Sermon
When the Smoke Clears
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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How many of you have ever heard the shaggy dog story?
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!
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In military academy, one of the officers had kept them up till all hours in the morning
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when they were dead tired.
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And because he was an officer, they couldn't go to sleep.
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And so he kept them awake during this fascinating tale about Johnny.
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Never mind, I'm not going to tell y'all what it is because I tell the RA boys at camp every
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year this story and I don't want to spoil it for you.
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But listen, how many of you heard of the pink ping pong ball?
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Anybody?
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None of you.
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How about the purple gorilla?
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I know Jared has because I just told him that one.
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And the shaggy dog.
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Some of you are looking at me like, where are you going with any of this?
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There's a point.
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And the point is that there's no point.
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The point of the shaggy dog story is somebody, a rich person puts out an ad in the paper saying,
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I lost my dog.
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Huge reward for whoever finds him.
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Incredibly shaggy dog.
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Please find my shaggy dog and bring him to me.
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And then the story takes about 15, 20 minutes to tell.
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And you go through this crazy journey all around the world with somebody who finds a very shaggy dog.
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And finally tracks down the owner, gets to them.
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They open the door.
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And the butler comes to the door and says, that dog's not very shaggy.
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That's it.
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That's it.
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That's it.
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The pink ping pong ball.
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The boy is dying.
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He...
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No, I'm sorry.
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Skip to the end.
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A little boy only wants a pink ping pong ball.
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For his birthday, for Christmas, for anything that anyone ever wants to give him a toy or a present,
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he says, please just get me a pink ping pong ball.
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He collects hundreds and hundreds of pink ping pong balls.
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And then, sadly, he contracts a terrible disease.
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He's on his deathbed.
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His dad finally says, son, why did you want the pink ping pong balls?
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What was that all about?
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You've got to tell me.
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And he says, dad, I wanted the pink ping pong balls because...
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And then he dies.
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It's a morbid story.
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Purple gorilla.
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I am spoiling all the shaggy dog stories for all of y'all right now.
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The purple gorilla story.
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Guy pulls over for gas.
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He orders food inside while he's getting gas.
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And he sees a special.
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If you order the combo meal, you get a purple gorilla.
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And he thinks it's a toy.
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But in the corner, it's a large, beefy gorilla painted purple.
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And the guy says, that's yours to keep.
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And so, the gorilla goes out.
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And he says, but wait, don't touch the purple gorilla.
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Never, ever, ever touch the purple gorilla.
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He says, why?
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He says, just trust me.
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Just don't touch the purple gorilla.
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So, story goes on a long time, as all these stories do.
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And fast forward to the end.
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The guy can't get over the idea of why can't I touch it.
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The fact that he can't touch it makes him want to do it more.
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None of y'all are like that.
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But finally, he reaches out at home.
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And he touches the purple gorilla.
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And the gorilla just goes nuts.
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Beating his chest.
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Roaring.
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Chasing after the guy.
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The guy thinks he's going to die.
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He's running.
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Runs for his life.
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Finally, he's running through the forest.
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Gets to the edge of a cliff.
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And he's like, do I jump and see my end that way?
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Or do I let this gorilla just tear me to pieces?
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And while he's trying to decide, the gorilla catches up.
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Roars.
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Jumps.
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Or reaches his hand out.
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Touches the guy.
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And says, tag, you're it.
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So, it's great.
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These are called shaggy dog stories.
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I don't know where they came from.
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Or who the awful person was who started this genre.
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But anyway.
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When you tell them right, they are amazing stories.
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Fascinating.
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Rope you in.
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And then you get to the end, which is an anticlimax.
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There is no point.
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It's ridiculous.
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And that is a little bit of the feeling that I get reading through Ecclesiastes.
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Over and over and over again, he just paints this bleak, dismal view of life.
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He's like, it's all meaningless.
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Everything's a disappointment.
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It doesn't matter what you chase.
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It's all terrible.
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And I'm kind of sitting there like, all right, but what's the point then?
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Like, get to the good part.
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Are you ever going to resolve this tension that you've created for us?
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Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12, would you?
Ecclesiastes 12 chapter mention
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The very last chapter of Ecclesiastes.
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We have been in this series.
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For some reason, this thing is not playing ball with me.
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Would you take me to the next slide?
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It's on.
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It has batteries.
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The light is on.
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I'm going to turn it off and turn it back on.
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Because you know with technology, that's all you got to do, right?
