Well, good morning, Restoration Church.
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:Glad to be together.
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:Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
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:Uh, it's gonna be a great
month, a great season, hanging
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:together and worshiping together.
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:I want to, uh, just, just say from me
to you, water baptisms are next week.
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:These are some of the most important
fun services that we have all year.
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:We've got 14 people, 13 people, 14
people signed up for water baptism
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:next week across our locations.
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:Um, always so much fun as you hear
of, uh, some true stories about
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:how Jesus has changed some lives.
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:So that's happening next week.
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:If you haven't had a chance
to sign up, it is your time.
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:It is your time and uh, you can
do that through the church center
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:app or at the new here welcome
center Uh area at your location.
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:We are one church.
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:We have services together Here in
dover and in bethlehem milton and
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:plymouth dover you put your hands
together for the other locations
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:We had a great time at the worship night
Last week in Bethlehem and uh, thanks
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:for everybody who made the trip up there.
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:Thank you Bethlehem
location for hosting us.
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:It was a special time and uh,
heard some great testimonies
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:out of that night as well.
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:Um, I, the, for, for the next couple of
weeks, I'm gonna do something for you
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:guys, um, because I don't have a YouTube
channel that I want you to know about.
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:So, during, during our times, every,
uh, every week during service, I'm
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:gonna, I'm just gonna give you a,
a, a holiday gift giving guide and,
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:uh, just a few things that either
I've received or that I've given.
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:That I think are worth, I think they're
good, I think everybody would want them.
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:So, um, so, so, don't be annoyed by me.
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:Um, but this morning's gift, alright,
I've been carrying this thing
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:around with me for a few years.
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:It is a Gerber knife, and what it
has in it is, are exacto blades.
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:So replaceable exacto blades.
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:So I got this a few years ago from
my mother in law and I have loved it.
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:I, I, I'm with it every day unless
I misplace it for a month or two.
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:And uh, when it gets dull,
you just change out the blade.
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:So with this and, and buy a
hundred exacto blades with it.
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:I mean, it's under 30 bucks for this gift.
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:Plus it's got the built in
screwdriver and bottle opener for
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:when you're traveling in Africa.
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:Listen, this thing is killer and amazing.
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:Alright?
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:And Gerber has a lifetime warranty,
so I broke my very first one I
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:ever got, took a couple pictures of
it, they sent me a brand new one.
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:And a lifetime warranty, I believe.
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:So there's your gift guide.
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:Next week, we'll do
something for the children.
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:And, uh, then we'll do something
for the ladies the week after that.
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:But honestly, ladies, if you,
um, if you're a crafter and you
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:use an X Acto knife, this is much
cooler than that dangerous open
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:blade that you've been carrying.
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:So get yourself something that closes.
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:Now for this next few weeks through the
Christmas season, We are, have this series
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:titled for the person who has everything.
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:And we have that kind of that question.
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:What do I even give this person?
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:I don't know that they need anything.
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:But there are some things we can give
them that are greater than possessions.
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:There are things we can give them
that are greater than a Gerber knife.
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:And today, I want to teach
and, and, and to teach you to
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:give the gift of encouragement.
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:Give the gift of encouragement.
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:Most of the time, as individuals,
we're not feeling very encouraged.
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:Thank you.
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:We are feeling discouraged.
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:We overcooked the turkey.
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:We're discouraged.
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:The people we invited
to church didn't come.
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:We're discouraged.
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:We didn't get the
promotion we applied for.
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:We're discouraged.
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:We're discouraged.
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:Our marriage is in a rough spot.
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:We're discouraged.
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:We're, uh, we lead a serve team and
the serve team people didn't show up.
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:We're discouraged.
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:We are leading a song on stage and
we sing horrifically out of tune.
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:We're discouraged.
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:You're leading a circle.
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:Nobody came that week.
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:You're discouraged.
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:You stepped on the scale thinking
you lost 10 pounds and you gained 7.
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:You're discouraged.
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:We tend to be more discouraged
than we're encouraged.
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:Is that true for anybody here?
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:There are some things in
scripture about encouragement.
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:So I want to show you two scriptures
right off to just help set the
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:stage for encouragement, that
encouragement is a good gift to give.
