Well, my name is Nate Gagne.
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:I'm the lead pastor of Restoration Church.
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:Welcome to church today.
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:Welcome to church today, Dover crew.
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:Could you do me a favor?
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:Could you give a huge welcome
to our other locations, to
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:Bethlehem, Milton and Plymouth?
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:It is an exciting day as we, uh,
will be celebrating water baptisms
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:across all of our locations.
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:But before we go into the baptisms,
before we go into the word.
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:Uh, it being Christmas season, I've been,
uh, taking a moment to have the Pastor
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:Nate Holiday Gift Giving Guide, all right?
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:As I said last week, because I
have a YouTube channel I don't
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:want you to know about, uh, we're
gonna do it here instead of there.
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:We, uh, last week I shared
something for the guys.
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:This one is a, is for the parents.
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:If you have children that are
probably under the age of 30,
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:this is the gift for them.
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:This is a gift that, uh, I bought.
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:My son just got his driver's license
this week, so he's about that, my
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:oldest son, so he's about that age.
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:I probably bought this For him and
his, uh, and his second brother,
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:maybe like, uh, nine years ago.
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:We still have it.
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:It's still in the house.
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:It's still getting used
by the younger brothers.
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:So I'm saying a couple of things.
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:One, That it's, um, playability, right?
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:It, it's ability to be used over
and over again is very high.
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:Two, it's durability is very high.
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:That it's surpr, that it's survived
Four boys and toddlers and cousins and
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:the pastor's kids when they, the other
pastor's kids when they come visit.
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:It's that for you as well.
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:So here it is.
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:All right.
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:It is the Hot Wheels six
lane racer, right here.
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:If you've ever been part of a
Pinewood Derby in your life,
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:obviously those are great fun.
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:This is that with your Hot Wheels car.
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:So, uh, six cars at the top.
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:The thing is huge.
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:And then at the end, they go through,
and then it tells you which car won.
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:I'm telling you.
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:So much fun.
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:We would, and then if we needed, we hadn't
used it in a long time, and we needed
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:a special day, uh, we'd get every kid.
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:A 1 matchbox car.
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:And so we'd have six new cars.
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:And then we'd play for it for
another three or four hours that day.
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:Racing every car until
you had a winner's heat.
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:Racing all the cars until
one car was the champion.
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:I'm telling you, this thing cost 60.
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:And there is no gift that our children
have used more in their life than this.
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:And I would even include
any system that we've owned.
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:They put more hours on this
than on the switch because we
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:haven't owned the switch as long.
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:So that is your gift guide.
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:Ladies and gentlemen, do
yourselves a favor, buy it.
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:You'll like it.
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:All right, you will like it.
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:All right.
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:Now I want to talk about
our miracle offering.
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:Thank you.
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:At Restoration Church, we give to,
um, we give our tithes, and we give
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:kingdom, and we give to Kingdom Builders.
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:And Kingdom Builders are projects that
go toward local church expansion, to
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:global missions projects, and helping
raise future Christian leaders.
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:And, a couple weeks ago, we
had our miracle offering, which
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:goes toward Kingdom Builders.
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:And our one day offering
was 81, 097 and one penny.
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:Absolutely amazing.
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:And we've highlighted a bunch of
different projects, but we've done
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:projects in Tanzania, in Cuba, locally.
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:And, um, I, and I thank you for
giving absolutely, absolutely
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:unbelievable, outstanding.
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:Thank you for that.
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:And that wasn't one person who gave 80,
000 and the rest of the church gave.
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:No, it's everybody just saying.
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:What does God want me to do?
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:We did our part.
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:And collectively, it was more
than we ever could have imagined.
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:So, thank you guys for that.
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:We'll be finishing up
the projects this year.
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:So, uh, uh, if it hasn't already
go out, Free International was
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:here in the beginning of November.
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:So the money will be going out to them.
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:This week, if it hasn't already
gone out, and any other remaining
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:projects that we have, we finish
out the year, and hopefully
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:we've accomplished every project.
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:So, if you still want to give
toward the Miracle Offering,
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:just give to Kingdom Builders.