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Back up one to the road.
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Come on.
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Here we go.
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Did I do that or did you do that?
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I think I did it.
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I think I'm doing it.
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Yes, it worked.
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All right, here we go.
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Technology makes our life better.
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Okay, here we go.
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We have been in this series called Catching Smoke.
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This is week 10.
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Can y'all believe we have spent 10 Sundays diving into Solomon's teaching in Ecclesiastes?
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It has been fascinating.
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But I don't know about y'all, but I couldn't go another two weeks.
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Sometimes we go a chapter a week.
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I had to just sort of skip ahead.
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We're going to review.
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We left off in chapter 9 last Sunday.
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Today, we're going to look at 10 and 11 and the first part of 12 because they're somewhat similar.
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It's almost, he almost goes back to his Proverbs ways.
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How many of y'all know the same guy who wrote Proverbs?
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Same guy who wrote Ecclesiastes.
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King Solomon.
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Called the wisest man who ever lived.
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Called the wealthiest man who ever lived.
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Certainly, arguably the most powerful king who ever lived.
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King of Israel a long, long time ago.
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But we have been in this series and we called it Catching Smoke because it gives us teaching wisdom for how to live life.
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What he calls under the sun.
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Because we're all under the sun, aren't we?
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The same sun shines down on the rich and the poor.
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The famous, the non-famous, the successful, the unsuccessful, the white, the black, the Asian, the Hispanic.
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It doesn't matter what you are.
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If you have blood running in your veins, the same sun is shining down on all of us.
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He says, how do we live this life under the same sun?
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And this theme is catching smoke.
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You ever try to catch smoke in your hand?
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It's hard.
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You can't hold it.
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You think you've got it and you open your hand.
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There's nothing there.
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You ever chased the wind?
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It's another illustration he uses.
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You can't ever catch up with the wind, right?
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They have storm chasers out there, but they never really catch the storm.
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You can't catch it.
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It seems hopeless.
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And that is a theme that we get from Ecclesiastes.
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Solomon, after achieving all he achieved, gets to the end and says, it's hopeless.
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That's why I want him to resolve this tension.
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I want him to get to the good part.
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Only you could say that the good part never really comes.
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He never really resolves it.
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So let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
Ecclesiastes 12 chapter mention
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Chapters 10, 11, and the first part of 12 teach us that life is temporary.
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Now we could go and we could spend weeks breaking all these down, but I would encourage you to read through them and you'll see a common theme, a common thread throughout these chapters that teach us that life is temporary.
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He's looked at wisdom and foolishness.
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He says these shape everything.
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Small foolish decisions can wreck a life.
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That's chapter 10.
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He says that life is uncertain, so act courageously while you can.
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Chapter 12, he says youth fades, strength fades, life fades.
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So remember your creator in the days of your youth.
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Life moves quickly toward the grave and Ecclesiastes doesn't soft soap that.
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It doesn't gloss over it.
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It tells the truth.
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Life is fragile.
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All of life is temporary.
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So the teacher arrives at the best conclusion he possibly can.
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He says verse 13.
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You ready?
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Pick it up in verse 8, would you?
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We're going to get to verse 13.
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That's the one we're really going to focus on today.
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But let's pick it up in verse 8.
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Concluding thoughts from the teacher.
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Everything is meaningless, says the teacher.
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Completely meaningless.
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Keep this in mind.
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The teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew.
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This is a little autobiography from Solomon here, talking about himself.
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He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.
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The teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.
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The words of the wise are like cattle prods, painful but helpful.
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Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.
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Ouch.
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But helpful.
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Verse 12.
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Well, but my child, let me give you some further advice.
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Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.
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True.
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Now here we go.
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That's the whole story.
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Here now is my final conclusion.
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Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
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Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty.
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God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
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Can we pray together?
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God, would you give us enlightenment through your spirit from your word today?
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We're grateful for this book that you gave us, compiled from the teachings of Solomon, of David, the prophets, the words of your son, Paul, Peter, James, so many.
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John worked together to compile this book that is so indispensable for life.
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I pray that you would teach us not only the wisdom that Ecclesiastes teach us, but frame it with the whole picture of Jesus coming that we get to have now.
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Reveal to us exactly what we need to walk away from this place with today.
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It's in Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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All right.
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So look back at verse 13.
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This is the whole conclusion.
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This is the final conclusion, everything he's written up to.
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We have been waiting to get to this.
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As I've preached through other sermons, he's covered a lot of topics.
