Good morning.
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:Oh, that's, that's English.
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:I just said English, so you
don't have to be like, what?
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:What is, what languages?
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:No.
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:Good morning, church!
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:There you go, there you go.
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:You can come forward.
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:You can start, yes.
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:Speaker 7: Good morning.
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:Speaker 6: Greetings greetings
to you all in the name of the
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:Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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:I take this opportunity to welcome
everyone who's here, welcome everyone
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:watching us online and from every
other locations and also I wanna
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:take this time to thank Pastor Nate
and family for this opportunity.
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:Uh, I, I wanna take, uh, this time to
honor God first and also, uh, honor your
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:senior pastor, our senior pastor, pastor
Nate Gagne, for giving me this opportunity
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:to preach the gospel this morning.
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:Uh, first of all, I want
to introduce myself.
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:Uh, I'm a, uh, I'm from India.
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:My, me and my family, we are from
India and we are a small family.
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:Uh, I'm serving in a denomination called
New the Church of God back home in India,
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:and I've been there for many years.
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:I was born in a Syrian Orthodox family.
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:Speaker 7: And
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:Speaker 6: at the age of 13, I
was, I was called into the ministry
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:in a Syrian Orthodox church
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:Speaker 7: school
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:Speaker 6: after my high school.
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:Uh, God enabled me to serve in the,
uh, as a minister in this church.
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:Uh, during those moments, uh, God enabled
me to get married to my awesome wife.
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:Uh, during that time when I was in, in
the Surn Orthodox Church, uh, God met
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:me and I had a eager to learn the word
of God and to convert into Christianity.
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:Uh, 34 years ago, God had, I had an
encounter with God and I got saved.
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:And from since then, 34 years
ago, I became a Christian and
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:followed Christ in the sense.
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:I'm blessed with three, uh, uh,
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:Speaker 7: three kids.
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:Speaker 6: My oldest son, uh, when he
was studying in eighth grade, ninth
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:grade, he started his full-time ministry.
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:Uh, he, he fought the good fight
in this earth till he was 26
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:and when to be with the Lord.
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:Speaker 7: Pastor Steven Johnson.
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:Speaker 6: Uh, second Child is Ringo
Kos and her husband Steven Johnson.
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:I don't have to, uh,
introduce them to you.
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:You already know them.
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:Speaker 7: They serve as
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:Speaker 6: one of the pastors at
the Restoration Church in Bethlehem.
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:Speaker 7: We
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:Speaker 6: are all also blessed with
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:Speaker 7: three grandkids.
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:Speaker 6: They're also in
this, uh, in this building,
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:and the youngest son, Rufus
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:Speaker 7: and the wife Elizabeth,
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:Speaker 6: uh, wife Elizabeth.
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:Uh, they're also in the ministry,
uh, back in North India.
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:Uh, the one good thing is we
all are in ministry, but in
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:different parts of the world.
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:God has been so faithful
in our lives till now.
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:I request your sincere
prayers, continue your prayers.
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:If you have your Bible stern
with me to second Corinthians
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:chapter nine, verse five,
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:why I chose this verse.
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:As many of you know, we started this
series called Kingdom Builders last week.
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:And I want to continue
in those, in that series.
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:Speaker 7: Um, uh, when we look
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:Speaker 6: at, uh, 2 Corinthians
chapter 9 verse 6, it reads like this.
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:Remember there's a farmer who
plants only few seeds will get a
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:small crop, but the one who plants
generously will get a generous crop.
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:Speaker 7: Here,
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:Speaker 6: the writer, Paul
uses a terminology that is
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:understandable to the farmers.
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:Uh, I, I came to know that
Americans love farming.
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:Uh, there are, uh, different kinds of
farming in this, uh, in the United States,
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:but what we read in this chapter is he,
Paul is talking about the Kingdom of God.
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:We also see that in the Bible there
is, uh, there is this, uh, this theme
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:called sowing and reaping that we see,
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:but Paul here talks about
giving to the kingdom of.
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:Paul reminds us this.
