Scripture referenced 17 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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John 13:34-35 the command to love one another as Jesus loved, so all will know his disciples
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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Keep this verse
John 6:37
Jesus will never drive away anyone who comes to him, showing he accepts us
37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
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Psalm 27:10
though father and mother forsake, the Lord will receive and take up the believer
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up.
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Titus 3:7
justified by grace, heirs with hope of eternal life
7 that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
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Luke 12:6-7
sparrows not forgotten by God, hairs numbered, believers worth more than many sparrows
6 “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God.
7 But the very hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
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1 Timothy 4:4
everything God created is good, value depends on who made it
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving.
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Ephesians 2:10
believers are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
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1 Peter 1:19
Christ's precious blood paid for believers, the greatest payment ever made
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ;
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Isaiah 49:15-16
God will not forget believers, having engraved them on the palms of his hands
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. your walls are continually before me.
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1 Peter 2:17
show proper respect to everyone, love believers, fear God, honor the emperor
17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
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Mark 10:21
Jesus looked at the rich young ruler and loved him before calling him to sell everything
21 Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”
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Isaiah 43:25
God blots out transgressions and remembers sin no more
25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
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Ephesians 1:4
before the world was made God loved and chose believers in Christ to be holy and without fault
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love;
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Romans 8:1
no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, forgiveness unconditional and complete
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
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Romans 15:7
accept one another as Christ accepted you, to bring praise to God
7 Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.
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John 3:17
God sent his son not to condemn the world but to save it
17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
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John 8:1
woman caught in adultery, Jesus accepts her without condemnation and tells her to sin no more
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message, part of the church's "forty days of love" series, looked at what it means to love others the way Jesus loves us. Pastor David walked through three connected ideas: accepting others as Jesus accepts us, valuing others as Jesus values us, and forgiving others as Jesus forgives us. The thread running through all three was that you cannot give away something you have not first received.
What was said
Pastor David opened by pointing out something easy to miss. We talk a lot about accepting Christ, but the deeper, less familiar truth is that Christ has accepted us. He drew from John 6 and Psalm 27:10 to make the case that even if a father and mother walk away, God takes us up, using a Hebrew expression that carries the same picture as Pharaoh's daughter lifting baby Moses from the river and making sure he was cared for.
Rejection, he said, is the deepest wound people carry. We spend enormous energy trying to earn acceptance, and it shapes nearly every decision we make, from the clothes we wear to the careers we choose. He told the story of his own kids and how his son Steven was left unchosen in volleyball games, and how that early sting of not being picked never quite leaves a person. Jesus, he pointed out, was perfect and still got rejected, so being rejected is not the problem. The problem is where we go looking for acceptance.
From there he turned to value. He walked through what the chemical components of the human body are worth on the open market and what famous works of art have sold for, and set both against 1 Peter 1:19: the precious blood of Christ. His point was that value is set by two things, who made something and what someone will pay for it. God made us and paid the highest price imaginable, so the argument that any person is worthless cannot stand.
He lingered on the story from John 8 of the woman caught in adultery, surrounded by people holding stones. Jesus let her accusers leave one by one and then told her he did not condemn her either. Pastor David was careful to draw the line between acceptance and approval. Jesus did not approve of what she had done, but he accepted her as a person and then said, go and sin no more. That, he said, is the model for how we are meant to treat the people around us.
Forgiveness came last, and he was direct that it is the hardest of the three. He read from Isaiah 43 and Romans 8 and kept coming back to the same contrast: God does not carry grudges, does not rehearse offenses and does not plan a response. He releases them. We, on the other hand, tend to go home on Sunday afternoon and draft a plan for getting even. He named bitterness as the enemy's tool, something that starts inside but always ends up hurting someone else.
He closed with a story about a man who had grown up illegitimate, mocked and avoided in his small town, who slipped into a church one Sunday and was caught by a pastor on the way out who looked at him and said, I know who your family is, there is a distinct resemblance, you are a child of God. That man became a two-term governor of Tennessee. The point was not the biography but the moment, the moment when one person chose to accept, value and speak truth to someone everyone else had written off.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor David talked about spending fifteen focused minutes with someone you love and how unfamiliar that felt for some people. What does it reveal about a relationship when genuine, undivided attention is uncomfortable for both people involved?
- Pastor David drew a distinction between accepting a person and approving of what they have done, using the story of the woman caught in adultery as his example. Where do you find that line hardest to hold in your own relationships?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,541 words
0:00
It's me in the piano this morning, so you'll have to sing really loudly. But go ahead and stand up and welcome one another, and then we'll get started with praise this morning.
0:58
Without you and take my voice and pour it out let it sing the songs of mercy I have found for I have nothing I have nothing without you
1:32
and all my
3:51
without you.
3:57
Very nice. Say good morning again to somebody else. Okay, an oldie and you should all know this by heart, so
4:45
lots of voices please. Here we go.