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Work, pleasure, wisdom, success, failure, youth, aging, death.
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All of this he's covered throughout the book.
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And I've just been waiting and dying for him to get to the end.
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The final conclusion.
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Well, we're here now.
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Truth number one.
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Here we go.
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Fear God.
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And what does fear God mean?
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So I tried to break down our perspective of when he says, here's the conclusion.
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Fear God.
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Keep his commands.
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This is what we can take away from that.
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When he says fear God, I believe our takeaway should be trust the one who holds your life.
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Trust the one who holds your life.
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Why?
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Why do we phrase it that way?
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Would you go over to Matthew chapter 10?
Matthew 10 chapter mention
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As you turn there, realize that Ecclesiastes, Solomon never totally reveals what he means by fear God.
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A lot of people fear God because they're afraid of God.
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They recognize that God is the master of the universe.
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God is all powerful.
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And so they're naturally afraid of a being more powerful than they are.
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How many of you grew up with maybe some version of a fear-based Christianity?
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You better obey God or else he's going to get you.
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Anybody?
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Yep.
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Thank you for being honest.
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Some of you.
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Some of that wormed its way into some of the Christianity I grew up with.
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And if you're not paying close attention, sometimes that's the takeaway you can be left with.
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We've got to be careful how we teach fear of God.
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Sometimes Solomon almost sounds overwhelmed by life.
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Life is vapor.
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Life is unfair.
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Death eventually wins.
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But we get to see what Jesus had to say about it.
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Jesus came along.
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We have that advantage.
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And in Matthew 10, 28, he says,
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Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.
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Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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Now, Jesus says the same thing as Solomon, doesn't he?
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Fear God.
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But then Jesus immediately keeps talking.
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Don't stop in verse 28.
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Keep going.
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He says,
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Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny?
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Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's consent.
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Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
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So don't be afraid.
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You are worth more than many sparrows.
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I'm glad to hear that.
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I'm worth more than a lot of birds.
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Not just one bird.
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Many birds.
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And so are you.
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So are you.
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Of course we are.
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God values the human soul more than anything else in his creation.
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That is what he saved for the end.
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And then he said it was good.
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So.
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So.
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Fearing God.
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Doesn't mean living in terror.
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It means trusting the one.
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Who holds your life.
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And cares about it.
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Recognizing that God holds the keys to death.
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To the grave.
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And to life itself.
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And showing him enough honor and respect.
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To say.
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I trust him.
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With my life.
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I trust him.
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With my death.
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I trust him.
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With my destiny.
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I trust him.
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With everything.
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That's what fearing God is.
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Recognizing he's the one who holds it in his hands.
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And so I will trust him.
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Because of that.
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Jesus shows us.
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Right after he gets done saying.
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You need to fear God.
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Then he goes on.
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To paint God.
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As loving and caring.
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Like a parent.
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Who pays close attention.
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To the fingers and toes.
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Of their kid.
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And their eyes.
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And their hair.
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And their ears.
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They pay close attention.
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To those little newborn baby.
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All the little details.
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Making sure everything's how it should be.
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And everything's healthy.
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If there's anything wrong.
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We got to get him to the doctor.
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And see what's going on.
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They're paying very close attention.
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That's the picture that God paints.
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He cares so deeply.
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Even the hairs of your head.
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Are numbered.
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I'm thinking back to Daniel chapter 3.
Daniel 3 chapter mention
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Because the God of the Old Testament.
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Is the exact same God of the New Testament.
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Sometimes when you read through.
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Some of the stories of the Old Testament.
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You get this idea.
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That the Old Testament God.
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Was angry and mad all the time.
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And always looking for justice.
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And wiping out people groups.
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And just this horrible ogre in the sky.
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And then Jesus was the nice one.
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And he came along.
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And it's the good cop, bad cop version of God.
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That's absolutely not correct.
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God is like Jesus.
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God has always been like Jesus.
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There's never been a time when God was not like Jesus.
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They are one and the same.
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And Jesus said if you've seen me.
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You've seen the father.
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You know how I am.
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That's what the father is like.
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They've always been that way.
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So you look back in Daniel chapter 3.
Daniel 3 chapter mention
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And we find this amazing story of Shadrach.
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Meshach.
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And what was the third guy's name?
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Abednego.
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If you didn't know the answer to that.
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Don't feel bad.
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Hang around.
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You'll learn stuff like that.
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Shadrach.
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Meshach.