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:It goes in the same fund, and
it goes toward the same project.
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:And then in January, we'll share
with you our projects for:
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:If you have your Bibles, there, we're
going to be jumping over, um, in a few
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:different places in Scripture today.
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:And we, I, I want to look at this verse,
and it's probably, if you've gone to
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:church, a verse you're familiar with.
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:But I want you to think about
it a different way today.
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:And then we want to talk
through this in Scripture today.
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:So it is in the book
of Matthew, chapter 16.
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:And so, if you don't have a Bible,
we'd love to give you one for free.
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:You can also download a
Bible app on your phone.
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:Or, if the internet's working,
you can Google Matthew chapter
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:16 and follow along there.
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:We want you to read the
Bible for yourself, alright?
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:It is important that we hear preaching.
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:We want And that we place ourself
under preaching, but it is more
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:important that, uh, you are
studying scripture on your own.
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:God wants to talk to
you through your Bible.
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:So Matthew chapter 16, verse
number 26, and I'll have this
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:here on the screen for you.
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:It says, What do you benefit if you gain
the whole world, but lose your own soul?
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:Is anything worth more than your soul?
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:This is a great self reflective question.
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:Because we probably, um, some of us have
experienced moments in our life where
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:we feel like we've lost our own soul.
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:We've chased something, we've chased
something, discovered it was sin,
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:discovered it was destructive, and
then found ourselves hollow, empty,
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:without hope, without joy, full of
depression, full of sin, full of
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:problem, full of pain, and some of our
baptisms today are celebrating that
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:even in the midst of that despair,
Jesus showed up and changed their life.
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:He changes their lives.
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:It's a great verse because maybe
you're flirting with a co worker.
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:Maybe you're, you're starting to
take office supplies from the office.
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:Maybe you've begun to pursue partying.
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:Maybe you're focused more on being,
on being popular or on, uh, or on,
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:uh, You know, on anything really.
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:But you've, you've started to
chase some things other than Jesus.
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:And you've got to think,
what will it benefit?
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:If you gain everything,
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:what will it benefit?
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:If you got everything,
but yet lost your soul.
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:And this is a, again, a great question.
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:To contemplate, am I doing things that
are leading me towards my own destruction?
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:Have I allowed things in my life that
will lead me away from my Savior?
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:But this Christmas time, and on
this message, I want you to reflect
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:on this verse in a different way.
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:I want you to reflect on it in a,
and think about it in a way that you
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:maybe haven't thought about it before.
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:And it's, we'll reword this to this.
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:What will they benefit if you give them
the whole world but they lose their soul?
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:And I want you to think about this
from the perspective of a parent, from
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:the perspective of a caretaker, from
even the perspective of an employer.
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:What will it benefit if you give those
under you, if you give those you're
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:in charge of, if you give those you're
responsible for, what will it benefit
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:them if you give them everything?
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:But they lose their soul in the process.
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:This is what I want us
to talk about today.
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:Our series is for the
person who has everything.
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:Last week, we talked about
give the gift of encouragement.
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:Today, I want to talk about
give the gift of the gospel.
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:And the gospel is a church
word that simply means this.
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:Good.
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:That the message of Jesus is good news.
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:And because of culture, because of
attacks against Jesus, because of
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:churches who have not represented Jesus
as being good news, it has been lost.
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:This idea of Jesus as being something
worth sharing, Jesus as being something
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:worth celebrating outside of Christmas,
Jesus being something that brings great
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:things into people's life, that is lost.
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:Amen.
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:Unfortunately, not many people know
who he is and what he can do, and
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:you have the opportunity of bringing
the gift of good news, bringing the
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:gift of the gospel in our lives.
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:And I'm going to talk today, um, mostly
to parents, but if you're not a parent,
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:just put this in your perspective.
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:Maybe you're a manager, maybe you've
got nieces and nephews, But, but, uh,
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:adopt it to your under understanding
because these principles would be true.
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:For example, I was, um, getting counsel
from a therapist for my children.
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:And the therapist gave me an
article to help me in my parenting.
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:And the article was about prison inmates.
