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Speaker 2And absolutely. My wife and I joined Woodford Church for three years after we were married. Then, an admissions master for the life team, saying, you know, what are passionate about? What do you do? So after about three years of working at FedEx, I read Stern's book, The CEO of Full Vision, A Hole in Our Gospels, titled, and read about anybody's teenagers to whoever were just putting together these projects and raising money and doing amazing things.
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And I sat there and I went, I wanna do that. My vision was, how can I connect people in the developing world with people at their desk? So I went on the website and they had a workplace channel for doing relief efforts. And that is through the assembly of HIVAIDS caregiver kits. Now the unique thing is most of the, if not all the shipping, is done through FedEx.
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It all goes towards actually giving relief to people with HIVAIDS. And so I made my pitch to our general counsel. He said, That's a great idea. We take it to the charitable solicitation committee and see if we can get you some money. He comes back to my office the day that they have a meeting, which is several months later, says, FedEx is just gonna give you $5,000 Straight up.
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I was like, wow. So we did have other donations, we did have our bake sales, and it ended up to be about $8,000 And so we assembled about three fifty of these kits with three or four different departments. Doing it to Maroon five, rock music, whatever, just making it fun, and writing notes to the caregivers, and putting them in the actual caregiver kids. And World Vision came, they brought representatives, and they showed a fifteen minute video of what Christians are doing to help people. I'm like wow, this is awesome, this is great and it was very well received by the company.
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So it was amazing how that one project served so many different purposes. So having done that, a year later Chris Thompson and I pack up, my best friend, pack up and we're going to Sudan to teach pastors how to evangelize. While we're there we tour World Vision Clinic. But lo and behold there's three caregiver kids sitting in that room. I said those are caregiver kids, when did you get those?
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And he said I got those caregiver kids four years ago and I haven't had a refill. I really need them. I said I need to get have kids. So I get back, I call World Fish and I said, look, I went to this clinic. He's down to his last three caregiver kids.
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What can we do? And she said, well, we just assembled 350 kids. There's a pallet just sitting here. You can have it if you can figure out the shipping. I'm like, what the fuck is?
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I can figure out the shipping. I said, done. So here go 350 kids on the FedEx plane all the way from all the way from Denver to your dog. And I get pictures the same day. I mean, my work is my mission, Phil.
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It really is. That's how I look at it. I'm a missionary who happens to be an attorney. Good
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Speaker 1stuff. Yeah. I have been I have been so digging these these short little testimonies because they're real stories about how God works through people to impact other people. And that's honestly, that is what God's love does in us. We begin to see the world through God's eyes.
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And we start caring about people, we love people because God loves people. Right? We're in the people business, Christians. We are. The key verse tonight, don't miss it, is first John four nineteen, if you walk away with anything, walk away with this one right here.
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We love each other because he loved us first. Right? So that's how an attorney from FedEx could make an impact in a person's life on the other side of the world. God's love prompted him. And he used his unique position and his skills to get care kits to people in need.
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You notice he goes, my work is my mission field. Do you look at your work like that? My work is my mission field. I'm a missionary who happens to be an attorney. It's just cool to see what God does in and through people.
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God uses you, church. God uses you. And I just wanna encourage you right out of the gate tonight to look at your work as worship. It's just been a conviction lately for me to to really express to you. Let's look at our work, whatever we do as worship.
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Like, don't just go to your job thinking, you know what? My job has nothing to do with God. That's not true. Our work has everything to do with God. It really does.
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Look at it's not on the screen, but it's one of my favorite verses. First Corinthians ten thirty one. Whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do it what? For the glory of God. Saying whatever you do.
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Whether you work at FedEx or Whole Grocer or wherever. Seriously, you're doing it all for the glory of God. Our work is worship. And I just here's what I want to do. I want to encourage you to get creative and use those unique gifts and your unique position to impact other people's lives.
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You know, start thinking about how how can I do this? God, how can I honor you today in what I do at my job? It seems like it would have nothing to do with you, but it does. Help me to honor you in whatever I do. Use my use my position.
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Use my skills so that other people can be impacted. Can I pray that for us right now?