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And Abednego.
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Now those were their Babylonian names.
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We're not going to get into their Hebrew names.
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Because I forgot to write them down.
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But you can look them up.
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There's homework assignment.
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What were the Hebrew names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
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Does anybody know that off the top of their head?
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Exactly.
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I used to know.
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And then I didn't.
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Yes.
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It doesn't matter.
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It's not pertinent to the story.
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Let's stop wasting time on it.
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All right.
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Daniel 3.
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Here we go.
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The Babylonian king sentenced these three guys to death.
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Why?
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He didn't like that they wouldn't bow down to him.
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Babylonian kings back in the day.
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They were different than our leaders today.
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They really wanted to be seen as God.
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The leaders today pretend like they don't want to be seen like God.
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But many of them do.
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They get a little God complex.
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Well, back then, you could be just wide out in the open with your God complex.
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And so he had a big idol erected.
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And he wanted everybody to bow down to it.
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And these three guys worshiped the one true God.
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They were Hebrews.
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They had been brought as captives from the Jewish people.
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They were in exile in Babylon.
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And so they were serving this king.
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They said, no, we'll serve you because that's our duty that we've been given to do.
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But we're not going to bow down to you because we know you're not God.
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Look, sometimes you have to live in this world.
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Sometimes you have to obey the laws of the land.
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But it doesn't mean that you recognize that as God over God.
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Jesus is always God.
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And these men took a stand on that.
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And they paid the ultimate price for it.
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At least that was Nebuchadnezzar's plan.
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So he sentenced them to death.
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But not just any death.
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This wasn't like a guillotine, chop their head off, and then it's over.
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This was death in a blazing furnace.
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And then he wanted it even hotter because he was so mad.
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His pride was so hurt.
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His ego was wounded.
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How dare these captives, these slaves of mine, how dare they, of all the people, why would they not be willing to bow down to me?
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So he had them thrown into the blazing furnace.
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And then he looked a little closer.
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And he says, guards, how many people did we throw in there?
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He said, three, sir.
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So that's what I thought.
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I see a fourth one.
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I see a fourth one in there.
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And he looks like a son of God.
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Now maybe that was Jesus.
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Maybe it was an angel that God sent.
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We don't know exactly because the Bible doesn't tell us.
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But regardless, God showed up with them in the furnace.
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God rescued those guys.
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He came in.
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And not only did he show up with them,
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he called them out of the furnace.
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And what does it say?
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Not one hair on their head was singed.
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Now I have had enough accidents at the grill to know that the hair goes fast.
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Your forearm, you know, and there's that smell, that acrid burning hair smell.
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Jesus didn't even let one little hair get singed.
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There was no burning hair smell that day.
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God cares about the hairs on your head.
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He counts them.
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He wouldn't even let them get singed.
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The God of all power, the ruler of the universe,
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the most powerful being that could ever be,
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is the same father who counts the hairs on your head.
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He cares about you like we try to care for our little babies.
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We can trust him.
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We fear him that way.
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That's how Jesus framed it.
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Solomon says, fear God, keep his commandments.
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This is the whole duty of man.
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Jesus comes along and says, fear God, because he cares about you.
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Fear God, because he knows all the intimate details about you.
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He can protect you.
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He can keep you safe.
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Verse 27 tells us that God literally joined the three Hebrew boys in the fire that day.
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Whether it was his angel, whether it was Jesus himself,
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he saved their lives.
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He can save you.
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He can save you.
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Now we're back in Ecclesiastes.
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Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
Ecclesiastes 12 chapter mention
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Verse 13.
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Fear God, and then what?
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Keep his, what is it?
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Commands.
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Keep his commands.
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But once again, Solomon doesn't give us the whole picture here.
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So we got to go to Jesus to understand how do we do this.
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In Matthew 22.
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We were in Matthew chapter 10.
Matthew 10 chapter mention
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Let's go over to Matthew 22.
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Matthew 22, verse 37.
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Matthew 22 and verse 37.
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Jesus replied, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
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This is the first and the greatest commandment.
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The second one is equally important.
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Love your neighbor as yourself.
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The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.
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So he says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind.
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Love your neighbor as yourself.
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All the law and all the prophets depend on these two commands.
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Do you understand?
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Do you understand?
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That they didn't have the full picture until Jesus came and fleshed it out.
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Now some of them were able to see by the power of the Holy Spirit in advance.
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Like you look at King David and you see how much he loved God and how much he understood God's love for him.