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:First, in Proverbs 16, 24, Kind
words are like honey, sweet to
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:the soul and healthy for the body.
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:Kind words for you to share.
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:Kind words with someone you live with.
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:Kind words with someone you work with.
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:Kind words with someone
that, that teaches you.
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:Someone that's an authority over you.
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:Someone that's an authority, or
someone that you have authority over.
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:These, uh, you can, uh, You, if you
wanted to, and we didn't have time
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:this morning, but you can, uh, there
are neurological studies done, brave,
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:brainwave studies done, that when you tell
someone no, and you use a discouraging
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:word, how it fires different parts of
the brain, but when you tell them kind
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:words, how it fires up other parts of
the brain, how it releases positive
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:chemicals within the body, that it
literally feels good because it is doing
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:good things in your body to hear that.
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:Your body reacts to it
in a very positive way.
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:The next scripture in Proverbs 12, 25,
it says, Worry weighs a person down.
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:An encouraging word cheers a person up.
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:Give the gift of encouragement.
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:Now, encouragement, as we talk
about in the Bible, it isn't
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:focused on complimenting someone's
haircut, or telling them how
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:good their homemade salsa tastes.
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:Those are great things, positive things,
um, a way to, to bless another person.
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:But biblical encouragement goes
deeper than that, and that's, you,
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:you kind of intertwined in the two.
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:We don't, we want to make sure
that we're not just focusing on the
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:externals, but that we're also focusing
on the internal, uh, character of
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:people, and also making sure that
we're helping each other according to.
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:So if you've got your Bibles,
open up to Hebrews chapter 3.
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:Encouragement that we want to talk
about today is the type that's going
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:to help others walk with Jesus.
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:The type that is going to
help people finish their race.
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:Because when we made the
decision to follow Jesus, there
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:now becomes an opportunity.
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:All kinds of discouragement that happens
trying to get you to stop before you
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:start Trying to get you to quit before
you finish trying to get you to kind
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:of be a one and done That you made a
decision to follow jesus, but it affects
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:no one beyond you No one beyond you.
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:This week we were, uh, we were
talking with someone, the pa uh,
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:the pa we were, uh, here on Tuesday.
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:The pastors and I were together and
we were talking with someone else and
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:asked them, what book are you reading?
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:And they said they were reading
The Screwtape Letters, which
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:is this famous book by C.
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:S.
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:Lewis, which we would recommend
to you to read as well.
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:And it's a fictional, story
of two demons interacting.
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:Uh, uh, this, this higher ranked demon,
who's the uncle of a lower ranked demon.
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:And the whole story is about, um, trying
to get this demons been assigned to
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:get someone to never believe in God.
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:And he keeps failing because then they
believe in God and then they follow God.
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:Then they start praying and they,
and the letters are going back and
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:forth, but their uncle's saying
like, You're embarrassing me.
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:You're, like, I, I put your name up
for this position, and now they're
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:praying, now they're reading their Bible.
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:You've got to do something about that.
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:And then as it goes on, then the
uncle becomes very infuriated because,
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:listen, it was bad enough that they
came to know Jesus, but now their
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:family members are knowing it.
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:Like, you, you, you, I'm not
gonna be able to protect you.
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:Like, there's bad things
happening for you.
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:If you don't get this, immediately.
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:And it's, uh, uh, a fictional, uh, parable
helping us understand the spiritual realm.
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:Some of you would recognize that, hey,
when I made the decision to follow
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:Jesus, things went very bad afterward.
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:Or every time I make an attempt
to follow Jesus, things go bad.
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:I'm going to give up.
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:Well, that's exactly what
they're trying to get you to do.
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:That's exactly what the
enemies of God want you to do.
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:They don't want you to
discover the John 10 10.
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:Abundant, overflowing life.
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:They don't want you to experience
forgiveness and freedom.
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:They don't want you to experience
love and unconditional love.
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:They don't want you to know God.
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:And so discouragement
comes after all of us.
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:Comes after all of us.
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:And in Hebrews chapter 3, kind of
chapters 1, 2, and 3 leading up to the
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:passage we're reading, it is The author
of Hebrews talking and teaching about
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:how Jesus is not like anyone else.
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:Jesus is uncreated.