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Speaker 3Because I feel like this is so important. God, I
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Speaker 1would I would ask that you would expand our vision. I really do. That we would think big, that you would increase our faith, that you would use our creative gifts and skills to impact the world, to show the love of Christ. And I don't even know what that looks like yet, but I'm praying that you would give us all a parent that wants to do that, Expanding our vision so that we could say, we wanna impact the world for Jesus. Let me just review a couple weeks ago.
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By the way, wasn't Eric awesome last week? I was like, man, wish he could be here again and share some of those stories because they were so like to me, was like, man, my faith is not that big. You know? I could it could really increase after I listened to how the gospel spread. Couple weeks ago, though, we're we're we've been going through John.
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Check out what John said, two truths in action. First was God is love, meaning that God is the source. He is the supply of love. And if we wanna love with God's perfect love, guess what? We've gotta tap him to the source.
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It's a must. We've gotta tap him to the source second. What? He showed his love by sending his son. So if you wanna go if you're if you're wondering, what does God's love look like?
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What does it act like? Look no further than Jesus. He came. He pursued us. Not we weren't even looking for him.
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He came looking for us, and he died for us. Right right where we're at. And listen, when those two truths right there, God is love, and he showed his love by sending his son. When those two truths hit home for us, and we've really grabbed ahold of those two truths, then loving others is just gonna be the outflow of it. Does that make sense?
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So that was two weeks ago. Because here's the deal. God didn't say that love is a suggestion for us. He said it's a command.
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Speaker 3Amen.
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Speaker 1He did. He said it's a command. It is a necessary part of our faith every single day. And if we don't show it, that means that we don't know it. You know what I'm saying?
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If we don't know the love of God, we can't show the love of God. I wanna share real quick the answer of why we love and how we love, even before we read the scripture because I I feel like that's where I wanna go tonight. I want you to hear this more than once, the why and how. Why do we love anyway? What for?
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We love others because God first loved us. Amen. Okay. We're gonna get there. But that's why.
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You go, why is this why should I even do this? Because he first loved you. Second, how? Well, then how do I love? Well, John says, God lives in you.
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That's how you love. Okay? So can I just right now ask you to remove yourself out of the equation right now and just look to Jesus because that's what this whole message is sending them around? God loved you first through Christ and now Jesus lives in you to love other people. Alright.
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Let's go. First John four eleven to 21. Blake, go. Roll it here as we read it. Let's soak in this a little bit.
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Okay? Dear friends, beloved, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love one another. No one's ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us His spirit.
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This is good. As proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we've seen with our own eyes and now testify that the father sent the son to be the savior of the world. Remember, John's the eyewitness, right, of Jesus' life. He's gone, I solemn my own eyes.
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All who declare that Jesus is the son of God have God living in him. That's that sincere confession. Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. Now we have a spirit. Now we have God living in us.
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We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. It's reliable. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in me. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. This is great.
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It's maturing. So we won't be afraid on the day of judgment. We can face him with confidence when Christ comes back because we live like Jesus here in the world. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear, casts out all fear. If we're afraid, it's for fear of punishment and shows that we've not fully experienced his perfect love.
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We love each other because he first loved us. Someone says, I love God, but hates a fellow believer. That person's a liar for we don't love people. If we don't love people, we can see. How can we love God when we can't see?
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Great question. And he's given us this command. Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. Good, Let's pray on it. Lord, would you so cause this message to just grab hold of us tonight?
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Would you use it to transform the way that we think? Would you wake us up? Would you illumine us through this? Would you prompt us? Would you stir us?
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In Christ's name, amen. Again, this is it's pretty simple. It's not hard to understand. I like John for that reason. And really, when you get down to the root of it, it is why do we love and how do we love?
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Why do we love? Because, again, this is a nonnegotiable for us. It's not a suggestion. It's a command to love each other. And my hope is that knowing the why and knowing the how, it'll give us understanding, and it'll give us purpose, and it'll give us fervor so that we can carry out this command.
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So tomorrow, when you're at work and someone gets nasty with you, or rude, or whatever it is, and you're not feeling it toward them, you can go, wait a second. I know why I should love them. Because Christ first loved me. Wait a second. I know how I should love them.