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:So, the principles aren't the same
for running a prison as they are
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:for running a home, apparently.
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:And, uh, same thing here
with our message today.
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:I'm talking to the parents, but
every single one of us can find our,
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:the way God wants us to apply this.
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:We can be wildly out of focus.
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:And, and I, I'm specifically talking
to the Christian parents, because
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:you have said, Hey, we follow Jesus.
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:Our house follows Jesus.
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:We desire for our
children to follow Jesus.
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:But then we're wildly out
of focus from that vision.
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:And we're actually, if we evaluate
ourselves, not doing anything
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:to move toward that vision
of helping our children, our
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:spouse, our family find Jesus.
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:It's just us.
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:And that is something I
want us to reflect on.
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:We are focused on getting them
every material thing they need,
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:especially at Christmastime.
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:We're focused on what we can't
provide for them at Christmastime.
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:We're focused on their education.
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:We're focused on their experiences.
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:We're focused on, on helping
them experience everything
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:the world has to offer.
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:But sometimes, we've, we, we, and
what I want us to evaluate is,
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:is our focus, have we set it up
for, to help them to know Jesus?
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:To help them to experience
the good news of Jesus.
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:We can mortgage our home, our
future, our retirement to give
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:our kids the things they want.
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:The, the education, the college, the, uh,
the wedding, the, you know, the homes.
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:We're trying to give them
every material thing.
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:But again, what will it benefit
if you give them everything?
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:What will it benefit if you gave them
every material thing you never had?
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:But they lose.
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:their soul.
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:Somewhere in the list of things that
are important for the Christian parent,
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:somewhere on your list, there is
church, there is Jesus, but sometimes
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:it's at the bottom of the list.
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:And we've got to look and evaluate
and to decide it needs to be the
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:most important thing on the list.
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:The most important thing on the list.
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:One of the values that Michelle and I have
for our boys, there's a few, there's a few
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:things I won't go into all of them today.
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:I've talked about them before,
but one of them is that they
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:have a work ethic, right?
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:That's important to me.
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:I want to make sure that my boys are not
the perpetual 29 year old adolescent that
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:doesn't work, that just plays video games,
not even making money from video games.
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:Like if you're going to do it, at least.
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:Put me into retirement through it, uh,
but, but I want them to know how to work.
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:If you know how to work, you,
you'll be wealthy, right?
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:If you know how to work,
you'll get promotions.
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:It's a very rare thing, but one of
the things, one of the values for us,
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:for our children, is that they will
love Jesus and love His children.
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:Church, and that's the value for us
that we make sure is at the top of
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:our priority now I have a benefit
of being a pastor so I can make sure
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:that church is such is We are doing
church in such a way that they love it.
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:All right That's why we do some of the
things we do here because I don't just
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:want my children to love Jesus and
his church I want your children to as
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:well, but some on the list of things
That we're providing for our children.
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:On the list of things that
we're giving to our children.
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:The gospel must be first.
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:So rewrite your list.
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:Rewrite your list.
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:Give me a blank screen here for a second.
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:Rewrite your list.
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:You've got now, uh, college.
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:You've got kale.
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:Um, uh, you've got a high speed internet.
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:Alright, all the important things
you're trying to give to your children.
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:Let's move the gospel
to the top of that list.
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:The good news of Jesus
to the top of that list.
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:Now, what is the gospel?
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:I want to give you nine words.
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:So you can take a picture of
this, you can write this down.
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:But I want you to memorize this.
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:Nine words to explain the gospel.
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:The whole scripture in nine words.
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:So when someone says,
well what is the gospel?
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:What is the good news of Jesus?
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:That you would know it, you would
memorize it, you'd understand it, and
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:you'd be able to tell others about it.
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:It is this.
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:God wants you.
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:Sin enslaves you.
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:Jesus rescues you.
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:If you've experienced that,
could you make some noise?
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:And part of the good news,
for some people, the good news
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:starting place for you right now
is the fact that God wants you.
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:Because you can't even believe that.
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:No, God doesn't want me.
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:I'm too messed up.
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:I've made too many mistakes.