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:A farmer who plants few seeds will, uh,
will have small crop, but who, who plants
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:generously will have a generous crop.
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:The person who gives generously
will reap generously.
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:We need to remember that
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:Speaker 7: for a farmer.
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:Speaker 6: A farmer always,
uh, buys the best seed for
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:him to sow it into the field.
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:He looks under the field and he buys the
seed according to how large his field is.
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:Speaker 7: If
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:Speaker 6: you give the best seed,
if you sold the best seed into the
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:field, you'll reap the best harvest.
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:Speaker 7: A
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:Speaker 6: farmer who plants a seed, he
waits for the biggest harvest in return.
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:That's the same thing that
a farmer stores the seed.
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:So Paul here reminds us about
sowing into the kingdom of God.
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:Speaker 7: When we
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:Speaker 6: come to verse seven,
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:we see a question there,
how we need to give.
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:We read that God loves a
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:Speaker 7: cheerful giver.
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:The Bible reminds us this.
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:Don't give sadly.
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:Don't give with peer pressure.
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:For
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:Speaker 6: God loves a cheerful giver.
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:Let me ask you this.
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:How should we give to God's kingdom?
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:We read that we, whatever your heart has
decided, that's what you need to give.
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:Don't give
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:Speaker 7: reluctantly.
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:You
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:Speaker 6: must.
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:You must each decide in your
heart how much you should give.
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:And you need to make sure you give,
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:Speaker 7: you give with, uh, gladness
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:more than the amount that we give.
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:Your attitude matters,
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:uh,
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:Speaker 6: how much that we sow
our attitude matters for it.
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:Uh, the, the farmer who sows,
he's expecting something.
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:And what is that expectation?
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:The expectation is that he
will reap a harvest in return.
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:Paul reminds us again in these
verses, Please don't give, sadly,
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:don't think that, oh God, I'm going
to give $10 or two a hundred dollars.
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:What is going to be my next situation?
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:Oh God.
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:Uh, I'm going to give a thousand
dollars, or I'm going to bless this,
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:uh, ministry, uh, and wait to what
is next or what we are expecting.
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:God, what is going to be my life next?
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:Speaker 7: Please
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:Speaker 6: don't give like that.
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:Speaker 7: Don't, don't give
because somebody is forcing you.
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:We are not giving because
somebody is forcing us.
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:Speaker 6: We are giving because God
has done gracious things in our lives.
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:He's not, he's not a God
who's withhold stuff from
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:Speaker 7: us.
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:He's a God who provides for us.
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:He's a good God.
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:He's a God who will enrich
and generously give us.
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:When we go back to the verse four,
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:we read that he loves a cheerful giver.
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:How we give,
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:Speaker 6: I want to ask you this today.
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:How are you giving to God?
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:Are you, are you giving to
God's ministry with sadness?
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:Are you giving with, uh, are
you giving to God's ministry
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:with, uh, with peer pressure?
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:Or are you, are you giving
it from your own heart?
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:If we need to understand what the
word of God is saying right here,
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:we need to go, uh, to the, to the,
uh, portion of this scripture.
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:Second,
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:uh, let's go to second cor.
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:This chapter nine, verse five.
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:So, so I thought I should send these
brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift
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:you promised is ready, but I want it to
be a ruling gift, not one given grudge.
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:Speaker 7: Paul
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:Speaker 6: is reminding
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:Speaker 7: us here.
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:The gift you promised is ready.
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:Speaker 6: I want to urge you that
whatever you have promised, the gift
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:that you promised, make it ready.
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:Speaker 7: In the
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:Speaker 6: mission field,
there is a lot of expenses.
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:Uh, that's, that needs to come
through the mission of the church.
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:Uh, uh, spreading the gospel is one of
the, one of the missions of the church.
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:Speaker 7: Uh, getting people saved
is one of the mission of the church.
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:Speaker 6: Helping to spread this
gospel or this mission is one of the
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:critical mission for us as a church.