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:Jesus is God.
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:Jesus is part of the Trinity.
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:Jesus is above all.
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:He has all authority in heaven and earth.
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:And some of this we talked about
at worship night last week, but,
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:but Paul's writing about this.
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:And so he talks about, hey,
Jesus is not like an angel.
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:Angels are powerful.
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:Angels are supernatural.
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:Angels are created by Jesus.
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:Jesus is the uncreated one,
but angels were created.
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:He's not equal.
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:They're not his rival.
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:Which means that a fallen
angel named Satan is not equal.
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:He's not a rival.
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:The other thing that he goes and
talks through is he mentions one of
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:the famous people in church history,
in Jewish history, the name of Moses.
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:A mighty, mighty, powerful prophet,
a mighty, powerful man of God,
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:who saw God, who spoke to God,
who spent time alone with God, had
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:audible conversations with God.
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:And he says, Jesus is greater than Moses.
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:He's greater than him.
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:Moses was created.
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:Jesus is uncreated.
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:Moses was used by God.
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:Jesus was created.
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:is God.
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:So he sets all that stage up, trying
to help people understand when we're
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:following Jesus, we're not following
some other guy from another religion.
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:We're not following, um,
someone who, who has an equal.
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:And he goes on into this passage
about our faith and walking with Jesus
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:and about encouraging one another.
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:So Hebrews chapter three,
go down to verse number 12.
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:We'll read verses 12, 13, and 14,
and I'll be reading it in the NIV.
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:Listen, see to it, brothers and sisters.
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:So he's, he's talking to
people who've said, yeah, I'm
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:a Christian, I follow Jesus.
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:See to it, Christians.
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:That none of you has a sinful, unbelieving
heart that turns away from the living God.
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:But encourage one another daily, as long
as it is called today, so that none of you
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:may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
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:We have come to share Christ,
if indeed we hold our original
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:conviction firmly to the very end.
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:See to it, brothers and sisters, that
none of you has a sinful, unbelieving
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:heart that turns away from the living God.
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:We need to look at our
heart, evaluate our heart.
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:There's a part of looking
at our neighbor's heart, our
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:friend's heart within the church.
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:Encourage one another daily
as long as it's called today.
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:Couple things about discipline
that this scripture talks about
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:that I want to teach today.
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:One is having a discipline
of encouragement.
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:A discipline of encouragement,
is a habit of encouragement.
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:He says, encourage one another daily.
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:As long as it's called today.
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:Encourage one another daily.
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:In case that's not clear enough.
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:What day is today?
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:Is today, today?
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:Yes, then today's the day you
need to encourage another person.
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:We encourage.
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:We tend to put things off, we
tend to schedule things for later,
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:we tend to say, I'll get to it.
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:But he's saying encouragement is so
important that if it's today, it's
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:the day to encourage each other.
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:He's teaching us.
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:To develop a practice, a
discipline, a habit of encouraging
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:someone else every single day.
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:This is for every follower of
Jesus to say, I am going to
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:encourage another believer today.
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:Every single one of us carries
and acts on that practice.
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:Sometimes people mope about
not receiving encouragement.
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:Amen.
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:But this is not our focus.
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:It's not about receiving.
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:It's about giving.
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:And the command is not to
receive encouragement daily.
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:The command is to give
encouragement daily.
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:Make encouragement a daily discipline.
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:For some of you, it is very, very easy.
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:You are encouragers, and, and
it's so natural to you that when
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:I say to you, wow, you're such
an encourager, you're shocked.
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:I am?
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:I didn't know that.
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:No, you are.
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:And everybody is like, yeah, that person.
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:I think we could all think of five to ten
people in our church across locations, and
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:we'd come up with, um, with very similar
names of people who are encouragers.
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:For some of us, it's naturally, but
for others, they gag they, not exactly.
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:What I have to do, and what I'd encourage
you to do, is to put it in your calendar.
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:To use that digital calendar and to
make note to practice putting in that
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:habit of encouraging someone every day.
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:A calendar to send a note, an
email, a text, a phone call.
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:I have to remind myself
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:to encourage others.
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:I have to remind myself to
encourage my wife, my kids.
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:The church staff, I have
to remind myself that.