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:I've done horrible things.
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:God does not want me.
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:That is not true.
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:That is one of the lies of sin
that is trying to enslave you.
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:Don't go to God.
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:Don't believe in God.
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:Don't call out to God.
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:He doesn't want you.
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:He hates you.
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:You're dirty.
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:You're disgusting.
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:Get your life together first.
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:Make yourself worth something.
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:Make yourself appear like something.
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:Then maybe you'll
convince God to like you.
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:That's one of the lies of sin.
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:And if you've ever been stuck
in addiction, you've ever gone
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:and pursued something that you
can't even believe you've done.
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:How did I get here?
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:How did I experience this?
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:Where, how did this happen to my life?
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:You know, sin, you recognize this.
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:Sin enslaves you.
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:And it's not just the, the sins of, uh,
of addiction, but church people are caught
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:up in the sins of, of religious movement,
caught up in sins of religious pride.
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:And they, they, they, because they
won't even recognize it as sin,
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:they're not even able to repent of it.
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:And they're just stuck in it,
going to church and going to hell.
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:But the beauty of this whole thing.
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:That we celebrate Christmas, we
celebrate Easter, we celebrate every
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:single week is that Jesus rescues you.
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:And all you have to do to be worthy of a
rescue is to admit you need being rescued.
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:When the helicopter's flying over
Mount Washington trying to find
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:the person who went camping in
tennis sneakers and a tank top.
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:And they're like, I'm fine.
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:I wonder why that helicopter's up there.
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:It's because you're about to die.
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:Wave your hands and let the
helicopter know you're there.
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:That's all you have to do.
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:Is to have the awareness
of, I am dead in my chair.
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:And I may not be dead now, but I'm
going, but I'm going to be dead soon.
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:I need to recognize that that helicopter,
I need to recognize that that Savior
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:Jesus, He died on the cross for me.
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:And if you'll say, Hey, actually,
I think I need to be rescued.
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:Then you pray a simple prayer.
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:Jesus, I believe that you're God's son.
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:And the reason you came and died
on the cross was to forgive me.
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:And I ask you.
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:And I am going to follow you now.
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:That is it.
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:It'll be the same thing as the helicopter.
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:Hey, I recognize, I
shouldn't have done this.
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:I recognize I shouldn't be here
right now, but there's a helicopter,
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:and hey, I need to be rescued.
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:Forgive me, and you know, if you
get, get rescued by a helicopter,
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:there's gonna be huge fines.
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:You're gonna have to pay
huge fines for your rescue.
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:Jesus doesn't do that, alright?
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:He does not do that.
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:You're gonna have to pay the fines
to the helicopter company, but, and
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:to the state police and everybody.
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:But all you have to do is ask for it.
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:Ask Jesus.
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:This is why it's good news.
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:Because you can't work off
the things you've done.
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:You cannot rescue yourself, but
our Lord and Savior rescues us.
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:My question for you is, for those
of you who've received the gospel,
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:you've received the good news.
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:Have you shared this with your children?
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:Have you shared this,
teenagers, with your parents?
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:Have you shared this,
everyone, with your friends?
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:Have you shared what you've experienced?
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:Have you shared the good news
you've received with anybody
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:else, with anybody recently?
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:And I'm not talking about
trying to convince them.
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:I'm not talking about trying to
convince them or argue them or somehow
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:turn it into a political debate.
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:I'm talking about sharing
the good news of Jesus.
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:This is who I was.
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:This is what Jesus did.
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:This is who I am now.
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:Sharing that.
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:Have you done that?
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:If we're going to give the gift of
the gospel, the first thing we have
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:to do is we have to know the gospel.
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:We have to know it.
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:We have to experience it.
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:And sometimes we are not able
to share the gospel with people.
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:We're not able to share
the good news with people.
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:We don't even necessarily
understand the good news.
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:It's because we haven't
received it ourselves.
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:And this is probably true for
the long time church attender.
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:You were born in church, you grew
up in church, and the worst thing
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:you ever did was say the B word.
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:And so you're like, yeah, the
good news saved me from my sin.