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:Speaker 7: What Paul is teaching here,
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:the gift that we need to give,
we need to make it ready.
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:There needs to be an enthusiasm in us.
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:And we also need to encourage
other people to give.
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:And
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:Speaker 6: that's when we can see
the goodness of God moving through
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:our lives and in the church.
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:Uh, when we, uh, when we look into
the giving portion of, in the,
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:in the, in the Kingdom of God,
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:Speaker 7: Macedonian,
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:Speaker 6: uh, Paul shows us an example.
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:He sets an example as a Macedonian church.
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:Speaker 7: Macedonian.
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:Speaker 6: Uh, let's look
into the, uh, Bassian Church.
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:When we go to, uh, second Corinthians
chapter eight, verse one to five,
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:we see an example set before
us as in the Macedonian Church,
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:Speaker 7: Macedonia.
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:Speaker 6: This example that we
have set in Macedonian church,
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:how they gave to the mission or
the, or the mission of the church.
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:We need to, uh, we need to, uh, we
need to take that and grab us and then,
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:uh, do the same thing in the church.
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:A Paul is reminding us this again.
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:Now, uh, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse
1, it reads like this, Now, I want you
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:to know, dear brothers and sisters,
what God in his kindness has done
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:through the churches in Macedonia.
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:Uh, what kind of kindness has,
has the Macedonian Church got?
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:Speaker 7: Uh, one
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:Speaker 6: of the things that we see is
the kindness that they got is because
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:they gave to the Macedonian Church.
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:Uh, the situation around them was
not favorable for them to give.
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:We read in the chapter two, they were,
they've been tested in many troubles
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:Speaker 7: and they were very poor.
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:The verse two, it reminds us,
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:Speaker 6: uh, second quarter,
chapter eight, verse two reads like
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:this, they are being tested by many
troubles and they are very poor, but
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:they are also filled with abundant
joy, which has overflowed in rich.
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:Generosity.
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:Uh, Paul is reminding us the how the
situation in the Macedonian Church,
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:they're being tested in many troubles,
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:but they're also filled.
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:Abundant joy.
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:They're very poor stage situation.
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:If you look at the situation, the, uh,
what they're going through, they cannot,
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:they, they don't have much to give to God
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:Speaker 7: our,
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:Speaker 6: but we read that
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:Speaker 7: they overflowed
with the rich generosity.
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:Speaker 6: I wanna ask you this, what are
the situation that we are encountering?
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:Speaker 7: Some people
go through hardships,
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:some people go through, uh,
tough situations in their life.
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:Speaker 6: Some people have a death
situation that they're going through
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:or other troubles in their life.
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:We cannot wait for the situations
to all be a favor for us to give
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:to God, but we need to turn the
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:Speaker 7: opposite.
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:Speaker 6: When we look at the Macedonian
church, even though they were tested
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:in many troubles, even though they were
in very poor stage, we see that they
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:were filled with abundant joy and which
has overflowed in rich generosity.
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:Where did this happiness or joy came from?
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:The kingdom of God is not just, uh,
drinking water or being filled, but
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:it's the Holy Spirit raining down on us.
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:We see that they were
filled with abundant joy.
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:When
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:Speaker 7: we come to, uh, verse
three, uh, second Corinthians,
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:chapter eight, verse three,
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:Speaker 6: we can see that how, how the
Macedonian Church gave Paul was a witness.
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:Speaker 7: We.
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:Speaker 6: For I testify that according
to their ability and beyond their
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:ability, they gave voluntarily begging
us insistently for the privilege
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:of participating in the service.
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:The Macedonian Church is begging, begging
them incidentally for the privilege
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:of participating in the service.
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:Even though they were, when we see,
when we look at the Macedonian Church,
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:even though they were going through
things and hardships, we see that even
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:in the midst of all that, they were
having a joy that was overflowing.
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:The, the, the rich generosity or the
abundant joy that they're feeling.
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:It reads like this, they gave according
to their ability and beyond their ability,
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:Speaker 7: how did they
give to God's mission?