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It's hard to see that in Solomon's writings.
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Seems like David, the father, and then Solomon, the son, maybe had somewhat of a different understanding of the relationship with God.
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Both gave us valuable wisdom.
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Both gave us insight that can help us.
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But David had an unusual understanding and grasp of God's love.
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And Jesus, all those centuries later, is teaching us in Matthew 22 that it's that understanding of God's love that makes all the difference.
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It makes all the difference.
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Because here's the principle.
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When Ecclesiastes says keep his commands, Jesus comes along and tells us what that really means.
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It means love God fully, love people faithfully.
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Because something deeper is happening here.
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We don't obey God to earn his love.
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We obey him because we've seen his love.
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We've tasted his love.
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When Jesus came, people began to see something.
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People who had followed God for generations to the best that they could.
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They had read what Solomon said.
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Fear God.
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Keep his commandments.
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It's our duty.
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And they tried to do it.
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They began to see something they'd never seen before.
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They saw the heart of God.
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A God who heals the sick.
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Even if it's on the Sabbath.
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A God who welcomes sinners and goes and eats with them and lives life with them.
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A God who forgives his enemies even when they're in the wrong and not deserving of forgiveness.
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A God who laid down his life for them.
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None of the religious teachers they had encountered would ever do that.
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They saw God really is good.
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He really is kind.
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He really is loving.
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His ways really are better.
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When you see that kind of love, obedience is not a burden anymore.
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Now it's a response.
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And that's what we get to.
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Obedience is not the price of God's love.
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It's the response to it.
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He's not calling you to say obey me and I'll love you.
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He's saying obey me because I love you.
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People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care, right?
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You've heard that before?
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Matthew 7 24.
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Would you go back a few chapters or you can just listen and I'll read it to you.
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Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
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There's so much wisdom in Proverbs.
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There's so much wisdom in Ecclesiastes from Solomon.
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Especially the parts we summarize today.
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Chapters 10, 11, 12.
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But even all throughout the book there's nuggets of wisdom that are true.
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But what do you do with that wisdom?
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Do you remember?
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I think it was week two.
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We said you can be right.
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But that doesn't necessarily make it better.
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You can win something and still lose.
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You can win an argument and still ultimately win the war.
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Has anybody ever been married?
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You can win an argument and still lose the war, right?
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Do you feel better that you won?
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Not really.
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So what good does the wisdom do you?
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Unless we get the context of Jesus.
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So Jesus says, if you hear these words of mine, this upside down kingdom.
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We've been talking about this kingdom of God since last summer in this church.
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When we looked at all the stories of the kingdom that Jesus told.
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When you start to understand the principle.
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The last shall be first.
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You're kind to those who are unkind to you.
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You forgive even when you're not being forgiven yourself.
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It's an upside down universe.
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When Jesus says, when you hear these words of mine.
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And you act on them.
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Then you'll be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
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And the storms came.
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And they attacked the house.
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But it stood firm.
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Because it was founded on a firm foundation.
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But when you're not applying these words.
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These teachings.
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Then all the wisdom that you have.
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Will be like a house planted on the sand.
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And when the winds came and the rains came.
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The house fell.
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And I almost feel like that's where Solomon was.
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He had all the wisdom.
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But he didn't have it in the context of the teaching of Jesus.
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So he recognized.
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Yeah.
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Our duty.
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Is to fear God.
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And to keep his commands.
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Jesus says.
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You do it because I love you.
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You do it because I sacrifice for you.
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You do it because I care for you more than anyone else ever will.
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So I want to challenge us.
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I'm reminded by this quote from David Jeremiah.
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Great Bible teacher.
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He said.
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Devotion is not a duty.
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It's a joy.
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Devotion is not a duty.
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It's a joy.
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Is it our duty to fear God.
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And to keep his commands?
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Yes.
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But we've got to move past duty.
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We've got to move from duty.
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To devotion.
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Ecclesiastes says.
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Fear God.
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Keep his commandments.
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This is everyone's duty.
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John 14, 15.
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Jesus says.
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If you love me.
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You will keep my commands.
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That's the shift.
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And I pray.
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That there are not still long time Christians.
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In this room.
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Who are thinking.
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Well I've got to do this.
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Because it's my duty.
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But it's not coming.
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From a heart of devotion.
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It's not coming from.
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I love him.
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Because he first loved me.
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It's not coming from.
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Jesus gave everything to me.