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:But if you have a nonchalant
attitude about Jesus and what he's
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:done, then I'm telling you this,
you have not received it yet.
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:We are all sinners.
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:Whether we're murderers or gossips,
we are all in need of Jesus.
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:And if you think that gossiping's not
so bad, you haven't received it yet.
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:All sin separates us from God.
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:Sin enslaves all of us,
no matter what it is.
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:You can't free yourself from it.
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:One of the reasons it could be why
we don't prioritize it in our family
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:is because we haven't experienced it.
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:Well, I don't want to force
my kids to go to church.
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:Well, I don't want to force my kids
to Listen, if you've ever If you ever
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:go hiking, and you nearly die, and
you get rescued, you'll be preaching
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:to your kids, bring a backpack,
bring an emergency blanket, don't
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:wear cotton, wear wool, and you'll
be telling them over and over again,
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:Do you know what I was rescued from?
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:And you've got to evaluate yourself.
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:Am I not sharing it because
I've not received it?
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:Luke, you know, Chapter 18 verses 9 to 14.
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:I might not read all of this But Jesus
is telling a story and he's telling a
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:story similar to what i've been talking
about there's someone who had great
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:confidence in their religious activity
and Not only were they confident in
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:their own religious activity They looked
down on everybody else and you if you've
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:ever been in part of church now I've
been to this church my whole life, but
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:i've also been part of other churches
I've been on staff and done internships
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:at other churches you meet these people
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:They look down on you.
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:And sometimes, they'll do it with a smile.
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:Oh, look at your Bible.
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:Oh, look at that.
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:Your Bible's so cute.
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:Should be King James Version.
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:Oh, your church.
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:Cute, cute.
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:Wonderful, wonderful.
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:But we don't believe that.
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:And actually, you're going to hell.
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:It is just, our religious activity is
superior to your religious activity.
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:And this is the story.
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:And so, uh, verse 18, chapter 10.
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:Uh, excuse me, chapter
18, verse number 10.
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:Jesus says this, Two men
went to the temple to pray.
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:One was a Pharisee.
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:Those were religious elites.
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:And the other was a
despised tax collector.
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:Whoever is on your list of
worst people, that's that guy.
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:The Pharisee stood by himself
and prayed this prayer.
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:The Pharisee stood by himself
and prayed this prayer.
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:I thank you, God, that I
am not like other people.
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:Cheaters, sinners, adulterers.
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:I'm certainly not like that
tax, that tax collector.
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:I fast twice a week, and I
give you a tenth of my income.
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:Unfortunately, that might
be a prayer that you prayed.
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:I can't even believe they
struggle with addiction.
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:I can't even believe they sin that way.
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:I can't even believe, oh, I thank
you, God, that I'm not like that.
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:I thank you God that I
don't look like that.
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:I don't act like that.
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:I thank you God I can't even believe
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:but verse number 13, but the tax
collector stood at a distance This is
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:this is the bad guy if you recognize
yourself as a bad guy who shouldn't be
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:approaching God This is you in this story.
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:He stood in the distance and dared
not even lift his eyes to heaven
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:as he prayed Instead, he beat his
chest in sorrow, saying, O God, be
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:merciful to me, for I am a sinner.
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:And Jesus says, I tell you this, I
tell you, that it was this sinner,
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:not the Pharisee, who returned home
justified by God, who returned home
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:forgiven, who returned home made right.
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:The sinner was made right.
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:The sinner was taken care of.
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:The Pharisee,
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:he continued.
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:in his sin.
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:God, Jesus said for those who
humble themselves, those who exalt
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:themselves will be humbled and those
who humble themselves will be exalted.
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:Religious activity does not
make us right before God.
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:Jesus makes us right before God.
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:Second thing here is we must share it.
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:You know it, you receive
it, you've got to share it.
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:It is a command that we share it,
but also, why should it be a command?
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:There's, uh, there's a couple
jokes that go around in culture.
439
:How do you know someone's a vegan?
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:Because they'll tell you, right?
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:Or how do you know someone's in CrossFit?
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:Because they'll tell you.
