000
Nothing is solved. But you're addicted in

1127
00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:07.000
that cycle. Break

1128
00:51:07.000 --> 00:51:09.000
that addiction in Jesus' name. What

1129
00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:13.000
excites you? What pushes your buttons?

1130
00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:14.000
What gets your

1131
00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:15.000
juices flowing? It's got

1132
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:17.000
to be Jesus. And we're

1133
00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:18.000
going to receive communion really

1134
00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:25.000
soon. I'm not a prophet, but I'd say

1135
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:30.000
probably in about a minute or two. Probably. My final point. If my spiritual

1136
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:36.000
life

1137
00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:38.000
continues on its

1138
00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:44.000
current trajectory, where will I be in five years?

1139
00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:48.000
If my spiritual life continues in the

1140
00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:53.000
current trajectory, where will I be in five years?

1141
00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:55.000
You've all heard that saying. It's a

1142
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:56.000
form of insanity to do

1143
00:51:56.000 --> 00:51:59.000
the same thing over and over again. And expect a different result. So if

1144
00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:02.000
this is the road, I'm

1145
00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:05.000
going down over five years. Where will I really be? Well, if

1146
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.000
you want to change, engage

1147
00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:11.000
the Lord to help you change. By the way, I hope you... They're

1148
00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:13.000
going to start passing out communion.

1149
00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:15.000
Just hang on to the communion elements.

1150
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:17.000
And we'll receive them all together. None

1151
00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:19.000
of this is supposed to be...

1152
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:21.000
This isn't me going raw, raw. You

1153
00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:23.000
got to do more. You got

1154
00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:24.000
to psych yourself up. You

1155
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:26.000
got to serve God with more

1156
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.000
vigor. This is me saying drift happens. Only

1157
00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:30.000
the Lord can help. Run to

1158
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:32.000
Jesus for help in keeping

1159
00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:35.000
your fire going. You can't do it on your own.

1160
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:37.000
I can't do it on my own.

1161
00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:38.000
If this... If I had full control

1162
00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:39.000
of this

1163
00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:42.000
ship... I... I shudder to think, right? You

1164
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:46.000
don't got to agree with me

1165
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:49.000
so readily, Pastor Moe. You can like... Thank you, Jesus. Lord,

1166
00:52:49.000 --> 00:52:52.000
we thank you

1167
00:52:52.000 --> 00:53:01.000
for your saving

1168
00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:04.000
power and we thank you for your keeping

1169
00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:07.000
power. We thank you, Father, that you're the

1170
00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:12.000
one who keeps the flame burning. We thank you that you look after

1171
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:16.000
us. You give us an empowerment from heaven

1172
00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:19.000
to say yes to God things and say no to evil things. To

1173
00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:21.000
make the right decisions, to cause

1174
00:53:21.000 --> 00:53:24.000
that flame to never go out, that we, like Paul, would be able

1175
00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:27.000
to say we've ran the race, we've finished the course, we're ready to

1176
00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:29.000
be poured out like an offering, a drink offering, unto

1177
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:32.000
the Lord. That we die empty, empty of everything

1178
00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:39.000
that you've put in our hearts to do. I pray in Jesus' name for you,

1179
00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:44.000
for special grace to engage heaven this week, to engage the Lord, to be intimate

1180
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:48.000
with him, to enjoy him. Hey, news flash, in Jesus' name, enjoy

1181
00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:53.000
your salvation. How about that? This is not supposed

1182
00:53:53.000 --> 00:53:55.000
to be burdensome.

1183
00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:58.000
Religion is awful, suck the life right

1184
00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:02.000
out of you. But salvation is meant to be enjoyed.

1185
00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:04.000
You have eternal life, you have the

1186
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:08.000
living, all mighty God, over you, within you, around you. It

1187
00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:12.000
was for freedom that Christ has

1188
00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:14.000
set you free. Enjoy what He purchased with His own

1189
00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:17.000
blood. And we're about to receive communion, which

1190
00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:22.000
is partaking of Jesus. And as you partake of Jesus, believe

1191
00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:27.000
that you receive. Let me tell you how communion is

1192
00:54:27.000 --> 00:54:29.000
supposed to go down. It's not mysterious. You need things, examine

1193
00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:31.000
yourself. You need

1194
00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:33.000
stuff in your life. When

1195
00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:36.000
you partake a communion, use it