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:Not because I don't think good things
about them, but because it's not in
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:my nature to communicate that way.
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:But scripture has called me to act
in a way that's not natural, and
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:I must be obedient to scripture.
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:The second thing, which I've
already kind of touched on, but
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:it's the command of encouragement.
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:Paul commonly challenged the
churches he led, and the churches
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:he started, Two, and this is found
in 1 Thessalonians, Encourage each
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:other and build each other up.
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:Encourage each other
and build each other up.
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:That Christians are Encouraging other
Christians and Christians are building
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:up other Christians Perpetually, non
stop, more and more, greater and greater.
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:And this is not just something
that's relegated to people who have
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:encouragement as a spiritual gift.
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:So there is a spiritual gift of
encouragement that those people function
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:with a greater grace, a greater ability.
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:Probably some of the names that
we'd all think about are people
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:who have that spiritual gift.
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:Uh, Barnabas in scripture is, is likely
someone who had that spiritual gift.
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:He was given the nickname Barnabas.
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:Son of encouragement.
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:Alright, so it kind of gives you an idea.
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:If you've got a nickname of
Encour, of encourager, then
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:you probably have that gift.
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:But all of us are called to
encourage in a similar way.
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:Some people have a
spiritual gift of giving.
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:It seems like it's very easy
for them, very natural to them.
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:They have ability to give more and more
and more and, and they're, they're.
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:It's very easy, but all of
us have a command to give.
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:So even though someone, uh, has
the gift of it, and it's very easy,
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:it does not take us off the hook.
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:All of us are called to share our faith,
but some have the gift of evangelism, and
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:so they, what takes us, uh, what's very
difficult sometimes for us to do, they've
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:already done it, you know, 45 times.
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:So here's, let's talk about this.
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:Why is encouraging others so important?
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:Why is it a command for us?
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:It would seem like of all the things
that scripture would call us to
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:do for encouragement to be really
hammered on over and over again.
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:Why is it so important?
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:One thing is that our key, and one
important thing, probably the most
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:important thing from this scripture,
is that encouragement From other
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:people, from other believers,
keeps our hearts close to Jesus.
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:In the passage we just said, it said,
uh, it, it mentioned our heart two
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:different times, that you haven't,
you can, to protect against an
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:unbelieving heart and a hardened heart.
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:And encouragement helps other people
from having an unbelieving heart
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:and developing a hardened heart.
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:I want to look at a
couple things real quick.
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:About what are some ways might an
unbelieving heart show up in your life.
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:Because, again, remember,
he's talking to a church.
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:He's talking to people who follow Jesus.
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:So, this idea of an unbelieving heart
amongst people who confess they believe,
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:It's kind of, it's a little bit confusing.
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:Why would, how could they have unbelieving
hearts if they say they believe?
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:But often times, what happens in our
heart happens way before our head.
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:And in our heart, our heart
has started to not believe.
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:Our heart has wandered and gone astray.
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:Even though our head and our function
practice is, um, is still the same.
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:Here are some things, I'll put
these on the screen for you.
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:Number one.
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:Doctrine so these are again.
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:I'm talking to the believers.
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:I'll explain these for you But for someone
who's who's gone to church for someone
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:who's following Jesus But you begin to
maybe you don't even sense it yourself
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:But others can see it in you weakening
doctrine that you no longer see the Bible.
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:You no longer see scripture As the
authority and you're no longer studying
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:scripture to find out what to believe.
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:You're studying blogs
to affirm your belief.
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:That's a sign your,
your doctor's weakening.
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:'cause you're looking at a YouTuber,
or a TikTok or, or a blogger of
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:someone that you never met before
to determine what scripture says,
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:instead of studying scripture.
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:To find out what it says.
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:And we see this happening in
our country, across churches,
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:in every single community.
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:Across denominations, Um, Uh, It is,
it is, Uh, a rare, more of a rare
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:thing to find the church that says,
we will align ourselves to scripture,
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:rather than saying, scripture is
going to align to our beliefs.
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:The second thing is rigid dogma.
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:Dogma is a set of beliefs that, um, that
are kind of outside of the scripture.
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:Alright, so dogmas can be kind of positive
things, they can be negative things,
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:they just are, but when you're rigid
about them, usually that's a bad thing.