7:20
Amen.
7:24
Let's praise his name right now. Dear Jesus, thank you. Thank you for the beautiful, beautiful day you've given us. Thank you for the snow. Thank you for this great place.
7:32
Thank you Lord for our friends that have come from far and near to be with us. May this day be a glorious day as we bring glory to you in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. You may be seated.
7:42
Alright, I had met a couple families from North Carolina. It was so good to hear that good old southern draw again from where I come from in Lower Alabama and so it's just good to have some southern. Anybody else from the South beside North Carolina? Where? Texas.
7:58
That's South. Yep, nice and warm down there. Any place else? California. Would the Northern California folks get here this morning?
8:05
There was people that called me at midnight. No. They wouldn't know what time the church started. I said it's already started. Here from California?
8:14
Nobody? No place else besides anybody there? Where you from? Michigan. Bless your heart.
8:20
It's cold in Michigan. Well, glad to have you here. Anywhere else? Well, welcome. We're glad you're here this morning.
8:25
Trust to be a good day for you and you enjoy all God's blessings with us today. Just a couple of quick announcements. Thank you, Kylie, for leading worship. Renzi and Aaron are at a wedding, and, Kylie did a great job this morning. We're gonna be singing in a few more minutes.
8:42
We the, nominating committee, nominated two folks from the congregation to be on our search committee, and that search committee will begin hopefully in November. And so the two names, we didn't get them in time to put them in the bulletin, but I need to give you the names this morning, And then they'll be in a bullet for the next two weeks, and we'll vote at the end of the month. But, Margo Raymer is here. She's on the search committee and Jean DeMarsh. So those two are on the search committee with the elders, and, I needed to let you know that ahead of time.
9:08
And they'll be in a bulletin next week and the week after, and then we're planning on having the election, from the congregation in the end of October. So November, we can meet. So it's great. Good start. And, pray with us as we look and see God's man for this congregation and this community of faith.
9:25
It's exciting to know and to follow what God is doing to be a part of what he's doing. It's great to be a part of that. How you doing with your we're in our forty days of love. We're in our second week of it and how you doing with your fifteen minutes of focus? Feeling pretty good?
9:39
I had one guy called me and say, that fifteen minutes of focus, started out really good but it it got to be rather difficult as I started focusing on my wife or my children for fifteen fifteen minutes for each one every day and you I'm just not used to that and they're not used to me being around that long and face to face. It was pretty interesting. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Where you get opportunity to get involved in a person's life and get into their face and get to know them. It's kind of exciting.
10:04
I know my wife and I, we we went out taking pictures. She loved to do that. And so we're out there, and we they just closed the the Moose Pass. But before they closed it, we were the last group on there, and here's this bear. And and everybody's out there taking pictures of the bear.
10:18
Of course, it's pouring down rain, and we're watching taking pictures of the bear, and the, park ranger comes up and moves our buddy on. And so I said, honey, there's just no more pictures out here. This is just it's dreary and you turn it on off. It's dreary and and and so we're we're going along. Well, honey, you promise to take me out in pictures as part of our fifteen minutes of connection time.
10:36
So I'm driving along. All of a sudden, hear that, stop. Well, by the time I hear the stop, I see a picture and by the time it registers in my brain, I'm always already, you know, a 100 yards past it. And so she said, there's a picture. You missed the picture.
10:51
And now I have to back up on this crazy road like this to try to get this picture that I'm sure is there but I didn't see. And so I'm backing up and I I I missed it nearly missing the trees. I'm saying, you know, this fifteen minute thing, you know, can be exciting but also can be challenging. But that's what's part of it. It's it's you never know what it's gonna be like until you get into it and so I'm hoping you're gonna do that.
11:12
We have another homework assignment for you this weekend and I and I know you're gonna like it. How many hunters do we have here this morning? That's great. Bless you. Know now why a Lower Alabama guy should never go hunting in Wyoming by himself.
11:29
And and one of them, you know, this is pastor appreciation month and the best way to appreciate your pastor is take them hunting. But one of so nobody took me hunting. So I'm out there by myself. Anyway, I called Moyer and Moyer says, can go hunting in my back my backfield here in on the house. So I go up there.
11:43
And he says, you'll you'll get in these little pads and you'll there's mule deer everywhere. So I I I find this path and I'm walking up here and and I find this trail and I get on this trail and I'm starting to feel pretty good because there's this big big hoof there. Said, man, I'm I'm going into an elk. So I'm following and saying, and now you gotta climb here. You know, Alabama, we just gotta walk.
