In this sermon by Daniel Sumoge, part of the 'Journey of Faith' series, Daniel explores the story of Lot in Sodom from Genesis 19. He emphasizes the dangers of small compromises and becoming desensitized to sin, using Lot's life as a powerful example. Daniel encourages reflection on personal spiritual journeys and the importance of steadfastness in faith. He also discusses the consequences of looking back at past sins through the story of Lot's wife, urging the congregation to focus on the future God has planned for them. The sermon concludes with a message of hope, embracing God's promises, and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:26 Personal Testimony and Fellowship

01:35 Journey of Faith: Abraham and Lot

02:15 The Story of Sodom and Gomorrah

03:08 Lot's Compromises and Consequences

07:41 Reflecting on Personal Compromises

13:55 Lot's Environment and Its Impact

16:11 Struggling with Temptations

16:49 The Call to Hate Evil

17:36 Desensitization to Sin

19:02 Surrounding Yourself with Godly Influence

21:59 Don't Look Back: Moving Forward with God

29:05 Judgment and Mercy: Lessons from Sodom and Gomorrah

30:28 Reflecting on Communion

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OC Church of Christ

Won't give a warm hand for the worship team worship and a B team.

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Thank you so much guys.

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They get here so early in the

morning and the setup team as well.

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They get here early to set up just so we

can make this happen every Sunday morning.

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Well, good morning.

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My name is Daniel Sumoge

along with my wife Savannah.

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We help serve here in Orange County

with the high school students here.

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Uh, not many high school students.

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Yeah.

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High school students.

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Youth ministry.

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Yeah.

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It's all good though.

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Uh, but if it's your first

time here, I'd like to say, you

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know, welcome, extended welcome.

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Once again, it's so great

to have you guys out here.

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I've been part of this, uh, fellowship

group now for four years, and something

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that I've seen is definitely the love.

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Uh, thank you guys so much for that.

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You know, I came in here as a,

someone who was really lost, but

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now I kind of found my way, thanks

to the people here in this room.

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Uh, so, yes, whoever said you're welcome.

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Thank you.

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But also, something I realized about

this fellowship, not only here, but

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really just Orange County in general,

is you guys are a very giving city.

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You know, I grew up in L.

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A., and uh, not too long ago, last year,

you guys gave us one of the best baseball

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players to ever exist, Shohei Ohtani.

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Oh yeah, Marcel looked up real fast.

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But I want to thank you guys for that.

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On the bottom of my heart, from L.

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A., thank you guys for Shohei Ohtani.

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We are continuing our Journey to the

World series we are playing tonight.

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I know, boo, but guess what?

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No prof gets love in

their hometown, right?

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So I'm trying to, I'm trying

to tell you guys, alright?

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It's okay, though.

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But speaking of which, oh,

come on, Marcel, it's okay.

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No?

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Should I talk about U.

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S.?

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No, okay, I want to talk about USC also.

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Alright, but anyways, anyways.

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Speaking of the journey, you

know, like, my dad just ran the

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Journey to the World series.

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We are also on our journey as well as

individuals here in the church, right?

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We are on the journey of faith, and

that's the title of our sermon series

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if you guys have been, uh, with us.

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It's the journey, there it

is, the journey of faith.

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And we're going through the life

of Abram, we're Abraham now.

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And, uh, man, it's been great

studying out Abraham, right?

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Have you guys been enjoying that?

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Yeah, I know for me, shout out

to the Fullerton family group,

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man, we've been having a lot of

fruitful discussions about Abraham.

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You know, we talked about, uh, in Genesis

18 this past Monday, man, it was just

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so amazing how everyone just contributed

and seeing things, uh, differently.

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So I'm really excited about this

sermon series, especially what

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we're going to talk about today.

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It's, uh, it's going to be in Genesis

19 and it's Sodom and Gomorrah.

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Now, Raising Hand, if you guys

heard of Sodom and Gomorrah, have

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you guys read the story before?

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Alright, many of us have, right?

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You know, I have this

daunting task to preach about.

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There's so many things that, you

know, I was just struggling with.

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Because I was like, man, I

can preach about this or this.

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And I was just, it was so

hard to funnel it down.

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But somehow I managed to do so.

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Amen?

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Now, obviously, you know, with

Sodom and Gomorrah, there's so

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much to preach about, like I said.

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We can talk about judgment,

we can talk about mercy,

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which we will towards the end.

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But something I really wanted

to talk to you guys about, I

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feel like God put on my heart.

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What's had to do with

compromise, all right?