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:We need to be rigid about our doctrine,
not about our dogma, and when you get
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:those things reversed, it's showing
an unbelieving, hardening heart.
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:So, an example of, uh, of a
dogma, like a positive dogma that
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:Restoration Church has, is this.
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:We have loud music.
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:We have loud music.
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:It is something that we do, something
that's important to us, something
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:that we do that believes, glorifies
God, something also that keeps us
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:from having to hear you sing, alright?
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:So, so it, we believe that with loud
music and soft lights, and dim lights,
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:it'll help other people to worship God.
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:So, that's why we do it.
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:We do it to help you worship God.
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:And, it's a, it's just
something we believe.
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:It's not in scripture.
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:But sometimes people have
a dogma that it's wrong.
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:Well, you shouldn't have lights,
you shouldn't have dark ceilings,
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:you shouldn't have dark rooms,
you shouldn't have loud music.
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:Those things are wrong.
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:Well, is it in scripture?
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:Absolutely not.
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:In fact, there's more, there's
more evidence toward loud music.
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:It talks about clanging cymbals and,
and, and it talks about loud music.
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:More in scripture than it
does about somber music.
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:So that's an example of a dogma
that, that we could say, Hey, whether
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:it's soft or it's loud, no problem.
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:We have a, we have a
flexibility in how we worship.
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:But when you begin to say it must
be done this way and the other way
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:is wrong, rigid dogma is wrong.
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:And another example of this is, uh, uh,
you've made, uh, well, the principle is
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:you've made minor things, major things.
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:And an example of this would
be the names of holidays.
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:And let me, let me get on my
soapbox here for a minute.
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:And sing Jesus Freak to you.
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:No, let me get on my
soapbox here for a minute.
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:And every holiday, we have people in
our church wigging out, wigging out.
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:And I apologize for such old terminology.
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:But, but, freaking out because we
either used the word Halloween, or
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:Easter, or even Christmas, and that
somehow using those words has caused
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:us to compromise something about this.
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:Whatever you want to call Easter, call
it that, but don't be rigid about it.
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:There's nothing in scripture here
that talks about that, or Halloween.
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:Or Easter, or Fair Food
Sunday, or President's Day.
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:Because it's a minor
thing, it does not matter.
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:And now some of you are getting all
wound up like, Whoa, I got an email
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:for you, I've got an email for you.
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:You are so wrong.
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:Listen, it doesn't matter.
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:It doesn't matter, it doesn't
matter, it doesn't matter.
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:When Paul showed up to a pagan
town, There was idols everywhere.
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:Idols everywhere.
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:And he says, hey, I see this idol
right here to an unknown God.
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:Let me tell you about,
about this idol right here.
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:His name's Jesus.
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:We'd be freaking out.
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:You can't call Jesus an idol.
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:You can't call Jesus an unknown God.
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:And it's the principle of use
the language of the culture to
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:communicate the glory of God.
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:We say Easter because that's
what people understand.
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:They have no flippant idea
what Resurrection Day is.
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:We say Halloween because they
don't know what Reformation Day is.
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:We say Christmas because the birth
of our virgin Immaculate Savior
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:does not make any sense to them.
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:We don't go into another language
and speak foreign language to them.
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:We use their language to help us to open
up conversation about who our Savior is.
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:That's the biblical principle, and that's
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:The doctrine, not the dogma.
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:Next one is this, compromised convictions.
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:And again, this is for the Christian.
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:All right.
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:So you're following Jesus.
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:You made a decision to follow Jesus.
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:Some of us have been serving him
for 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 65 years.
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:And are there things you previously
would not do that now you're doing?
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:Think about that for a little bit.
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:Things you previously would
not do that now you're doing.
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:Now, for some things, we realize we've
been taught dogma and not doctrine, and
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:so when we discover a doctrine that we've
been rigid, we can change it and adapt.
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:An example of this was, in my
lifetime, uh, I went to churches,
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:not Restoration Church, but I, I was
part of churches where the ladies
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:were not allowed to wear pants.
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:So, some ladies are wearing
pants, but in their lifetime,
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:they never would have before.