12:03
We find a little stand, get a tree, and we wait, we can sing, we can pray, we can do one, the deer come, we shoot it, we go home. Very easy. But here you gotta climb, you gotta keep climbing. So I'm following this trail up, I'm climbing, but I'm seeing this this this big, big, big track and I'm excited now because I'm already put this thing six by six. It's already that big and and I'm so, that's what's driving me up this cliff and I get all the way to the top and this thing is still climbing up there and I'm following, following up there and I run into three cow.
12:32
Now, I'm thinking, you're thinking, Elk Cow, aren't you? No, they were beef cow. This poor boy from Alabama can't tell a difference between a cow and an elk. No wonder you should never let a guy like me hunting by himself. I was tempted after climbing that high to shoot the thing And then just find some twigs, stick it in its head and say, look, I got a six by six, but I didn't do it.
12:57
But it's a great time of year to be here and we're glad you're here. I want you to hear this little clip from, our we're having a choir for for Christmas, Christmas cantata, and I want you to hear this thirty second clip, and then our choir director will give announcement. Go ahead.
13:47
Well, good morning. The glorious light of the world came to us in the stillness of the night. He was king without a crown, a prince without a palace, a sovereign without a state. This is the story of how much God loved the world. This is the story of what he was willing to give to show us that love.
14:05
It is a marvelous story, an incredible reality. The account of the incarnation is exquisite in its simplicity yet magnificent in its design. It is the journal of the death of the dominion of darkness accomplished through the birth of the light of the ages. The deceivers lies finally laid to rest by divine light. The light that gives light to every man.
14:25
This chronicle of the coming of the Son of God loves pure light. Two Wednesdays ago we started our choir practice for this Christmas season and we are looking to add to that number. We would love to get 25 to 30 people and so we are asking you guys to come and join us. It's an exciting cantata. It'll be done with the soundtrack that you heard in the background but it's a wonderful message that will be will be presenting on Christmas Eve.
14:55
It's a great message to bring your unsaved friends and obviously, usually around Christmas and Easter, people come out to church that don't normally come. Awesome message and a great opportunity to share the gospel and you maybe not be able to speak to them directly. You could be a part of the choir and welcome them to come to hear the gospel. So, I encourage you to come out if you can sing. That is kind of a small prerequisite but
15:21
if
15:21
you can't read music, that's okay. We have soundtracks and things that we'll be able to give you to help you but if we don't get enough people to come out and sing, you know, it's it's going be hard to have a choir on Christmas Eve. So, we really need you to come out and if you have any questions, you can come to the office or give me a call but love to have you come out Wednesday night, 06:30 to 08:00 and just so you know, reason why we start a little early is because November will be taking some weeks off. So we're trying to get everything under our belt and then you can practice at home and then come back in December and finalize the whole thing. So look forward to seeing this Wednesday night, 06:30 right here.
15:56
Thank you.
15:57
Thank you, Aaron. If you open up your, information packet, you'll see a number of announcements, some very important ones. Awana tonight at 05:30. Our youth are meeting as well. We had a great retreat and an exciting time, Carl.
16:10
We're just all excited about what God was doing last weekend at the retreat. And so our young people meet tonight and our Awana meet tonight at 05:30. So this place is all transformed into a Awana Center and it's exciting. Martin, Martin Murphy, is he here? Are you here, Martin?
16:24
I don't see him. Okay. Well, he was gonna make an announcement. They do need some, help in terms of, listeners being able to hear the scriptures. And so if any of you are willing to come and be a part of, just being a part of the team to listen to the kids as they quote their scriptures and they mark it off, that would be a help.
16:45
And so if you wanna do that, see, Diane or Martin today and that'll help them greatly, to have just a it doesn't take that much time and it's a great opportunity for you to invest in in a child's life, and you can hear them quote the scripture. That's pretty exciting. I did it a number of times last year, and these kids get all excited about the scripture verses that they learn, and it's great. So we do need some help in that area. So if you'd like to see Diane and Martin, that'd be great.
17:07
The rest of announcements are there. You can see them. We'll wait on you now for the morning tithes and offerings. They're praying out there for the offering. That's okay.
17:38
It's good to pray for it. That would be bigger than it. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for today and for this opportunity to serve. Would you take these gifts this morning, multiply them, use them for your glory now in Jesus name.
17:50
Amen.
19:25
Out of, John four reading from The Message. A woman, a Samaritan came to draw water. Jesus said, would you give me a drink of water? His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch. The Samaritan woman taken aback asked, how come you, a Jew, are asking me a Samaritan woman for a drink?
19:46
Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans. Jesus answered, if you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink and I would give you fresh living water. The woman said, sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this living water? Are you better man than our ancestor Jacob who dug this well and drink drink from it and his sons and livestock and passed it down to us?
20:13
Jesus said, everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst, not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within gushing fountains of endless life. The woman said, sir, give me this water so I I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again. This might be an old song to some of you but new to us here at First Baptist.
20:38
So if you wouldn't mind please standing and learning this song Living Water.