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And the sermon of my, uh, lesson today,

the sermon title is A Lot of Compromise.

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There it is.

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A Lot of Compromise.

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You see there, because it

has to do with Lot mostly.

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I know we're studying out Abraham,

but today something that really

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stuck out to me was, was Lot's

journey right here in Genesis 19.

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Now I want to talk about

how small compromises can

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lead to bigger consequences.

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So we're going to look in

Genesis 19 here, right?

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Let's jump right in.

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Alright, we're gonna just start in verse 1

here in Genesis 3 it says, The two angels

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arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot

was sitting in the gateway of the city.

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When he saw them, he got up

to meet them, and bowed down

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with his face to the ground.

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My lords, he said, please turn

aside to your servants house.

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You can wash your feet and

spend the night, and then go on

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your way early in the morning.

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No, they answered.

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We will spend the night in the square.

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But he insisted so strongly that they

did go with him, and entered his house.

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He prepared a meal for them, baking

bread without yeast, and they ate.

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So going back, let's just go back to

Phrygianus 18 real quick, you know, uh,

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there were visitors to Abraham and Sarah,

and they turned out to be angels, alright?

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So they, you know, they, uh, they

visited, and now they're on their

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way to Sodom to, to destroy it.

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And we get to see here that Lot was

sitting in the gateway of the city.

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How did we get here?

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For those who don't know, when you sit

at the gateway during that time, that

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meant you have some prominence there.

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That meant you were some

sport form of a leader.

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You know, a lot of things happen

at the gateway, you know, outside

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of just who enters a new comes, you

know, if there was laws that need to

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be passed, if there was anything that

had to do with judgment, everything

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will go through the gateway there.

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And we see that lot was

sitting there at the gateway.

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But let's look back.

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That's one of my first points,

and we have to look back to

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see, how did we get here today?

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You know, for many of us in this room, you

know, there was a time in our lives when

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we were just down in the dumps, right?

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And we're like, wow, there's no one here

to save me, but somehow the Lord stretched

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His arms out and you guys reached for it.

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But here we see here that Lot

was sitting at the gateway.

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So we have to look back

and see real quick.

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Let's go to Genesis 13.

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Verse 10 through 13, it says, Lot

looked around and saw that the whole

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plain of the Jordan toward Zor was

well watered, like the garden of

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the Lord, like the land of Egypt.

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This was before the Lord

destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

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Now the people of Sodom were wicked and

were sinning greatly against the Lord.

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So Lot chose for himself the whole plain

of the Jordan and set toward the east.

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The two men parted company.

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Abram lived in the land of Canaan,

while Lot lived among the cities of the

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plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

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You know, if you remember, Abram

and Lot, their possessions were

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so great that they had to split.

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That they were like, you know what,

we can't live here, our herders are

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arguing, we're arguing, let's just go.

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And Abram gave Lot, his nephew, the choice

of, alright, which land do you want?

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And it says here that he chose the

plain of the Jordan towards Zoar.

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It was like the Garden of the Lord,

and it looked like the land of Egypt.

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You know, I thought that's

so incredible right there.

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Because going back to even Genesis

chapter 12, this is how much I love it.

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Going back to Genesis 12 there, remember

when Abram and Sarai and Lot, they fleed

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the land of Canaan for fear of famine.

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So they fleed to Egypt, and Lot

was with them on that journey.

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And I believe for some reason, and I

didn't really mention Lot in that story

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there, but I believe that Lot caught a

glimpse of what the city life was like.

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You know what I mean?

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I don't know who grew up in

a small town, but I didn't.

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But I picture when people from

a small town come to visit L.

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A.

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or Orange County, they're

like, wow, look at this city.

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There's so much to do here.

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I can do this, I can do that.

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I picture Lot doing the

same thing here as well.

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You know, I don't think he, he

simply stumbled upon where he was at,

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uh, now just by, by looking at it.

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I think that he, from the

gateway, I think it was slow,

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steady progression of compromise.

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You know, we see here that Lot had

a steady progression of compromise.

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We see in Genesis 13, like I

said, he looked and saw Sodom.

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So he saw it with his eyes.

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Then we see later on in that verse

that he pitched his tent near Sodom.

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Being like, you know what,

I can live in this city.

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I can live in the city of Sodom.

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I know it was described as a wicked

city where sin is going on, where

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people turn their backs on the Lord.

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But I can live here.

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You know, I'm not going to live

here, but I'll be in a distance.

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You know, I'll be in arm's length.

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Then in Genesis 14, Abram had to rescue

his nephew, Lot, who was living in Sodom.