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:Some men are here today, and for
the first 15 years of walking with
435
:Jesus, they only came to church in
a suit and tie, and now they don't.
436
:Well, that's not in scripture.
437
:So, they begin to say,
oh, I've got freedom here.
438
:Now, there's other things where there
are a personal conviction, you know, I
439
:cannot do this, but yet, if you evaluate
yourself, you are doing these things.
440
:I remember being four years old, and
we lived on Horn Street in Dover,
441
:and I get in, my dad had bought this
red Chevy Sprint, and I get in, in
442
:it, and it's this tiny car, even
for a tiny kid, it was a tiny car.
443
:And my dad had a note.
444
:on the brand new car.
445
:Don't smoke in the car,
which is a note to his wife.
446
:Don't smoke in the car.
447
:And I remember, um, sitting in the car
and he's like, son, smoking is bad.
448
:Don't smoke.
449
:Smoking is not a good thing.
450
:And we drive off to
wherever we're driving.
451
:Fast forward all these years
later, all these years later, many
452
:years later, my mom doesn't smoke.
453
:My dad does.
454
:It's It's kind of one of those things
where, what has happened, where something
455
:you were, you were so, like, this is
not for me, I cannot do this, to now
456
:you're like, yeah, I kinda, I do this.
457
:Those are something you have to
really evaluate, really evaluate.
458
:Why did you make the change?
459
:Is it because Is it because of growth
or is it because of compromise?
460
:And, and sin is so treacherous
that it can convince us otherwise.
461
:Here's the last one.
462
:It is decreasing grace.
463
:Um, we find ourselves functioning
with less grace toward other people.
464
:You are less patient, you are more
judgy, you tend to blame others
465
:instead of accepting any blame.
466
:These are signs of hardening or
unbelieving, growing unbelieving hearts.
467
:Encouragement protects heart.
468
:Encouragement can protect
hearts from these things.
469
:Encouragement keeps us going.
470
:And allows us to function and to
finish the race that we are called on.
471
:Here's the last one.
472
:The outcome of encouragement.
473
:Couple obvious and beautiful
and most important ones.
474
:One, encouragement can lead to repentant.
475
:And that's what we want for people
to turn away, to turn back to Jesus.
476
:It's what we want for you to turn away
from those other things, to turn to Jesus.
477
:for joining us.
478
:Encouragement can lead to salvation
because sometimes we've wandered so far.
479
:Encouragement, and let me encourage
you, pray to Him, give your life to Him,
480
:let Him back in your life again today.
481
:It's what we want for you.
482
:Another outcome of encouragement
is found in the scripture.
483
:Also, it is persevere it.
484
:It says that they will hold on until the
end, hold on until the end, that we won't
485
:give up, we won't give in, we won't quit.
486
:We'll continue following Jesus through
everything, through every moment
487
:of discouragement, through every
temptation of sin, through every
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:difficulty, through every storm.
489
:Encouragement helps us
to keep going forward.
490
:The Smithsonian Institute
in Washington, D.
491
:C.
492
:Has, uh, has a collection of things that
President Abraham Lincoln was carrying
493
:on him the night of his assassination.
494
:And one of the articles that he had
on this person was worn out because
495
:he had opened it and closed it many,
many times and it was worn out.
496
:And it was a newspaper clipping.
497
:That celebrated his
accomplishments as president.
498
:And it read in that article,
Abraham Lincoln is one of the
499
:greatest statesmen of all time.
500
:We can obviously see that one of the
reasons it was so worn out is because
501
:he was pulling it out to remind himself.
502
:And the great difficulty of the Civil War,
when, when Hey I'm President, and half the
503
:country, uh, uh, secedes, in the darkness,
in the attacks, in the questioning, every
504
:decision he made, they'd be questioning,
and questioning, and questioning.
505
:There was, uh, people not wanting
him to run for a second term and
506
:all of the difficulty of that.
507
:He carried that article.
508
:Abraham Lincoln is the
greatest statesman of all time.
509
:We have critics as well.
510
:We have spiritual critics, we have critics
in our family, critics sometimes within
511
:the church who don't want you to step
out, who don't want you to step forward,
512
:who don't want you to step into what
God has for you, and And some, listen,
513
:we've got to encourage each other.