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So I'll happily give.
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Anything I can.
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To him.
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So.
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The teacher ends Ecclesiastes.
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With a conclusion that's true.
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It's good wisdom.
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But Jesus takes us much deeper.
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Back in the Sermon on the Mount.
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Jesus almost gives his own book of Proverbs.
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His own wisdom.
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Read through it.
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You'll see what I'm talking about.
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He talks about treasures in heaven.
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He talks about trusting the Father for daily needs.
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Not worrying about tomorrow.
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Building your life on the rock.
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We looked at that.
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But then in Matthew 6, 33.
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He says this.
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Right in the middle of this sermon.
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He gives us the compass for life.
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Your life ever feel like it's spiraling off track.
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Go back to this compass.
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Matthew 6, 33.
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Seek first.
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The kingdom of God.
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And his righteousness.
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And all these things.
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Will be provided.
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For you.
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When he says all these things.
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He's talking about our daily needs.
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The things that we need.
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The things that we know we need.
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The things we fight hard and work hard to achieve.
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To get stability in.
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Security in.
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He says all of this will be added to you.
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If you seek first.
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The kingdom of God.
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It's not the idea of God saying.
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Well you're not seeking first.
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So I'm not going to reward you with this.
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It's if you seek it.
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You'll find it.
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If you seek the kingdom of God.
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You'll find it.
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And it's like a treasure hidden in a field.
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And then you stumble upon it.
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Because you were looking for it.
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And then you find it.
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And the treasure is.
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All these things that you were seeking.
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And so much more.
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The treasure is all the fulfillment.
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All the peace.
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All the hope.
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All the love.
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All the joy.
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All the things that we know we actually need.
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You will find.
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If you seek first.
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The kingdom of God.
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All the things that Solomon was searching for.
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All the things that he couldn't find.
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And he said.
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Then life is meaningless.
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It's hopeless.
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I can't find what really matters.
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Even wisdom.
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Left me wanting more.
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Jesus says.
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Yeah.
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It's because I'm the treasure.
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My love.
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Is what was missing.
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So if you love me.
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Because I love you.
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Then you'll keep my commandments.
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And then you'll be doing your duty as a person.
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Life will make sense.
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Even when things aren't the best on the outside.
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Even when all the circumstances aren't perfect.
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You're not somebody then who needs all the circumstances to be perfect.
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Good thing.
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Because life's never going to be that way.
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Is it?
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So are you somebody who can't be content.
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Can't be happy.
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Can't find joy.
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Unless everything is in its slot.
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And everything is as it's supposed to be.
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Don't be that weak of a person.
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Don't be that fragile or shallow of a person.
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Be someone who's strong enough to make it through the storms.
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Because your life is built on the rock.
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Of God's love.
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That's what we mean.
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When we say.
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How do we live.
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Under the sun.
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We look above the sun.
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Yes Solomon.
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Under this sun.
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Everything is ultimately going to fail.
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Under this sun.
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It's hard to find meaning.
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But when you look above the sun.
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You find love.
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You find meaning.
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You find purpose.
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You find Jesus.
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You find the one who can truly make the difference.
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And if you haven't found him.
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Then let today be the day.
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Then next week.
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Palm Sunday will mean a whole lot more to you.
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The week after that.
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Easter will mean a whole lot more to you.
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We're about to enter into this wonderful time in the life of a church.
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When we pause as we should throughout the year.
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And remember the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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But we intentionally set aside this time on the calendar.
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To think about it.
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To spend specific intentional time.
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Giving attention and respect and honor and celebration.
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To the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
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And doing that he proved he was different than all of us.
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All his claims.
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Were verified in that moment.
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So as we enter into this time.
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Would you pause right now today.
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And say have I looked above the sun?
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Have I encountered Jesus Christ?
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The son of God.
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He's the one who gives the perspectives.
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Otherwise you'll end up at the same conclusions that Solomon did.
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You say man it's hard to fear God and keep his commandments.
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It's because you're missing the love of God himself.
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Would you bow your heads with me right now?
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God we're finishing up this series.
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And we're grateful for what you've taught us during it.
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But in this moment.
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Would you meet with us?
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Would you break through our crusty exteriors?
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And find the soft hearts inside?
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Would you mold and shape those?
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Would you change us?
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Would you impact us?
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With your sacrifice of love?
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You don't just say you loved us.
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You proved it.
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You died on our behalf.
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You offer forgiveness.
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You offer freedom.