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You know, you think after that,

there's no way, Sodom would be

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like, I'm never going back to Sodom.

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Hey, Abram, let me get

some of that blessing.

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I know God didn't save his mind,

but let me just be with you.

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Wrong.

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We see here that he's sitting

at the gate of Sodom there.

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You know, sometimes, you know, I

imagine Lot telling himself that

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as long as I don't participate

in Sodom, then I'll be fine.

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If I'm not participating in the sin, if

I'm just seeing it from a distance, but

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I'm not really in it, I will be okay.

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You know, sometimes I think, I

can be guilty of this church,

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maybe we can be guilty of this.

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You know, it may seem like an innocent

compromise, but then suddenly it

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turns into a lifestyle that God never

had planned for us to begin with.

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Maybe for us, maybe, I know when

I was little, I would tell little

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lies, I would tell small little lies.

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And eventually later on, uh,

I end up, I remember my mom's

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like, man, you're just deceitful.

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I can't trust anything

you say at this point.

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Maybe we're ignoring issues, maybe

in our marriages or friendships

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or relationships of any kind.

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And next, you know, we're building

resentment towards our significant other.

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We're building resentment towards

our brothers and sisters here.

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Maybe we've been like having a

long week and we're just like,

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man, there's a lot going on.

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I don't have time to read my word.

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I don't have time to pray.

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You know what?

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I'll just do it later.

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But yet we're over here saying,

God, why aren't you close to me?

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How come I don't feel you?

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What if we make compromises of

not coming to Sunday service?

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Maybe we start making

church a choice for us.

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Oh, I had a long night the night before.

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Oh, I just went out.

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I had a fun time.

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But it's okay.

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I won't go this Sunday.

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I'll be okay.

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But then we'll say, how come

the church doesn't love me?

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How come the people don't love me here?

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The small compromises we make

can lead to bigger consequences.

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We saw that in Genesis 14, when he lived

there, obviously, there was war going

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on and Lot lost all his possessions.

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And that, once again, brings

us back to Genesis 19 here,

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where he's sitting at the gate.

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You know, how did Lot end

up sitting at the gate?

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Well, look at these compromises here.

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Lot got entangled into the

city's sins and their lifestyle.

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It's how, you know, having

authority within the city.

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We see that right there.

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He went from arm's distance

to now having authority.

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And eventually, we see later on,

that he's gonna raise a family

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there in this environment.

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You know, I don't think Lot

had this planned out for him.

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I don't think Abraham had

that planned out for him.

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I don't think, you know, God did.

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You know, when we reflect on our

own lives, we need to ask, How did

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we end up right here, right now?

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How do we end up in

these seats right here?

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You know, I'm not saying like, Oh,

I got in my car, Woke, drove, and

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all, No, no, I'm talking about How

do we end up right here spiritually?

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You know, how often have we chosen

something That seemed appealing on the

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surface, But didn't have time to ask

God what, You know, He thought about it?

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It might have been that job That offered

more money, More opportunities, right?

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But then later on, Down the line,

It started taking you away from your

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own family, Started taking you away

from your times with God, With, with

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serving the church, Hearing this

fellowship, Being with one another,

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You know, you didn't, you didn't

think it was a problem at first.

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You're like, wow, this

is a great opportunity.

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God opened doors.

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But then next, you know,

we're spiritually dry.

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Maybe it's a relationship or friendship

or whatever we have here that seemed

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promising and harmless, but then

we realize it's slowly pulling away

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from your faith and pulling away from

the purpose God has in your life.

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You know, at times like these, these

decisions, like I said, they seem small.

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These small compromises, you

know, it's, it's whatever, but

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over time it's become so big.

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You know, in church the

same thing happens to us.

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You know, we think that

maybe we're still in control.

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We think that we can manage, but we

compromise even in the smallest areas.

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And when we start choosing what's

convenient and what's comfortable,

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what looks good to us, it becomes into

a bigger consequence that we face.

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And often, we don't see it coming, right?

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It kind of comes to us and

you're like, How did this happen?

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You know, in the moment it may seem

like a lot, but then if you stop and

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process and think, How did I end up here?

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You can start walking your steps.

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Oh, I looked at it.

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I'm near it.

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I'm in it.

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I'm leading it.

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But here's the good news.

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And I'll touch on this later.

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God is a merciful God.

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And we're gonna see, you know,

later on how he's gonna send angels

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to rescue Lot and his family, even

though Lot had compromised so much.

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And to think that, man, even if

Lot, who did all this, was, you

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know, saved, was gaining mercy,

man, we get that same mercy as well.