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Because God's spirit is living in and through me. Is this making sense? That's the application form right there. Because we rub up against this every single day. Why should I love a coworker when they're consistently rude?
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How do I love a coworker that is consistently rude if that's where you're at? How should I love people who don't even love me back? Why should I love people who don't even love me back? You see what I'm saying? Because life is people, and people are messy.
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And if we're commanded to love, we need to know why. We need to know how. Let's start with the why we love. What's the motivation for loving other? If I would just answer that right off the cuff, I'd say, like just taking God out of the equation, right?
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I'd say, well, I'll love you if you love me. Right? I'll like, I'll love you if you love me. That's kind of a natural worldview. The problem with that is it's not biblical.
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It's not biblical. Because Jesus said this, bless those who curse you and pray for those who hurt you. So according to Jesus, our love is not contingent on whether people love us back. Crazy. Right?
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We love them regardless of what we get in return. We say I love you. You're a person created by God in God's image. I'm just loving you anyway. Deal with it.
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But the motivation for doing that is God loved us first. He loved you first. He just does. That's a why. Romans five eight says it well.
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He showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us. Let's read it together. While we were still sinners. He didn't wait until we loved his back. We loved him back.
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He didn't even wait. He just said, I'm pursuing you. I'm dying for you. Deal with it. Right?
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And here's the deal. We can love people right where they're at as well. We don't even have to wait for them to love us back. We can just say, I love you, right where you're at. Because that's what God has done for me.
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And God makes it possible. He makes it possible. How do we love others? Because God lives in us. Again, please, I'm I'm begging.
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I'm pleading with you and me, church. Let's take ourselves out of the equation for a second. Stop relying on your own willpower to love other people and go, wait. This is all about God. It's always been about God.
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He's the one who loved us first, and then he lives in us. It's about him the whole time. And we're just like this vessel. We're just a conduit of love to other people. You know?
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And if you go, I just don't have it in me because I'm there too. I'm solo. I'm loved sometimes. I'm running on fumes because I've made it about me when it really needed to be about God's love through me. Does this make sense?
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Mhmm. Because this is the message right here. If you've ever asked, how do I love this annoying person that I work with right now? How do I keep loving people like if they let me down? You know?
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How do I forgive somebody who's hurt me and lost my trust? How do I love my family when we get tired of each other sometimes? The plain answer is God is living in us. He's given us his spirit to do the work. You know that power that raised Christ from the dead?
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That power lives in you. Is that cool or what? Through the spirit. It's not you, but Christ in you. And when God is is is living in us, like, look at these things that John is saying are happening in us, the what.
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K? Check this out. God lives in us. His love is brought to full expression in us. Consider that.
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So this pure, undefiled love, it's radiating out of us because God's living in us toward other people. It's brought to full expression. People start going, what? Wait a second. This is weird.
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Why are you so calm right now? You should be a disaster, and you're gone. This is God. You know? Verse 13.
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Look at this one. Here's some more what? Do I not have it? That that song. God's given us a spirit as proof that we live in him.
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Consider that. You have the spirit of the living God in you. And you look at all the supporting verses about the spirit in scripture, and just a few things here, that he comforts us, and he counsels us, and he guides us and leads us. He intercedes when we ask him to. He gives us wisdom.
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He gives us love and joy and peace and patience and all those fruits of the spirit when we don't have it in us. He gives us free fruit when we wouldn't otherwise have it. It's proof that God it's God in us. It's proof. Let me ask you something.
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Do you think that people see God in you during the day? I know that's like a really, you know, it's a pretty direct question, but really, do you think that people see God's spirit in Or do they see Mr. Grumpy Pants? You know? Mister temper tantrum.
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Because God's spirit ought to show in us. I don't say that to guilt. I say I I say that to me too. You know, world, do you see God in me? Because, you know, you ought to.
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Verse 15. This one. All who confess that Jesus is the son of God have God living in me. Again, it's about living out our faith in Christ. Look at look at Paul.
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You know, isn't this so the whole expression of it? I've been crucified with Christ. I don't live anymore. Christ lives in me. And I live in this earthly body by faith, by trusting in the son of God.