20:58
How lovely is your dwelling place oh Lord God almighty my soul yearns it even faints for the courts of the you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child I'm your child. Oh Lord God who saves me day and night I cry out before you may my prayer come before you turn your ear to my cry you fill my soul with your living water and am your child you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child
22:33
now that you've got it let's hear you sing
22:35
it from the beginning how
22:38
lovely is your dwelling place oh Lord God almighty my soul yearns it even faints for the courts of the you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child God who saves me day and night I cry out before you may my prayer come before you turn your ear to my cry you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child you fill my soul with your living water and I am your child you my soul with your living water and
24:37
Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
24:42
Thank you. You fill my soul with living water and I am your child. Ain't that precious? That that's what it's really all about. The Lord fills us and uses us and we get to know that we are his child.
24:59
Part of the genius of the forty days of love program that we're going through in these next several weeks is to help us understand that we really are loved. We are loved by a god who created us, who who loved us so much that he gave his son Jesus for us. We are loved and understand what that love is all about is what we're talking about over the course of this next week. So, if you take out your little information sheet that's in your bulletin that gives you, the outline and we'll go this morning as we move forward. I want to look at John chapter 13 verse thirty four and thirty Yeah, thirty four and thirty five.
25:39
Will you read this with me out loud? Let's read it together. A new command I give you. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.
25:59
I want you to write this down on the flyleaf of on the back of your little information sheet or in your Bible or somewhere so you have it. Here it is. When you understand how Jesus loves you, when you understand how Jesus loves you, it gets much easier to love others. Write that down. When you understand how much Jesus loves you, it gets much easier to love others and as we walk through this morning, I want to give you three things that help us understand that that Jesus wants us to love others and the first one is he wants us to accept others like like Jesus accepts you.
26:40
He he wants us to accept others like he accepts you. Now, you and I, we have we've accepted Christ but do you understand and have you ever realized that Jesus has accepted you? There's something really powerful about that. We've accepted Christ but to understand fully that he has accepted us is pretty powerful. I want to read to you John chapter six verse thirty four thirty seven.
27:04
All that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast him out. I'll never drive him away. Never drive him away. That means that he accepts us. I I want you to say this with me out loud.
27:19
He accepts me. Say it. He accepts me. Say it again. He There's something exciting about that.
27:26
To know that Jesus accepts me. He loves me. I've accepted him as my savior but he also accepted me. Now, now, counseling and psychologist tell us that the deepest wounds that people face in their life comes from rejection. Rejection.
27:43
And then you and I you and I know what that's about. We we we've gone through that. We spend much of our time of our lives trying to earn acceptance. We try to earn it from our parents. We try to earn it from our peers.
27:53
We try to earn it from those who respect and and those even that we envy. We try to earn respect. The drive to be accepted influences the clothes we wear. It it influences the places that we go. It it influences the careers that we choose.
28:09
It influences even the cars that we buy. All kinds of things. People do crazy things for acceptance. How many of you have taken a dare when you were young? Come on.
28:17
Be honest with me. I can remember as a child going back and and that's way back. As as a kid, with my cousins, they take me swimming and we'd go to this river and it was a real high bridge and they would get on singing and a little kid I I was scared of heights and and they said, you gotta jump off this bridge. There's no way I'm jumping off this bridge. I'll die.
28:38
And and said, no, I dare you to jump off this bridge. I didn't move. I double dare you to jump off the bridge. I didn't move. When that when they went to, I triple dare you.
28:49
I mean, all his peers, all my friends, my cousins there, they were all jumping off and I was standing. So, I had to jump off. So, here I am jumping off his foot. This bridge is 20 feet high. Boom into this river and it's ice cold water.
28:59
Boom. And I knew I was going to die but I did it anyway because I wanted to be accepted. I figured, you know what? If I die, at least I died knowing that I got accepted. So, I die, I jump off in this thing and and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going be and actually it was kind of fun but don't we do crazy things to be accepted?
29:18
We take a dare. We take a double dare. We take a triple dare. We do things because we want to be accepted. Some of us have unpleasant memories.
29:26
Go back and and we have pain in our life because we felt what rejection is all about. And no one likes that. No one wants to go through it. No one wants to feel it. No one wants to have it.
29:39
Sometimes, you say, well, you know, if I could be perfect and everyone would accept me. Well, Jesus was perfect and he was rejected. So, it's not about being perfect. People are always going to reject us for one thing or another But I wanna show you a verse how much Jesus loves you. Look at Psalms 10 twenty seven ten.
29:56
Psalms twenty seven ten. Read it out loud with me. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will Receive me. Say it again. The Lord will Receive me.
30:05
The Lord will receive me. The Lord will receive me. In fact, I wanna read it to you in another version. It says this, my father and mother have forsaken me but the Lord will take me up. And that expression take me up is a Hebrew expression and and it means that God will take care of you.