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:It should be, how do you
know someone's a Christian?
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:Because they'll tell you.
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:It should be something that's
a part of our conversation.
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:Not because we're trying
to convince people.
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:Not because we're trying to argue people.
448
:Not because we think
we're better than people.
449
:But because we've received something
that's changed our life and we
450
:want everybody to receive something
that can change their life as well.
451
:That's our motivation.
452
:That has to be our motivation.
453
:And we must know and love Jesus in a way
that it naturally becomes our motivation.
454
:If you want to go to a movie
this week, don't go see Moana 2.
455
:I rate that a 4 out of a 10.
456
:But, but, go see the best
Christmas pageant ever.
457
:Amazing.
458
:Amazing.
459
:9 out of 10.
460
:So good.
461
:So just for the record monotube
462
:Share it.
463
:There's a famous passage in
Scripture where Jesus is talking
464
:to a lady That's kind of like us.
465
:She's got some sexual history She's
got she's part of a group that
466
:people are prejudiced against.
467
:She's not part of the elite She wouldn't
be welcome to even have conversation
468
:with the religious elite, but yet here's
Jesus God of the universe Searching her
469
:out and having a conversation with her.
470
:He tells her the wrong things she's done,
but he doesn't say it pointing his finger.
471
:He just says it like, Hey, I'm talking
with you, and don't feel like you need
472
:to hide anything from me, because I
know everything about you, and I'm not
473
:going to treat you different knowing the
things that you're afraid I might know.
474
:Yeah, you've had five husbands.
475
:Yeah, you're living with a
guy who's not your husband.
476
:I know that, but what I want to
talk to you about is the good news.
477
:I want to talk to you about the good news.
478
:Change your behavior that's
not gonna do anything for you.
479
:But you meet, and he calls himself the
living water, you meet the living water.
480
:And it'll change everything.
481
:I won't have to, I'm not going to have
to convince you to live differently,
482
:because when you meet the living water,
when you experience the good news,
483
:you'll live differently, out of joy.
484
:And if you've ever gone to a church where
they tell you, follow the rules, follow
485
:the rules, follow the rules, everybody
sing it with me, follow the rules, follow
486
:the rules, that could have been one of the
Moana songs, it would have made it better.
487
:Um, What would happen if you, the reason
you've experienced church like that,
488
:because unfortunately it's filled with
too many people busy with religious
489
:activity, not people who've met a savior.
490
:And so in John 4, 42, the lady experiences
Jesus, and she runs to her city, and she's
491
:telling everybody, She's not like, hey,
don't go near the well, creepy guy there.
492
:She's not saying, hey, don't go near
the well, a really judgmental, um,
493
:narcissistic religious guy there.
494
:No, she runs to the city and she
said, I, I, I, I, I, I think I've
495
:met the, I think I've met Jesus.
496
:I think I've met the good news.
497
:I think I've met the Messiah.
498
:He told me everything
I've ever done in my life.
499
:And she's not saying it in a shameful way.
500
:She's not saying it in a condemned way.
501
:He told me everything the reason she's
saying that because she's blown away that
502
:he knew everything about her but he still
treated her with kindness and dignity.
503
:He knows everything about you
and he's still going to treat
504
:you with kindness and dignity.
505
:And she's blown away.
506
:I can't even believe.
507
:I can't even.
508
:And she tells everybody.
509
:They all, I mean, everybody's like, What?
510
:What?
511
:What?
512
:And it's like, It It's like, um, uh,
uh, a commercial, people are just coming
513
:out of their houses, and they're all
marching down the street to go find Jesus.
514
:And they meet Jesus, and they're like,
hey, this lady told us about you.
515
:They have a conversation with
Jesus, and they say this, this is so
516
:beautiful, they say this to the lady.
517
:This is the lady with the past.
518
:Now we believe.
519
:Now we believe.
520
:Not just because of what you told us,
but because we have heard him ourselves.
521
:Now we know that he is indeed
the savior of the world.
522
:I want to stop here for a moment.
523
:I'd like you to close your
eyes for me for a moment.
524
:If you're comfortable, you don't have to.