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:They gave, uh, they gave
according to their ability.
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:And beyond their ability.
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:I want to ask you this question today.
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:How are we, uh, giving to God?
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:We need to give according to our ability.
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:And also beyond your ability.
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:And the, and
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:Speaker 6: the way the Holy
Spirit leads us, we need to give.
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:Speaker 7: We need to sow into the
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:Speaker 6: kingdom of God
according to how the Spirit
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:Speaker 7: leads us.
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:Speaker 6: Uh, as I mentioned
earlier, God is not a God who,
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:who withholds stuff from us.
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:Paul reminds us in the next verse
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:we read in verse five.
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:It reads like this.
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:They, they even did more than we hoped.
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:For their first action was to
give themselves to God and to
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:us as God wanted them to do.
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:Let me remind that verse again,
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:Speaker 7: Adam.
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:Speaker 6: They even did
more than we hoped for.
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:For their first action was
to give themselves to God
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:Speaker 7: and to us.
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:Speaker 6: This we need to
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:Speaker 7: carefully look into this verse.
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:Paul was thinking this church
is going through very hardship.
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:They were in a very poor stage.
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:How much
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:Speaker 6: can this church
give to the mission of the,
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:Speaker 7: uh, mission of the church?
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:Speaker 6: But when he understood how much
they gave to the mission of the church,
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:Paul is reminding us that Beyond
their, beyond what Paul thought
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:that church in Macedonia gave.
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:First, they themselves gave to God.
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:And not only they gave it
to God's ministry, but they
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:have blessed me as well.
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:Speaker 7: So
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:Speaker 6: what can we
understand in these verses?
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:They also gave it to the pastors
that were there, which was Paul
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:and their, and their friends.
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:And not only that, they
gave themselves to God.
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:Speaker 7: Let's go back to chapter,
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:Speaker 6: uh, chapter nine.
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:Speaker 7: Let's come to verse eight.
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:Speaker 6: And the God is able
to make all grace, uh, come in
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:abundance to you so that you may
always have complete sufficiency in
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:everything and have an abundance for
every good work and act of charity.
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:Paul here reminds us that we need
to be, uh, sufficient or condemned
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:in every situation that we have.
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:We need to have contentment or
we need to be condemned in every
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:situation that God leads us.
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:While we live in this earth, we
go through things in our life.
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:Though we are living in this world,
when we are faced with troubles and
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:sores, we need to make sure that
we are content in what we have.
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:In the next verses, we see that.
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:Then you will always have
everything you need and plenty
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:left over to share with others.
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:Uh, let me ask you how much
can, uh, how much things that
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:you're doing for the community?
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:Speaker 7: Uh, Paul Hermine says
we need to, we need to have plenty
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:left over to share with others.
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:Gonna,
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:Speaker 6: well, when we, when we give
out of our generosity, God will make sure
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:that we will reap the harvest in return
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:Speaker 7: when we go to the next verse.
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:I'm going to need an egg and
then I'm going to look into it.
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:Speaker 6: They share freely
and give generously to the poor.
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:Their good deeds will remember it forever.
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:If, if, if you're sitting here and
you're going through things in your life,
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:God is here to bring a
generous life for you.
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:God is the one who promotes you.
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:Speaker 7: There's nothing
impossible with God.
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:The Bible reads as this.
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:Uh, God will,
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:Speaker 6: God is the one who
brings the generosity in our lives.
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:Alright?
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:Uh, when we work, when we work, we earn.
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:The blessings of God is what
we have for us in our lives.
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:In order for our things to
shift, God has to bless us.
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:In order for us to have a better
life, God needs to bless us.
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:In order for us to have, uh, to remove
our hardships, God needs to bless us.
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:Only then we can, we can be
in that rich, abundant life.
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:When we come to verse 10,
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:this chapter nine verse
standing reads like this, for
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:God is the one who provides.
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:seed for the farmer and then bread to eat.
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:Paul is reminding
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:Speaker 7: us here again,
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:we need to
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:Speaker 6: underline that
verse 10 and read it carefully.