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He loved me. He gave himself for me. He knew why he loved other people, and he knew how to love other people. He knew why because Christ died for him. He knew how God's spirit lives in me.
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Isn't this a simple message? Isn't this such a simple message to us? Verse 16. God is love. All who live in love, live in God.
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He's the source. He is the source. What do you do when you want sunshine? You wanna say? Get out there and get some sunshine.
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You know? I mean, you think about it. Was like, man, yesterday, it was so beautiful. And it is I don't wanna be in my dark basement writing sermons. I wanna be out and enjoying the sun.
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And if I if I wanna do that, go. Go to String Lake. Go on the ark. Soak it in. Go to the source.
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You know what I'm saying? John is just saying the same thing a 100 different times here. He really is. But I think he's getting the point across. Verse 17.
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As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. That's another incredible truth. It grows. It matures in us. It doesn't fear judgment.
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It rejoices in truth. So when Christ comes again to judge the world, we won't shrink back in fear, but rather be excited that Jesus is back because we've already been living our lives through him. Does that make sense? So his love's brought to full expression. We have a spirit.
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Our love grows more perfect. There are so many benefits. But that only happens when God is living in us. And that's just that's just the point I wanna make tonight. I pray that you grab a hold of it.
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We grab a hold of it. We love because God first looked up loved us. We love because God lives in us and through us. But, you know, I believe we need to preach this to ourselves. We need to remind ourselves of this every day, especially when we're running low on it.
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We think, you know what, God? You love me when I'm a sinner. You you love me when I'm a stinker. So help me to love other stinkers, would you? We need to remind ourselves that God lives in us.
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God, I've got your Holy Spirit here. Can you be the force? Can you be the driving force of my love when I don't have it in you right now? And I pray that that's what we would pray, church. Because here's the deal, we can love well.
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In fact, we're commanded to love well. And by God's grace, he'll make our love more mature. He'll keep growing it and growing it and growing it. But be reminded tonight. Be reminded of why you love, you first loved you.
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Be reminded of how you love, the spirit lives in you.
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Speaker 3Preach it to yourself if you need
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Speaker 1to, because it's important. And it's how the world will know Jesus. So I'll invite Ray and Ryan back up. While they're coming up, can I just can I give you a can I give you a moment just to pray? Whatever God's whatever God's saying to you.
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And Ray, if you got something to add? I I thought it went
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Speaker 3this kinda went really straight along with yesterday's message from John 17, Jesus is praying in the garden when he said that I don't ask for just the Christians. He's praying. Jesus is praying in the garden right before. It's the same night he's betrayed, right before the crucifixion. He's praying and he says, Father, I do not ask for just my disciples, just these Christians, but for all of those who will eventually believe in me because of their word or because of what they have to say.
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So that they may all be unified, one, just as you and I are one, and that they also may be in us, just like he says, who lives in love, lives in God, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. And he goes on again and says, that they may be one even as we are one, and I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one. The full expression for somebody that does not know God, the full expression of God to them is how well you love them. That's heavy. How do they know love except that it be demonstrated to them?
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If we are to love like Christ loved while we were yet sinners, He loved us, then we are to be loving the unlovely and that's the only way they will ever come to know Christ. Very seldom does somebody just sit down with the Bible and say, I'm going study this for its own merit, without having first seen somebody who lived the lifestyle of a Christian and said, they believe this book. This is the word that they are proclaiming with their life. I better give this some thought, some weight. I wanna love like that.
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Lord, what a good what a good word to us. And
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Speaker 1and we feel the weight of it. I I certainly do. But I also feel you got carrying the weight of it for us. Yeah. Because you loved us first, and then you live in and through us to love other people.
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And really, it's it's a matter of us turning to you and drawing to you
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Speaker 3as the source of our love for each other.
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Speaker 1And I'm praying for a world that does not know you as a whole And for those folks that are desperately looking for an example of Jesus. And I've not seen one yet. I pray that they would see the Jesus in us. They can see that you love, that you care, that you sacrificed. We're not seeking our own interest, but in the interest the interest of others, they're urgent.
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And we're looking to the one who came, lived, died, rose, and ran. So would you do this good work in this, Scott? Would you make this love grow more complete in us? Jesus. In Christ's name.