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But first, we must recognize

where we are and how we got here,

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and be willing to turn back.

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You know, are we gonna make

decisions based on what looks good

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on the surface, or will it look

great according to God's will?

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Because looking back, I'm not

talking about looking back

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and dwelling on the past.

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I'm not talking about being nostalgic,

but I'm talking about looking back, so

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we can also look forward to what's ahead.

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You know, once we ask ourselves that,

and start making strides and changes,

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then we have to look at what is near us.

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You know, we have to look at the

environment we surround ourselves.

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You know, often, I think about,

man, how do I end up here, God?

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Well, let me go back.

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Okay, that's what it was.

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God told me to flee from this

life, alright, now I'm gonna

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return to the life God calls me to.

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But first, in order to enjoy that, that

blessing there, I have to look at what

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I'm also surrounding myself with, right?

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So we're gonna see here, let's go to

Genesis 19, this is verses 4 through 6.

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So, I encourage you to read this on

your own time, we're not gonna read

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the whole scripture, I'll be jumping

around, uh, so we'll start here.

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Before they had gone to bed, all the men

from every part of the city of Sodom,

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both young and old, surrounded the house.

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They called to Lot, where are

the men who came to you tonight?

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Bring them out to us so

we can have sex with them.

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Lot went outside to meet them

and shut the door behind him.

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Look, I have two daughters who

have never slept with a man.

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Let me bring them out to you and

you can do what you like to them.

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But don't do anything to these men for

they have come under my roof, from,

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uh, under the protection of my roof.

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Get out of the way, they

replied the mob did.

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This fellow came here as a foreigner,

and now he wants to play the judge.

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We'll treat you worse than them.

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They kept bringing pressure on La, and

moved forward to break down the door.

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Now after that, you know, they tried

to break down the door, but the

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angel struck the men with blindness.

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So now stuff is going down here.

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The angels tell him, the two men said

to La, Do you have anyone else here?

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Sons in law, sons or daughters, or anyone

else in the city who belongs to you?

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Get them out of here, because we

are going to destroy this place.

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The outcry to the Lord against

its people was so great that

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he sent us to destroy it.

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When he hesitated, that's Lot, the

men grasped his hand, and the hands

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of his wife, and of his two daughters,

and led them safely out of the city.

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For the Lord was merciful to them.

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You know, as we move closer and

deeper into the story, we see Lot was

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surrounded by wickedness here in Sodom.

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Now, there's this disturbing image

we see of Sodom, you know, they

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really lost their moral compass to

the point where they really don't

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care about their sins being hidden.

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Their sins are out there.

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Their sins are even celebrated.

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This wasn't just an isolated incident,

but this was their lifestyle.

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Now let's think about

Lot here for a moment.

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He had been living in Sodom for

quite some time, I don't know how

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long, but the environment he chose

to settle in wasn't just wicked, it

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was a place where they were openly

hostile towards God's standards.

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And think about Lot's response

in the situation there.

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You know, bring these men out, they said.

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He's like, you know what?

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No, no, I'm gonna protect my guests.

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Amen.

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I think we should do

that during that time.

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But then the way he responded

saying, you know what?

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Instead of being bold and

convicted saying, no, get away.

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He instead said, oh, take

my daughters instead.

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You can do whatever you want to them.

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And the crazy thing about it

is, too, he's saying, like,

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they've never been with a man.

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I think they were married,

too, if you read later on.

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They said, get your sons in laws, right?

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So, right there, you see, Lot

even responding with lies right

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there, those small compromises.

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You know, it's essential for us to

look around at our own environment.

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What are we surrounding ourselves with?

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Are we immersing ourselves in a place

and situation that uplift us to be

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closer with God, or are we allowing

ourselves to be influenced by the

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environments that astray us from Him?

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Because like Lot, we too can

become desensitized to sin.

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The things that once shocked

us or made us uncomfortable are

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now something that we tolerate.

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We're like, you know what?

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Oh yeah, it's normal.

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You know, I think, it reminds me of the

saying with, uh, I think it was, let

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me make sure I don't get this wrong.

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It's like, if you put a frog in boiling

water, it will immediately jump out.

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But if you put it in lukewarm

water and slowly heat it, it

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will stay until it's too late.

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So we see how slow, gradual

changes can lead to significant

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consequences without being noticed.

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Like I said, put a frog in it.

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I just saw a video of it.

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You put a frog in lukewarm water,

you know, nothing's going to be fine.

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But then when you start turning up the

heat, it's going to start jumping out.