514
:Keep on the race that God has for you.
515
:And because of the critics we have,
our Bibles should be worn out,
516
:remembering what God has said about
us and what God has said to us.
517
:That when the critic comes,
you're not a good mom.
518
:You're not a good dad.
519
:You're not a good employee.
520
:You're not a good Christian.
521
:You're not, that we would
pull up our scripture.
522
:And say, God, what do you say about me?
523
:God, what do you say about my future?
524
:God, what do you say about my,
uh, about my gifts, and about my
525
:calling, and about my assignment?
526
:God, what do you say?
527
:And to wear it out, reminding
ourselves of what Jesus says.
528
:And here's the last thing, and, and
the band can move into position.
529
:It says to encourage one another
daily, And I mentioned earlier,
530
:we should not be complaining that
other people aren't encouraging us.
531
:That's not the command.
532
:All right, take the focus off yourself.
533
:You need to say, am I, who
have I encouraged today?
534
:That's your responsibility.
535
:But you know what?
536
:You are supposed to be encouraged daily
and God wants you to be encouraged
537
:daily, but not from other people.
538
:He wants you to be encouraged by Him.
539
:That we are looking to Him
for our daily encouragement,
540
:not looking to other people.
541
:This keeps our hearts pure, helps us from
being self centered and selfish, from
542
:being resentful, from all kinds of things.
543
:And we're able to pour out of His
encouragement to encourage others.
544
:And the Holy Spirit is, He's got
a couple of names in the Bible,
545
:a couple of describing names.
546
:The Comforter, The Comforter.
547
:The advocate, the encourager.
548
:He wants to encourage us.
549
:And so when it says be encouraged
daily, the Holy Spirit wants
550
:to encourage you daily.
551
:Here's what, here's
what He wants you to do.
552
:Here's what God wants you to do.
553
:To have a Bible.
554
:If you don't have a Bible,
we'll give you one for free.
555
:Just go to the New Here area in the
lobby, they'll give you a Bible for free.
556
:This isn't just a book.
557
:This isn't just, uh, just
a collection of writings.
558
:This is God's Word.
559
:He wants to supernaturally use this
book to encourage you every day.
560
:This is why we read it every day,
not to be religious, not to, uh, not
561
:to check it off the box, not to look
cool to the Christian girl we're
562
:trying to get to go on a date with us.
563
:We read it every day so God
can speak to us through it.
564
:The other thing is every day to pray.
565
:And you have your list of things you're
asking God to do, but also prayer is
566
:about conversation, to really talk to him.
567
:Don't just say, check, check,
check, check, check, check.
568
:But to say, here's how I'm feeling.
569
:Here's what I'm going through.
570
:Here's what I thank you for.
571
:Here's what I'm grateful for.
572
:And to take a moment and pause.
573
:Uh, earlier this year in the soul
series, we take, just take five
574
:minutes of silence every day.
575
:Five minutes, have nothing
on, nothing on just silent.
576
:Don't even talk.
577
:Just listen.
578
:Because He wants to encourage you Himself
to speak in a still, small voice to
579
:your heart, to your mind, to bless you.
580
:We give encouragement to other
Christians every single day.
581
:And we receive encouragement
from Jesus through His Word and
582
:through prayer every single day.
583
:You close your eyes, let me pray for you.
584
:We just ask you right now,
Jesus, to encourage us.
585
:There, there are things we're discouraged
about, things that we're resentful
586
:about, things that we're struggling with.
587
:Encourage us.
588
:For the people going through
a hard time, it's not forever.
589
:Encourage them with that.
590
:For the people who are trying to
rebuild their life, tell them your
591
:promises and encourage them with that.
592
:For the people who, um, who, things are
going well, but they feel like maybe no
593
:one's noticing, tell them what you notice.
594
:Encourage them with that, Lord.
595
:God, you have a word for every
single one of us in our church.
596
:You have something every day that you
want to tell us, something special every
597
:day that you want to share with us,
through your word and through prayer.
598
:And I pray, God, we will
make that a discipline.
599
:A discipline not just to give
encouragement, but a discipline to receive
600
:encouragement from you every single day.
601
:And we pray this, Lord
Jesus, in your name.
602
:Amen.