30:23
The same expression that we find in Hebrew that in the Old Testament that covers this in the New Testament is found in in Exodus, in Moses when his parents forsook him, they had to turn him over because of the law, and so mother put him what? Little baby in the the river in the bulrushes, and the expression there was when the when Pharaoh's daughter came down to find baby Moses and the sister was there watching this all happen, you know the story. And when she found solo baby Moses in in the little basket, she gooses out and she falls in love with little baby and she wants to take care of it. Marion comes in and said, do you need a nurse, maid? So Marion goes back and gets mama.
31:04
And so mama raises Moses but the expression, the word picture in the Hebrew there is taken up, cared for and it's the same expression here in the New Testament. Jesus takes care of us. God takes care of us. He he never forsakes us. He never lets us let's us by ourselves.
31:21
He takes care of us. Look at Titus chapter three verse seven. So that being justified, let's read it together. So that having being justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. The hope of what?
31:36
Eternal life. Eternal. Oh, now you're doing great. Good. I even heard that North Carolinas got yelled at us.
31:41
Good. Hope of eternal life. See, that's what we have in him. That's how much he loves us. It it's based on grace.
31:48
It's not based on performance. We are accepted by Christ. How important is it for you and I to be accepted? I remember when my kids were growing up, we've got three boys and they're all big and they all played football. But Steven, he was this big hawk when he came out.
32:10
He just kind of plopped out, boom. And there he was, he was ready to drive a car. So when they came out, just boom, big baby, almost eleven pounds and and then we were in the France, learning French to go to Africa as missionaries and and and my wife gave him this this special French stuff and he got stronger and bigger and bigger and stronger and bigger. I mean, he did like this. And so, he actually got bigger quicker than he was supposed to get bigger.
32:36
So, now, he's we're in MK school and for those of you that's a missionary kid school in Africa and and he's so big but but he doesn't know what to do with all of his strength and so, we're playing volleyball and he and he can't hit the volleyball over the bat and and so he tries to think it goes right and left and he can't hit the thing and and so the other kids were saying, he can't even play volleyball. This big big giant of a kid. He can't even hit the ball over the net and so when it came time to choose sides, they wouldn't pick Steven. Now, now my son, my oldest son, Ronnie, he was very athletic and and I said, listen, you make sure you pick your brother. I don't want to pick him.
33:10
He can't hit the ball over the net. And and so, I'm telling you, I don't want Steven to feel rejected. You pick him. I don't want to pick him. You pick him or you won't be able to play ever again.
33:20
Okay. So, you know, dad said, you pick him or I'll break him. So, he he picks him and every time Steven get back there and he hit the ball, he couldn't get the thing over net and and so, he felt the sense of rejection. He felt the sense of, you know what? I'm not athletic.
33:35
I'm just big but I can't. I don't have control of my muscles. So he went on this this special thing and he started getting stronger and stronger and stronger and he he took karate and he learned all these things and pretty soon he became not only good, but he became excellent. So when he hit the volleyball, he he didn't hit it like this. He hit it like this and he go like knock these guys over.
33:53
And then when he would slam, my son who thinks he's the greatest athlete, he get hit in his chest and he fall over. All of sudden, this kid who wasn't any good anymore, he was good but you realize what happened in the beginning? A feeling of rejection when no one picked you. Ever been there? When you're standing in line and you got 10 people and and and you're the last one to be chosen and and the other guy, well, they gotta choose you.
34:12
So, come on and you feel like, wow. Feelings of rejection, feelings of not acceptance. That's not the way it was with Jesus. In John chapter three verse 17, God did not send his son into the world to condemn it but to save the world. John chapter eight verse one is a beautiful picture of acceptance.
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And I want you to understand the difference between acceptance and approval. Here Jesus is, he's teaching and these religious leaders come out with a woman they just caught adultery and they bring her to Jesus in the center of this thing and and they're all there ready to condemn and they say, teacher, we caught this woman in adultery and you know what the law says? We're supposed to stone her. What do you say? Now, they were trying to test Jesus.
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They were trying to put him in the corner and Jesus starts, you know, right in the sand. He says, alright. Anybody here hasn't sinned, you throw the first stone. It was quiet. So, the Bible says in John chapter eight, one by one, from the oldest town, they start quietly leaving the scene that they had brought this woman of adultery to in the middle, ready to condemn her, ready to stone her to death, they all left.
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Jesus then says to the woman and caught adultery, he says, woman, where are your accusers? And she says, lord, they're not here. And then he says this, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Now listen to this.
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Can you imagine if you were the one caught in the middle and you were there sinning and you were there and everybody was condemning you. Everyone was ready to stone you for what you'd done. Then, all of a sudden, those who already condemned you left and you're standing and here you are in a circle with Jesus and you're waiting for him to condemn you. And he says, neither do I condemn you. Then he adds, see that's accepting her.