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You know, when harmful changes

happen slowly, we may not even

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recognize the danger until the

consequence is already set in.

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Now maybe you've noticed

that in your own life.

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Maybe there was TV shows or music or

whatever it was that you guys first were

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like, you know what, I am getting rid of.

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This makes me struggle

when you guys are studying.

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But then over time, you guys

were like, you know what, I can

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maybe pitch my tent near it.

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I can, you know, maybe

watch a few episodes.

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I can listen to that

new release right there.

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It's not bad.

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And the next, you know,

we were back in it.

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We're binge watching those shows.

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We're immersed in those music right

there with all those, those foul

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languages that we like, or glorifies,

you know, sex and all of that.

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No, we come to the, you know, we

become numb to the things that

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we once were uncomfortable with.

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It reminds me of what Paul

says in Romans 12 verse nine.

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He says that love must be sincere, hate

what is evil and cling to what is good.

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Now we see here that

there's a calling for us.

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We were to hate what is

evil and what is evil sin.

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We were called to hate that or

to cling to what is good and

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what is good or who is good.

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God.

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God is good.

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But if I can be honest here,

I want to wrestle with this

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this morning with you guys.

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I know it's something it's a hard

truth, but I believe we've maybe

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dripped it from this calling a calling

that was says that hate what was evil.

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Maybe it turned to for us.

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Let's tolerate what's evil.

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Maybe it's a cling on to what is good.

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Maybe it really is to

cling on what pleases us.

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You know, we started to excuse

behaviors that don't honor God,

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telling ourselves, that's just the way

things are, or everybody's doing it.

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We laugh at jokes that,

that tear each other down.

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Gossip turns into normal conversations.

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We let our anger, our lust, our

pride really take root in our heart.

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You know, let me ask you this.

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This is something I had to reflect on too.

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When was the last time you felt a real,

deep, godly sorrow with the things

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around you, with the evil around you?

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Top of that, when was the last time

you even grieved over the sin in your

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life and what's going on in the world?

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You know, for me, you know, it got to

a point, you know, where the school

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shootings, they're so tragic, seeing that.

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You know, I remember growing up,

I didn't have to worry about that.

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But when I see it on the news,

like almost every other month it

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seems like, I became desensitized.

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I'm almost like, oh yeah,

that's the way life is.

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But no!

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That shouldn't be the way life is!

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Church, we live in a world that

normalizes sin and that makes evil

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look so attractive and that tells

us, if it feels good, then do it.

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And if we're not careful, we'll

start to absorb that message.

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We'll start to compromise in small

ways justified by saying, it's not

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that bad or, you know, at least I'm not

doing what they're doing over there.

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There's no room for compromise.

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We are to hate what is evil.

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That means rejecting the

world's standards and aligning

421

ourselves with God's standards.

422

Church, we need to look around

at what we have near us.

423

Who are we surrounding ourselves with?

424

What kinds of conversations

are we engaging in?

425

What are we allowing into our homes,

into our hearts, into our minds?

426

Because if we immerse ourselves into

environments that are in conflict

427

with God's values, the more sense

of right and wrong, it gets blurred.

428

You know, Lot's judgment was so blurred

that the angel said, Hey, we gotta

429

go, the city's getting destroyed.

430

And it said, he hesitated.

431

Lot had lived in Sodom for so long that

the wickedness had seeped into his own

432

mind, thinking he wasn't just living near

sin, now he's in it, and it changed him.

433

You know, have you, you know, maybe think

about, have you ever been to a house

434

where you walk in, you're like, oh, it

smells in here, it smells really bad?

435

If you haven't, come to

a brother's household.

436

No, I'm just kidding.

437

Alright, I'm just kidding.

438

But I say this because I used to live

in a brother's household for four years,

439

and those were the best days of my life.

440

And I want to say we

repented of this, right guys?

441

Oh, Dallas said no.

442

Alright.

443

No, I'm just kidding.

444

No, we repented.

445

But something, I remember,

we had our flaws.

446

You know, our biggest flaw

is that we wouldn't clean.

447

And the house would smell bad.

448

But I remember that over time, I

was just like, oh, I'm used to it.

449

What's that smell?

450

It wasn't until Savannah visited the

house when she dropped off something.

451

This is when we were dating, and then,

I just remember, she was there for

452

probably 30 minutes, she was like,

I was like, what's wrong, Savannah?

453

She was like, I'm sorry, it just

really smells in this house.

454

The real kicker is I think we clean

and we lit a candle, so I don't

455

know, like, why it still smells.