1196
00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:39.000
as a point of contact, and say, Lord, I trust you to

1197
00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:42.000
fix this in my life, because you're partaking of Jesus. Jesus has

1198
00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:45.000
already died, so that you

1199
00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:49.000
can have wholeness in every area of your life. He

1200
00:54:49.000 --> 00:54:50.000
didn't just die to see your

1201
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:52.000
sins forgiven. He died to bring wholeness, blessing, peace

1202
00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:56.000
in every area. So if that is missing in some

1203
00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:59.000
area of your life, think of it right now. And say, Lord, as I partake of

1204
00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:03.000
Christ, I trust that you will fill that up. That you will meet that need. Can

1205
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:04.000
you do that? So you take,

1206
00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:05.000
look, some people just

1207
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:07.000
eat some moths and drink some grape juice. Others take

1208
00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:08.000
communion. Did you catch that?

1209
00:55:08.000 --> 00:55:10.000
What's the difference?

1210
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:11.000
Faith? I don't want

1211
00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:14.000
to eat moths. I

1212
00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:15.000
don't like moths. It's dry. All

1213
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:17.000
right. I don't like

1214
00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:19.000
welches. I

1215
00:55:19.000 --> 00:55:20.000
like ketim.

1216
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:22.000
I don't want to

1217
00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:26.000
eat moths' injury

1218
00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:28.000
grape juice. I want to receive communion and activate

1219
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:30.000
the supernatural power of God.

1220
00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.000
Go ahead and partake of the body

1221
00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:38.000
and blood of Jesus right now. Right now! I made the power of

1222
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:40.000
God flood

1223
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:43.000
your life! Supernatural miracles happening in your life! A

1224
00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:46.000
change while you're in here with

1225
00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:50.000
your eyes on Jesus receiving communion. He's out there in your place to

1226
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:52.000
work. Right where the problems are. And he's

1227
00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:54.000
fixing and healing and blessing

1228
00:55:54.000 --> 00:56:00.000
in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

1229
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:03.000
Hallelujah.

1230
00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:30.000
And please remember

1231
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:36.000
that when you're

1232
00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:43.000
walking

1233
00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:48.000
with the Lord, guilt, shame, condemnation is not a part.

1234
00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:52.000
It's not a portion for you. It's

1235
00:56:52.000 --> 00:56:54.000
not a part of your life.

1236
00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:56.000
Please note that. You can actually hear

1237
00:56:56.000 --> 00:56:58.000
a message that

1238
00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:01.000
challenges you, that exposes you, and not feel condemned

1239
00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:05.000
and shamed. That's the healthy responses. Wow, I still

1240
00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:07.000
know that God loves

1241
00:57:07.000 --> 00:57:09.000
me. I might be drifting. You might be

1242
00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:11.000
here fully backslidden. You

1243
00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:13.000
might be here unsaved. A friend

1244
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:15.000
brought you in. You've never

1245
00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:16.000
given your life to Jesus.

1246
00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:18.000
You do what you want. You live

1247
00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:19.000
for yourself. You can be

1248
00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:21.000
convicted by the Holy

1249
00:57:21.000 --> 00:57:23.000
Spirit. You need a Savior. You need forgiveness.

1250
00:57:23.000 --> 00:57:24.000
But you don't have

1251
00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:25.000
to be ashamed,

1252
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.000
condemned. Mm-hmm. Those who, the person who isn't

1253
00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:32.000
saved

1254
00:57:33.000 --> 00:57:35.000
when you come to Jesus, that'll lift before that you do have

1255
00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:37.000
that. But the Christian, no shame, no condemnation,

1256
00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:41.000
no guilt. I get zapped by the Lord all

1257
00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:43.000
the time. I don't then go crawling a corner

1258
00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:45.000
boohoo. I'm such a wretch. I still know

1259
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:46.000
that you love me.

1260
00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:47.000
In your eyes, I'm still perfect. You

1261
00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:49.000
don't see one speck of sin

1262
00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:51.000
in me. You called me holy. You've put me

1263
00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:52.000
in the family of

1264
00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:54.000
God. But you're exposing somewhere I need work

1265
00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:57.000
in, an area that you want to touch.

1266
00:57:57.000 --> 00:57:59.000
And I yield to that, Lord. Amen.

1267
00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:01.000
Amen.