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He didn't approve what she did but he accepted her as a person and then he said, go now and don't go back into that. Don't continue sinning. Go and sin no more. Can you imagine what that woman must have felt that moment? I believe some of you can.
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I believe that all of us, if we were honest, we would understand what that moment's like. When we could be condemned for our sin, condemned for our actions, condemned for what we do, and all of a sudden, we look at the face of Jesus and he says, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. So, Jesus accepted her and he wants us to accept others like he accepts us. Romans chapter 15 verse seven and verse two said this way, accept one another than then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.
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So, so what brings praise to God? Accepting others like Christ accepts you. That brings praise to him. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good to build them up. So, so we're asked to accept others and sometimes that's not so easy.
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In fact, how you doing with that? How are you accepting people who are different than you? How about how are you accepting people that are difficult to accept? Weak or strong? Doing pretty good?
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Are you struggling in that area? Jesus wants us to accept others like he accepts us. When we do that, we learn to love like Jesus loves us. We also learn to value others like Jesus values us. Luke chapter 12 verse six and seven, And not five sparrows sold for 2 pennies yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
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Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid you're worth more than many sparrows. The messenger put it this way, God pays even greater attention to you down to the last detail even numbering the hairs on your head. Now, for some of you, that's not so difficult but for others, it's a lot. So, don't be intimidated by all this bully talk.
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You're worth more than a million canaries. What he's saying here is you're valuable. You are valuable. How much do you think you're worth? Not net worth but self worth.
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In fact, for those of you that think that you're really worth a lot, net worth, let me rock your boat for a minute. I went on trivia.com this morning and found out that the average person's body is worth $4.50. All if you take all the the chemical components and bring them down, it's worth a dollar. What's worth most is your skin. Yep.
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Your skin is worth 25¢ a square foot. You got about 14 to 18 square feet, so that's $3.50. So the total net worth of your body is $4.50. Now, self worth. Self worth.
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How much are you worth? Well, what does the Bible say? I wanna give you a couple of illustration. Value depends on who made it. Who made it?
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First Timothy chapter four verse four. Read it with me, will you? For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. Everything that God made is good. Everything.
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See, value depends upon who made it. For example, a painting made by Picasso perhaps would be more valuable than a painting by Bill Raymer. Or a song written by John Denver probably be more valuable than a barf bag signed by David Hanson. You see, value depends on who made it. The creator often determines the value of common things.
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Ephesians chapter two verse 10, you don't have it there but let me read it for you. I love this. I love this verse. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Pretty exciting.
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So, value depend on who made it. Also, depend on what someone will pay for it. How much your health is worth? How much a baseball card is worth or a piece of art is worth? How much somebody will pay for it?
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I I went on trivia.com again this morning to find the five or six things, most expensive things that people paid for. A Jackson Pollock painting in 1948 sold for a $140,000,000. It wasn't worth a $148,000,000 but that's what people paid for it. A sculpture by Alberto Giomcometti sold for a 103,000,000. A badminton cabinet.
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That was owned by the third duke of Beaufort. I don't know what the first duke of Beaufort would have gotten for his but the third duke got 35,000,000 for his badminton cabinet. I think Ed you have that one home, don't you? Yeah. A 1936 Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic.
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I don't even know what kind of car that is. Sold for $30,000,000. A codex Leicester group of writings by Da Vinci sold for 30,800,000. Bill Gates bought that. Good for him.
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And a chair, twentieth century decorative art chair by, Eileen Craig sold for 28,000,000. And one of you may have this one already, a Witten Lockback Diamond 35 carats 23,400,000. You have that at home right? Yeah, I know. What the value depend on what people will pay for it.
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What people will pay for it? Well, what's the greatest value that Jesus put on you? First Peter chapter one verse 19. Let's look at it. Let's read it together.
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With the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He paid his blood for you. He gave himself for you. There's no greater payment on the face of the earth than what Jesus did for you. So, if anybody says you're worthless, they're wrong.
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Isaiah chapter forty nine fifteen and sixteen says this, can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she is born? Oh, she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I've engraved you on the palms of my hand. Your walls are ever before me. Here, God is saying, someone else may forget you and forsake you.
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Your mom and your dad may do that but I will never. In fact, you're written on the palm of my hand. It's an expression, a Hebrew expression saying, you're there. You're there. You're in the center of my palm of my hand, in the center of my heart.
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You belong to me. You're important to me. Imagine God saying that to you. Saying that to me. That's how much Jesus loves you.
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That's how important you are. First Peter chapter two verse seven says this, show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. Read that Mark ten twenty one with me. Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said, go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me.
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The story here is the rich young ruler in Jesus. He's in the rich young ruler comes to him and says, master, what do I have to do to to inherit eternal life? And then he begins, Jesus begins to quote scripture in the Old Testament. Then he's, the Bible says in verse 21, he looked at this ruler and he loved him. He looked at him and he loved him.