456

But why do I bring this up?

457

Because if you stay in a

situation long enough, you stop

458

noticing things altogether.

459

You get used to it.

460

You know, I and the brothers,

we got accustomed to that smell.

461

But luckily, we repented.

462

But with Lot, he got accustomed

to what was going on in Sodom.

463

You know, that's what sin can

do to us if we're not careful.

464

Church, I want to encourage you today.

465

Take a look around at your life.

466

What kind of environment, what

kind of people, at work, at home,

467

and you know, social circles.

468

What do we surround ourselves with?

469

Because if we're not intentional

about surrounding ourselves with

470

godly influence, we can easily

become desensitized to sin.

471

You know, there's a saying where, I

think it was, uh, show me your five

472

friends and I'll tell you your future.

473

Or you are who you hang out with,

meaning that, man, whoever you

474

are with, they really have a

power to transform your lifestyle.

475

So we really, you know, I, I understand,

you know, Jesus, I want to be clear,

476

Jesus hung out with the sinners.

477

That was great, but he also got

his time with his disciples.

478

He also made sure that

he was getting filled.

479

He took his time out to be with

the Lord early in the morning.

480

Church, so I'm not saying,

don't be with sinners.

481

I want to be clear.

482

We want to save them.

483

We want them to be here

in this church with us.

484

But I also want us to be clear that, man,

we also got to make sure that they're

485

not the one taking root in our life.

486

That, man, we have God who's

really taking root in our lives.

487

Amen.

488

So now that we've looked back and we

have to look around, let's move forward.

489

Let's move forward to our final

point, which is don't look back.

490

Look towards what's ahead, because the

most important part of moving forward

491

with God is not holding to the past.

492

And we're going to start here and, uh,

once again, we'll be jumping around

493

here, but Genesis 19 verse 17, it says,

As soon as they had brought them out,

494

one of them said, Flee for your lives.

495

Don't look back and don't stop

anywhere in the plane, flee to the

496

mountains, or you will be swept away.

497

You know, by the time that Lot reached

Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.

498

Then the Lord rained down the

burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.

499

From the Lord out of the heavens, thus

He overthrew those cities, and the entire

500

plain, destroying all those living in the

cities, and also the vegetation and land.

501

But Lot's wife looked back.

502

She became a pillar of salt.

503

You know, what do we see here?

504

The angels urged Lot.

505

Lot and his family go flee, you know?

506

And, and, and it, if you continue

like reading it, you know, lot was

507

like, but I can't flee to that city.

508

Can I just go over here?

509

And the angels were like, you know what?

510

Yes.

511

Just, just go get your

family and don't look back.

512

That's a simple direction.

513

Just go.

514

The message is straightforward.

515

Don't turn your heart or

your eyes back to life.

516

You're leaving behind.

517

But, and his family were

fleeing for their lives.

518

They were rescued from a city,

immersed in wickedness, from a

519

place where sin had reached its

peak, and the judgment was here.

520

But despite the clear warning,

Lot's wife looked back.

521

You know, why would Lot's wife look back?

522

What drew her attention to the

city, she was leaving behind.

523

Why would she want to do that?

524

The simple truth is, her heart

was still tied to her old life.

525

You know, even though the physical command

was not to turn around, Spiritually,

526

she never truly let go of Sodom.

527

You know, there is danger when

you really just long for the past.

528

You know, Lot's wife didn't

just look back and glance.

529

No, it was gaze and it was feel

of what was longing for her.

530

She desired that what she was

leaving behind, even though God

531

was calling her to move forward.

532

And church, we can often

get stuck at looking back.

533

Now, when God calls us to something

new, whether it's out of this lifestyle,

534

into Christ, or new behavior, new

identity in Christ, we sometimes find

535

ourselves wanting to hold on to the old.

536

We look back at our past sins, at

our past relationships, at our past

537

comforts, and our past lifestyles, and

in doing so, we risk missing out on

538

the blessing we have in the future.

539

Now, when God calls us to do

something new, we have to answer.

540

We have to just do it.

541

You know, Church, it reminds me

of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 here.

542

It says, Therefore, if anyone is

in Christ, a new creation has come.

543

The old is gone, and the new is here.

544

But here's the problem.

545

We often let our past anchor us down.

546

Instead of fully embracing what God

has for us and the new identity that

547

we have in Him, we unfortunately just

hold on to the past for whatever reason.

548

Maybe it's old habits, old thinking,

old relationships, old addictions.

549

You know, obviously I said at the

first point, we want to, we want to

550

look back because we want to look

back at how far God has taken us.