525
:Some of you, you're putting a
lot of activity into bringing
526
:your, your kids to church.
527
:You're spending money
to send them to camp.
528
:You're not sure if it's
making a difference.
529
:Some of you, you've never shared your
testimony, your faith with your kids.
530
:I want you to imagine in this moment,
where you share your testimony with
531
:your kids, you, you, you've put in,
you're going, you, you've got Jesus
532
:priority at first, not just of your
life, but of their life as well.
533
:It's not their decision at this stage yet.
534
:Now imagine them coming to you and
saying, Now I believe, not just
535
:because you forced me to go to church,
but because I have heard Him myself.
536
:That's the prayer I have for you.
537
:You can look back up at me.
538
:And I know one of our
baptisms this morning,
539
:One of our baptisms this morning
is, um, uh, a guy in his 20s
540
:whose father dedicated him as a
baby on the stage of our church.
541
:And now many years later, after the last
couple months, has given his life back to
542
:the Lord and is getting baptized today.
543
:He's saying, hey, now I believe, not
just, Dad, because what you told me
544
:to believe, but because I've heard
him, We've got to know the gospel.
545
:We've got to share the gospel.
546
:The last thing is this,
we've got to prioritize it.
547
:Matthew 6.
548
:33 Uh, this is a prayer people
pray when they're single, right,
549
:and they're waiting for a date.
550
:Uh, it says, Seek the kingdom of God
above all else and live righteously and
551
:He will give you everything you need.
552
:Listen, that's probably,
that's a good dating principle.
553
:That's not what it's talking about here.
554
:It goes much broader and deeper than that.
555
:We tend to only quote this prayer
or pray this prayer when we
556
:don't have something we want.
557
:This is a way of living.
558
:It's not a way of being patient
to get what you don't have yet.
559
:It's a way of living.
560
:Seek first the kingdom of God.
561
:When it's going good, when it's
going bad, in your relationships,
562
:in your finances, in your health,
in your business, in everything.
563
:Seek God above all else.
564
:Seek God before all else.
565
:And live righteously.
566
:Live like you say you believe in Him.
567
:Live!
568
:Like he's changed your life, and he
will give you everything you need.
569
:Prioritize the gospel.
570
:This means that we put the good news of
Jesus first in every part of our life.
571
:When we talk about tithing, tithing
10%, this is the, this comes not
572
:just out of this scripture, but
out of a bunch of scriptures.
573
:This is one of those.
574
:The per the, the, the
principle of first fruits.
575
:The principle of tithing is God, first,
I prioritize God above everything else.
576
:I prioritize him above my mortgage,
above my, uh, above my Netflix account,
577
:above my, uh, my, my, uh, my gas, my
car payment, eating out before taxes.
578
:God, first in attending
church, we start on Sunday.
579
:Some churches are on Saturdays.
580
:But we,
581
:whether this was why it was
originally installed, we can
582
:make it the reason we do it now.
583
:It's the first thing, the first
moments of the first day of the week.
584
:We put God first.
585
:We come to church and we do that.
586
:Serving, I don't use
all my time for myself.
587
:I first decide when I'm gonna serve
God and I design my life around that
588
:within our scheduling and our calendar.
589
:We put God first.
590
:We put the things for God
first, and then we prioritize
591
:the rest of our life around it.
592
:There's something that is used in, in,
in, um, not just in church, you know,
593
:calendar scheduling, but you can use
in your personal calendar as well.
594
:And it's the idea of big rocks.
595
:And um, because our ground's frozen, it's
kind of hard to just find rocks and sand.
596
:So just imagine this with me.
597
:But if we had a, a, a glass vase here, and
we have big rocks, medium rocks, and sand.
598
:If you put the, the sand in first, and
the medium rocks in second, there'll
599
:be no room to fit the big rocks in.
600
:But if you go in reverse order,
and you put the priority things
601
:in first, the big rocks in first,
then the medium rocks, and then the
602
:sand, the least priority things in.
603
:Next, it will all fit in your calendar.
604
:One of the reasons why you can't
time, find time for God is because
605
:you're not putting God first.