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You see, when we look at people and we begin to love them, we can enter into their lives. How difficult is that for you to look at a difficult person and love them? How difficult is that for you to look at a person who is difficult to love and look just look at them and accept them where they are and love them to Jesus. How difficult is that? Are you weak in that?
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We're strong in that. You see, that's what Jesus wants for us. He wants us to value others like he values you. Quickly, let's go to the last one. Forgiving others like Jesus forgives me.
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Read this with me. Will you? Isaiah forty three twenty five. This is God speaking. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sin no more.
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Will you say that with me again? Remembers your sin no more. One more. Remembers your sin no more. Wow.
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How comforting is that? To know that he doesn't remember them? You know, some of the haunting things that we go through and a lot of people that I counsel and talk with one of the most difficult things that they have in life is going back and remembering all the stuff that they've been a part and that can destroy you. That that can wreck havoc with your emotions. To remember, God said, I don't remember it anymore.
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It was blotted out, gone. When Jesus died, he erased it. Well, if he did, why don't you and I? If he doesn't remember it, why should we? Because that's the enemy tactic in our life to defeat us, bring back to memory those the junk that we are a part of and that's why those things have to be nailed and brought to the cross and left there.
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Most difficult struggles we face in life are those memories that come back up. Comes out when we're doing men's ministry and women's ministry. One of the things that all of our guys and gals struggle with is, how do I get rid of the stuff, this baggage in my head? The stuff that keeps coming back. It's gotta be nailed at the cross.
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We have to understand that it's gone, that when we accept the Christ, he took care of that. But the enemy keeps bringing it up, bringing it up, bringing it up. We have to cut that, get rid of it, stop it. Let me read Ephesians chapter one verse four to you. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
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Wow. I I want you to think of that. Before God made you, Alan Gobre, before God made you, before he made you, he knew all the stuff that you were going to go through. And he loves you anyway. Grab that.
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It's not in your notes. I want you to write down. God doesn't carry grudges. He doesn't rehearse it. He releases it.
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God does not carry grudges. He doesn't rehearse it. He releases it. It's important for you and I to understand that. Because sometimes we do.
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We hold grudges and God wants us to forgive others like he forgives us. And if we don't do that, we become a target for the enemy. We become a target for him because he then bitterness sinks in and not only are you affected but other people as well. God doesn't hold grudges. He doesn't rehearse what I'm going to do about that.
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He releases it. And so I want to encourage us to do the same thing because God wants us to forgive others like Jesus forgives us. Romans chapter eight verse one. Let's read that real loud. Here we go.
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Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's unconditional. It's complete. So therefore, there is now no condemnation.
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It's eternal, and it's by grace. I want you to think about that for a minute. I want you and I to understand the kind of forgiveness that you and I have. Let's read the verse again. Ready?
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Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Unconditional, complete, consistent, eternal by grace. Now I want you to take a big deep breath. You got it? Now I want you to thank God.
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How important is that? Ed, how important is that to know that your sins are forgiven? And they're gone. Very important. Very important.
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How do you feel Tom when you know that your sins are forgiven? Pretty good. Greg, what's it feel like to know unconditionally they're gone? Yeah. Do you understand what I'm saying?
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I think sometimes we let it go over our heads and we don't really grasp it. At the fear, no I don't fear it. At the concern that you might have that it may be too emotional, there's nothing greater than understanding you're forgiven. Now that brings emotion. That brings emotion.
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To know that we have been forgiven. And Jesus is asking us now to forgive others just like he's forgiven us. That seems to be difficult for us. We want the forgiveness of Jesus but we find it very difficult to forgive someone else. We want to know that our sins are forgiven but we find it difficult to forgive someone else.
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We kind of like the idea of rehearsing what we're going to do to get back at em. That's kind of like our Sunday afternoon thing. Let's go home and draft a plan how I'm going to get em. This is what Jacob did to me this week. I'm going to take care of him this week.
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I'm going go back home. I'm going to think about how I'm going to do this and I'm going to get him back. And in order for us to make a difference and impact where we are, we have to love others like Jesus loves us. We can sometimes accept people like Jesus accept us and and we can say we love them. But it's hard for us to forgive them.
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If you cannot forgive them, you cannot love them. Do you understand that? If you cannot forgive them, you cannot love them. Does it mean you love what they did? Doesn't mean you love what happened to you when they did it.
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But under the power of the blood, you must forgive them because Jesus forgives you. Now, those of us who have gone through abuse or have people in our family who have been abused, sexually, physically, emotionally, whatever. We find it very difficult to forgive. We don't like that and there was one thing that that bothered me for a long time was this justice. God, this is what happened to my daughter.