551

But here are the dangers of looking back.

552

And why I'm telling you not to look

back is because when we look back,

553

we can almost, you know, uh, become

like, wow, I really missed this.

554

We become nostalgic of the past.

555

Church, do we really miss our past?

556

Think about it.

557

Think about where you guys were before

you guys got reached out to, before

558

you made Jesus Christ your Lord.

559

Think about how your life was.

560

And to think about how, wow,

do you really miss this?

561

Are you really, you know,

still longing for these things?

562

Man, we shouldn't.

563

God has an incredible plan for

your life, but you'll never fully

564

experience it if you keep looking back.

565

Think about the Israelites

when they left Egypt, right?

566

Even after God freed them, they were

still complaining because, oh, it's

567

uncomfortable here in the wilderness.

568

You know, they'd rather go back to be

oppressed in Egypt than having their

569

freedom and being uncomfortable in it.

570

You know, it reminds me of

Luke 9, verse 62, it says,

571

Jesus replied, No one who puts a hand

to the plow and looks back is fit

572

for service in the kingdom of God.

573

You know, when we're constantly

looking back, we lose our focus on God.

574

You know, it's like driving a car.

575

You know, if we want to get to our

destination, we're not just going to

576

reverse all the way back to it, right?

577

You know, there's a saying where you

want to live life through a windshield.

578

You If you're driving, because you

want to get to your destination,

579

you've got to drive forward.

580

You've got to keep going straight.

581

But, something about these rear

view mirrors though, I mean,

582

they're important, but you ever

notice what's on those mirrors?

583

It says this, it has

this saying on it here.

584

It says, objects in mirror

are closer than they appear.

585

You know, it gives us warning that,

hey, you don't really have that

586

much space as you think you do.

587

If you've got to merge over, man,

you really might want to check.

588

And the same goes when we look

back to our old lives of sin.

589

You know, if we have that lingering

in the background, guess what?

590

They're closer than they appear.

591

We cannot be toying with the idea.

592

We cannot be getting our feet wet

with the idea of our old lives being

593

like, Oh, maybe if I just did that

this one time, it's gonna be okay.

594

Constantly staring at the rearview

mirror, you're bound to crash.

595

But Jesus calls us to look forward.

596

Look forward to what's ahead, to

the promises that he has for us.

597

Some of us are looking back

at past relationships that God

598

has called us to leave behind.

599

Others are clinging to habits

or sinful behaviors that God had

600

clearly told us to flee from.

601

But maybe it's a fear of

comfort that keeps you anchored.

602

But church, the message is clear.

603

Don't look back.

604

God has a future full of promise

and purpose and growth for you.

605

But you can't step into that future

if you're longing for the past.

606

Just like Lot's wife.

607

If you keep looking back, guess what?

608

We would never stop looking

back, and guess what?

609

We will ultimately lead to our

death, to our spiritual death there.

610

Remember the Israelites, they were

freed from slavery in Egypt, even though

611

God had miraculously delivered them.

612

They kept complaining, looking

back, saying things like, oh,

613

at least we have food in Egypt.

614

They were willing to trade their

freedom for comfort of their old life.

615

How often do we do the same things?

616

We are free in Christ.

617

But, looking back, thinking that, well,

maybe, that, it wasn't as bad as I

618

thought, maybe I can do this old life.

619

Maybe that relationship wasn't so bad.

620

Maybe that sin, uh, you know, it

wasn't really sin, you know, it wasn't

621

holy, but it's not sin, it's okay.

622

Church, God has so much for you.

623

You know, the consequence

of looking back, she froze.

624

Lot's wife froze, not

physically, but spiritually.

625

She was frozen in the past, and I

want to encourage you, Church, God has

626

called you to leave behind your past.

627

Don't look back.

628

Don't be like Lot's wife.

629

Torn between the future and the past.

630

I mean, if you think about what Lot's

wife She wasn't mentioned at all

631

in the Bible, really, after that.

632

She was just an example for us.

633

When you look back, this is what happened.

634

You know, I really want

to encourage this church.

635

Do not look back.

636

I know there's compromises that

will happen here and there, but,

637

man, we have to make amends with it.

638

We don't want to be like Lot, where,

man, with these steady progression of

639

compromise leading us at the gate of sin.

640

You know, in Genesis 19, we see that

there's judgment on the city, but

641

we also see God's incredible mercy.

642

You know, destruction of Sodom and

Gomorrah, I think serves as a great

643

reminder of the consequences of our

sins when we're called to righteousness.