606
:Put Him in first.
607
:You know, my, my father and mother
came, uh, started following Jesus when
608
:they were in their early twenties.
609
:They were in like their first
or second year of marriage when
610
:they started following Jesus.
611
:And since then, church on Sundays.
612
:It just was.
613
:It just was.
614
:And so now, for my kids, it's not
even anything that we have to like,
615
:you know, someone asks us, hey, you
want to come over Sunday morning?
616
:We don't have to, let me check
the calendar and find out what's
617
:happening on Sunday morning.
618
:No, we know because the big
rock has been put in first.
619
:The big rocks of Of Sunday, the big
rocks of youth group for the kids,
620
:the big rocks of summer camp are
already on our calendar for next year,
621
:the big rocks of, of, um, big rocks
of, of, of dates and of vacations.
622
:You put in those things first!
623
:That way, the lesser
important things don't happen.
624
:And when the big rocks are in first, it
makes other decisions of, of, uh, of,
625
:uh, of sports, of hobbies, of activities.
626
:It helps them to get in line.
627
:Seek first the kingdom.
628
:Make him the priority.
629
:The band, I welcome, the musicians,
I welcome you to get into your spots.
630
:Today, we're celebrating in our church,
As we see dozens of people across
631
:our locations declare the gospel
to the world through water baptism.
632
:Water baptism is not
something that saves us.
633
:Water baptism is not something
that, that joins us to a church.
634
:Water baptism is not something
that, that, that cleanses us.
635
:It is symbolic of the moment
you gave your life to Jesus.
636
:And it is a declaration to the world,
a public declaration to the world.
637
:I am his I follow the people
getting water baptized today.
638
:They've met Jesus They are sharing it
with you and part of the baptism is a
639
:declaration They're making a commitment
to Jesus to make him first in their life.
640
:It's a beautiful thing
641
:It's a powerful thing and we're
gonna celebrate that together.
642
:But before we do I
643
:Want to take a moment to pray with you.
644
:If you'll close your eyes.
645
:Again, if you're comfortable, if you, if
you're not comfortable, just stare at me.
646
:It's fine.
647
:I'll stare back at you.
648
:You, then you'll close your eyes.
649
:I bet, I promise.
650
:But it's these moments where we
recognize, maybe, I've gone to
651
:church my whole life, but I've never
made a decision to follow Jesus.
652
:I've gone to church my whole
life, but I've, I never even
653
:knew that He would forgive me.
654
:Or I'm here today, and this is the first
church I've ever walked in and thought
655
:that maybe, maybe God will want me.
656
:He wants you.
657
:Maybe you're here today,
and you are just stuck.
658
:Sin has entangled you, it has captured
you, it is destroying you, and you
659
:don't even know how to get free.
660
:It is with a simple prayer
661
:to a merciful God, a simple
prayer to our powerful Savior.
662
:Jesus, I need you.
663
:Jesus, forgive me.
664
:Jesus, I follow you.
665
:As you pray that prayer and as
you make that decision, it is a
666
:dramatic moment in a person's life.
667
:Jesus says that the moment you receive
his forgiveness, the moment you decide to
668
:follow him, you start a brand new life.
669
:That's why he calls it, it's
like you've been born again.
670
:You're learning how to talk,
how to walk, how to act.
671
:You're starting all over.
672
:It's a brand new life.
673
:And today we celebrate that
brand new life together.
674
:Jesus, for every person getting
baptized today, we thank you.
675
:For every person who just made a decision
right now to follow you, we thank you.
676
:For every person in the room just
wrestling in their heart because
677
:they want to believe, but they're,
but they've got so many questions.
678
:I pray that they will, that they, you,
your word says that if they search
679
:after you, they'll find you when they're
searching you with their whole heart.
680
:And I pray right now, God, that in
their whole heart, they'd say, Jesus,
681
:if you're real, I want to find you.
682
:And they'd start that process.
683
:And we know what's going
to happen at the end.
684
:The joy of salvation and a great
moment of knowing and following
685
:you and we pray this in Jesus name.
686
:Amen.
687
:Amen