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:Uh, the verse like this, he who provides
seed to the sower and bread for life will
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:provide and multiply your seed for sowing.
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:The Paul reminds us here that only
a sower needs this, this seed.
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:Uh, for a farmer,
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:Speaker 7: Uh,
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:Speaker 6: for a farmer, he carries
that seed in his shoulder and have
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:that burden to, to sow into the field.
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:He carries that burden
and goes to the field.
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:And he takes that seed and
he sows it into the field.
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:And when he sows the seed into the field,
he's expecting something in return.
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:And what is that expectation is this,
that he will reap a huge harvest.
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:And Paul is in the same sense
is reminding us here again.
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:Uh, the, only the sower will get the seed.
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:Uh, I want to ask you this.
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:How much are we willing to
sow into the kingdom of God?
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:How much are we willing to
sow into the kingdom of God?
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:According to that, God is able
to give us the best seed to
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:sow into the kingdom of God.
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:Only if you sow the best seed,
you will reap the best harvest.
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:The field that is already prepared
for the harvest is the only field
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:that will reap the best harvest.
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:The farmer who sows like that
will never be disappointed.
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:The farmer who sows, there's
an expectation in his heart.
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:When I sow into those fields, he
is expecting at the right time
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:he will reap the best harvest.
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:Speaker 7: When we come to the verse
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:Speaker 6: 11,
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:We see that God enriched us in every way.
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:What does it mean to be
enriched in every way?
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:It's the generosity or it's the
increase or the harvest of that field.
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:God is faithful, God is gracious
enough to change the circumstances
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:that we are going through right now.
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:Children of God, Church, we need to
have a heart to sow it into the kingdom.
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:When we come to verse, uh, verse
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:Speaker 7: 11.
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:You can't take.
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:Speaker 6: Verse 11 it reads like this,
Yes, you will be enriched in every way
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:so that you can always be generous.
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:And when we take your gifts to those
who need them, they will thank God.
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:Speaker 7: Paul is reminding us,
uh, reminding us here that when
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:Speaker 6: he takes the gifts
to the poor or who is in need.
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:They will thank God for the gift.
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:Speaker 7: They will.
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:Thank God for the gift,
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:Speaker 6: the value.
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:The value of praise is written in Psalms.
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:When, when
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:Speaker 7: we give to the God's kingdom,
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:Speaker 6: it's much more than the,
the, the big stuff that we see.
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:When we praise God, it's more than,
more than the big stuff that we see.
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:It's much more valuable
when we praise God for what
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:Speaker 7: He has done.
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:Speaker 6: How I wanna ask you, how much
are we thanking God for what he has done?
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:Uh, here, Paul reminds us when
we, when we take your gifts to
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:those who are in need, they will.
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:Thank God for your gifts,
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:whatever you have done
to the kingdom of God.
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:When we give that way, we
will be enriched in every way.
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:Speaker 7: In everything,
you will be enriched.
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:You'll be enriched in your spiritual life.
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:Speaker 6: And also, God is able
to enrich our physical life.
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:God can also change or
enrich your finances.
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:Speaker 7: God can enrich your kids life.
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:God can enrich and bless you with homes.
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:God can, God can
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:Speaker 6: bless you
with everything that you
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:Speaker 7: need.
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:God can change your circumstances today.
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:Our God is a God who blesses us.
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:Our God is a God who enriches.
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:Speaker 6: God is not a God who who likes
to see us crying or be in a bad situation.
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:He's a God who enrich and
enriches us and be glad about it.
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:Speaker 7: So when we give it to
the God's mission, we will, we
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:need to be content in what we do.
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:And
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:Speaker 6: when we do that way,
he's a faithful God to enrich our
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:circumstances in everything that we do.
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:Uh, the band can come forward,
uh, the band can come forward.
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:Uh, what he said was, uh, we have
an opportunity right in front of us.
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:God has given us an opportunity
right in front of us today.
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:What is this, what is this opportunity?