644

You know, in 24 through 25, it says,

Then the Lord rained down burning

645

sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.

646

From the Lord out of the heavens, thus

he overthrew those cities, and the entire

647

plain, destroying all the living cities,

and also the vegetations in the land.

648

We see that there is judgment for those

who turn wickedly against the Lord.

649

We see that we deserve death.

650

However, in this narrative we

see of judgment for Solomon

651

Gamora, we also see God's mercy.

652

Verse 16 it says, When he hesitated,

the men grasped his hand, and the hands

653

of his wife, and of his daughters,

and led them safely out of the city,

654

for the Lord was merciful to them.

655

Now before the destruction, like

I said, the angels were sent

656

to rescue Lot and his family.

657

And I think it demonstrates to

us, man, God is willing to rescue

658

us to give us his mercy for those

who are really looking for it.

659

Who are seeking God.

660

You know, in verse 29 it says, So when

God destroyed the cities of the flame,

661

he remembered Abraham and he, uh,

brought Lot out of the catastrophe that

662

overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

663

You know, at this time, you know, we're

going to be taking communion in a bit, but

664

we're reminded here of Sodom and Gomorrah,

of the judgment and the mercy of God.

665

You know, Romans 6 verse 23, it

says, for the, oh, do I not have it?

666

All right, I don't have it, but Romans

6, 23, for the wages of sin is death.

667

Amen.

668

But the gift of God is eternal

life in Christ Jesus Lord.

669

Our sins are, we, we deserve separation.

670

We are separated when we sin towards

God, but it's also grace that is

671

highlighted through his son Jesus.

672

And I said in first Corinthians here,

11, 24, 25, in the same way after

673

supper, he took the cup saying, this

cup is the new covenant in my blood.

674

Do this whenever you drink

it in remembrance of me.

675

And we had given things, he broke it and

said, this is my body, which is for you.

676

Do this in remembrance of me.

677

Through Jesus, we're offered mercy for

the judgment we deserve for our sins.

678

You know, I'm so grateful.

679

I hope you guys are grateful for,

for Jesus in that way as well.

680

You know, I think about, like I said,

with Sodom, Sodom and Gomorrah, you

681

know, Jesus or God reigning judgment

onto the people that sinned against them.

682

And when I look around this room,

we can fit that mold, right?

683

We can send towards the Lord.

684

Well, extremely grateful for

God's mercy and grace that he sent

685

his son, Jesus, in to step in.

686

The things that were brought on

to Sodom and Gomorrah are the

687

things that we deserve as well.

688

But it's through his son, Jesus, that

we get to continue to live this life.

689

I hope that during this time as

we are living in this life that we

690

remember that this is not our home.

691

You know, I believe this earth here,

it kind of reminds me of what Abraham

692

does throughout the scripture.

693

It says he pitched his tent.

694

When you think about a tent, a

tent's really not that comfortable.

695

You know, you have your maybe

air mattress, maybe your cot,

696

maybe Abraham didn't but we do.

697

And we just think that, wow,

this, this really isn't our home.

698

This place is just temporary.

699

So let's, as we take communion,

let's really reflect on that.

700

Let's reflect on the judgment that

we receive, but the mercy that

701

steps in for us through Jesus.

702

Amen?

703

Let's go to God in prayer.

704

Uh, Heavenly Father, thank you so much

that we get to, to be here this morning,

705

God, to, to honor and worship you.

706

God, as we examine your scripture,

God, God, I'm just so, so

707

grateful, God, for your son, Jesus.

708

God, we deserve the ultimate judgment.

709

We deserve death for our sins, God.

710

We deserve the same people as the

citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah.

711

But God, it's through your son, Jesus,

him stepping on the cross for us, God,

712

that we get to To have this new life,

God, that we could live this life for you.

713

God, I just pray that as we

reflect on Sodom and Gomorrah,

714

God, that we can really think

back and reflect on our lives.

715

God, I think about how we got here.

716

God, God, how you, God, have surely

your ears not dull enough to hear

717

in your arms, not long enough

to be stretched out to save us.

718

God, God, we're grateful for that.

719

God, I just pray that as we reflect on

that, God, that we also just remember

720

to look what's for God, what's ahead

that you have for us in our future.

721

Lord, as we take the, the community,

take the bread that represents your

722

body, and the blood that represents,

uh, Jesus blood, God, help us remember

723

and reflect, God, on how we ultimately

deserve death, but God, through your

724

Son, Jesus, we get to live this life.

725

Lord, it's in your Son's

name we pray, Amen.