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I want to justify it. God never called us to justify anything. He called us to forgive because we are forgiven. What happens when we wanna justify? Then inside our hearts becomes hard.
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It becomes confrontational. It becomes bitter. And everything that comes out of us. I had this happened not long ago and if I were able to have a tape recording of the stuff that was coming out of this person's mouth and able to play it back to them, they would not be able to even function. That's it.
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You mean I said that? Because inside of us, when we are angry and bitterness grows and a root is there, it has to come out sooner or later and when it does, it always hurts someone else. Always, always, always. That's why Jesus wants us to forgive others just like he has forgiven us. When we understand his forgiveness, when we understand his acceptance, when we understand his love, it makes it so much different and easier to forgive someone else.
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Let me read you a story that I found this morning that really encouraged me. I've been anybody here been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee before? I love it. Great place to be. My wife and I have been there a number of times.
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We love it. This is from a pastor who had gone there. He and his wife. And they were sitting in in a restaurant eating breakfast when an old man came in and the old man stopped and said, are you folks on vacations? Yep, we're having a great time.
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What do you do for a living? And the man said, I'm a preacher. He said, well, I want to tell you a preacher story and this is a story he said. The old man said, I was born an illegitimate child. I never knew who my father was and that was very hard for me.
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The kid at school made fun of me. They called me names. When I walked around our little town, I'd always feel people looking at me and staring at me and thinking and asking the question, I wonder who that boy's daddy is. I spent a lot of time by myself. Didn't have any friends.
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One day, a new pastor came to town and everybody was talking about him and how good he was and and I'd never been to church before. One Sunday, I I thought I'd go and hear him speak. He was good. I kept going back but each time I went to church early, I mean, I I go late, I leave early so I wouldn't have to talk to anybody because I was fearful. I didn't want to talk to anybody.
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One Sunday, I got caught up in what he was saying and I forgot to leave early. The service ended. People stood up and and I couldn't get out the door. Suddenly, I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. When I turned that big tall pastor was looking down at me and he said, what's your name, Whose son are you?
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I began to shake at that question. Before I could say anything, the preacher said, I know who your family is. There's a distinct resemblance. You are a child of God. When he said that, my whole life changed forever.
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The old man got up and he left. Waitress came over and asked this guy, do you know who that was? No. That's Ben Hooper, Two term governor of Tennessee. That man learned at that age that someone loved him.
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He didn't have to take on him the opinions of others. When he asked Jesus to come into his heart, he was a child of God. Now I wonder this morning with all of our feelings. Some of us find it difficult to love others. Some of us find it difficult to accept others, and even more of us find it difficult to forgive others.
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And Jesus is saying, if you want to understand what love is all about, the love I have for you, then you need to accept others as I accept you. You need to love others as I love you. You need to forgive others as I forgive you. You need to value others as I value you. And so this morning, we wanna ask the Lord to do that for us, to allow, to to put in our heart that that love that will accept, it will value, and will forgive.
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In Jesus name. Will you bow your heads with me this morning, please? I'm going to pray and then I'm going to ask you to pray with me. Thank you, father. You have called us here because you love us.
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You heal broken hearts. You heal bitter memories. You take care of our damaged self esteem. Thank you, lord. Because the patterns that we have had in our life can be erased.
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They can be reversed. Thank you. You take nobody's and you turn them into somebody's. Lord, this morning, I'm asking you to help our people to begin to see themselves through your eyes of love. And now with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, I want you to repeat these words with me, will you?
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I want you to repeat them out loud. Because of Jesus. I am acceptable. I acceptable. I am valuable.
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I am am lovable. Lovable. I am forgivable. I I am capable.
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I am
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capable. Jesus. Jesus. Help me to see myself. Help me see myself.
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Through your eyes of love. Through eyes of And treat treat others. Others. The same way. In Jesus name.
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Amen. God bless you. Let's stand and sing together.
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We'll end with how great thou art.
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Oh Lord, my God, when I am awesome wonder consider all the world's thy hands have made I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder, thy path throughout the universe displayed, world. When through the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down from lofty mountain's grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze, thou art then sings my soul
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my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art.
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And when I think that God, his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in that on that cross my burden gladly bearing he bled and died to take away my sins then sings my soul
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my savior God to thee how great thou art
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how great thou art then sings my soul
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my savior God to thee how great thou art
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take me home what joy shall fill my heart then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim my God how great thou art and sings my
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Oh God, you are great. You're awesome. You're wonderful. We're so grateful today that we can be in your house and praise your name. Would you bless our people today?
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Would you encourage them? Our friends that have come to enjoy the area. Would you bless them? May this be a great day as we serve you in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
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Remind you that just down the way is our coffee clutch. Love to have you come down there and just enjoy coffee and fellowship with us. There's Sunday school downstairs for the kids and the young adults. Have a great great day. God bless you.
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