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:Uh, I heard that there is a miracle
offering that is happening next week.
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:Uh, it was
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:Speaker 7: shown, it was shown before.
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:In this offering,
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:Speaker 6: we want to make sure
we give the best offering to God.
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:Speaker 7: What is,
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:Speaker 6: what is it reminding us?
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:What Paul is reminding us here
again, is how much what we give
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:our tides and kingdom builders
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:and the terminology he's he Paul
has used is the farming language.
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:We also saw that how Macedonian
Church gave it to the work of God.
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:They gave it with their ability
and beyond their ability.
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:And I pray that God, God blesses you
in that way that you can give with
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:your ability and beyond your ability.
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:Whoever gives into the kingdom
of God, they will be blessed.
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:Uh, I want to say this.
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:When you give, don't be weary.
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:Speaker 7: Because at the
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:Speaker 6: right time,
you will reap a harvest.
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:Speaker 7: Um,
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:Speaker 6: uh, uh, church, I
want to share something that
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:happened in my own personal life.
440
:There were moments in my life
where I couldn't feed my kids.
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:There are moments in my life where
I couldn't buy basic necessities,
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:necessities for my family.
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:Uh, there were moments in my life where I
couldn't even buy things for our family.
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:There were moments in my life where,
uh, we had, we had hardships that were
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:going circle by circle in our family.
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:Speaker 7: And
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:Speaker 6: in those situations,
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:Speaker 7: I never looked to any people.
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:Speaker 6: But we made sure we looked
upon the face of Jesus and earnestly cry.
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:Speaker 7: And we, uh, and we
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:Speaker 6: saw the goodness
of God move in our family
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:know, uh, my oldest son encounter,
ha my oldest son had cancer.
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:And I didn't have money to, uh,
money to send him to the hospitals.
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:But I, I made sure I prayed
and to seek the face of God.
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:And at the right time, God provided us
for the funding too, so that I can send
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:my son to get the treatments for cancer.
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:Even in those situations where we were
going through hardships, We made sure
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:every blessing that we got, we made sure
we sew it back to the kingdom of God.
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:My wife is sitting
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:Speaker 7: right here.
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:Her name is Mariamma Kurian.
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:Speaker 6: She's a prayer
warrior and God used
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:Speaker 7: her in the prophetic gifts.
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:Speaker 6: The, the backbone of
my ministry is her prayer, prayer
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:for life, uh, after my oldest
son was, uh, as passed away.
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:Next was my, uh, my wife who,
who met with an encounter.
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:The doctor said, uh, she was, her life
was almost done and we didn't have money
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:to, uh, send her to the good hospitals.
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:Again, we, we encountered how
God was faithful in our lives.
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:At the right time, the funding
came and we could treat her.
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:God healed her from everything
that she was going through
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:and gave a brand new life.
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:And now we are serving
the ministry together.
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:Speaker 7: But
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:Speaker 6: always we made sure that
we gave it back to the kingdom of God.
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:God is not a God who
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:Speaker 7: withholds stuff from us.
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:Speaker 6: I pray that, uh, I, I
encourage the church today that,
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:uh, uh, give beyond your ability
and with your, within your ability.
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:Speaker 7: God will surely bless us.
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:I want to conclude my sermon today.
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:Speaker 6: Uh, I wanna, I wanna
invite the prayer team to be, uh,
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:go back to this, uh, auditorium.
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:As how God has, uh, as, as
provided for us and our needs.
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:He's a faithful God
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:Speaker 7: to meet your needs.
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:He's a God who cares for us.
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:He's a God who loves us.
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:And he's a God who gives us generously.
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:And he's a God who will
enrich us in every way.
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:May the good God bless you.
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:I ask your earnest prayers.
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:Speaker 6: I pray that, uh, I pray
that you continue to, uh, pray for
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:our ministry and, uh, and whenever
you think about us, say a prayer,
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:I I earthly pray that you
remember us in your prayers.
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:Pray the good.
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:God bless you.
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:Speaker 7: Church, would