Sermon
1 Peter 4
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Hello, and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast.
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Thank you so much for listening.
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We're startup church.
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We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together.
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And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more.
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You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that.
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We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today.
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Church on Sunday, talking about a first Peter and there's, then after this, we're going to, we're going to look at first Peter five next week, and then we're going to start looking at second Peter as well.
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I think it's really powerful.
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There's so much about how to live as a Christian in a, in this, in this letter, and it's spoken in English or rather it's spoken at least in translated and with a lot of words that we can understand pretty readily.
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Certainly there's a depth to what's being communicated, but we can pick it up.
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There's a confirmation of the church as God's chosen people.
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That's you and I being chosen by God.
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We're going to look at a little bit about what that means and what, what that, that name means Christian this morning.
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And then, and then it talks about some of the unique roles of the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, and then us as it relates to salvation.
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And we understand that there's no salvation without Jesus.
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There's no hope without God organizing this perfect plan.
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There's without the spirit guiding us on a day-to-day basis, we, we really would have no hope.
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However, there's something we got to do as well.
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And so we, we, we talked a lot about that last week where we'll actually, it was a couple of weeks ago when we, when we kept the series going, but but we, we understand that in order to in order to be good with God, all of these have to be working together.
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We're going to look at first Peter four, and I think I know for me, it was, this was a fun, it was a fun lesson to put together because one, it was extremely challenging.
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The second reason there was so many of these scriptures I've, I've held close to my heart as I've, as I've interacted with the world.
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And I, one of these that we're going to read right now, I remember reading this being at some of the, the, the most, the biggest struggles in my life.
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I remember reading some of these scriptures and just feeling like, man, God is speaking directly to me.
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Later on, I, another scripture we're going to look at.
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I remember reading it and it's one that me and me and Jordan are trying to work with right now.
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It's just so easy to understand.
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It's so easy.
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It's so, it's so relevant to our lives.
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And then the last is something we call each other all the time, which is Christian.
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And so it's going to be fun.
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I think there'll be a lot of practical teaching this morning.
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I think you'll be able to pull stuff just from reading the text.
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Amen.
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Here we go.
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But my job though, is to try to illuminate the text.
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So I'll try to, it says in verse one, therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude because anyone who suffers in the body is done with sin.
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As a result, they do not live the rest of their lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.
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For you've spent enough time in the past doing what Pagans choose to do.
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Living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
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They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless wild living and they heap abuse on you, but they'll have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
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But this is the reason the gospel was preached, even to those who are now dead so that, so that they might be judged according to human standard in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
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You know, we, we've said, we've said this before, but we haven't said it for a little bit of time.
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And it's, if there's one thing, the world does a couple of things and work with me here.
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The world tries very hard to make things that are black and white, gray.
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And the world tries to make things that are gray or there's a, there's a spectrum, there's room for conversation, black and white, and put people in boxes that they don't belong in.
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If the, if the world can convince us to do that, then, then I think the world is pretty excited about it is what I would say.
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You know, one, one area that, that we see here, this just says there's this, this powerful statement.
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It says you can either live for evil human desires or you can live according to the will of God.
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But, but, you know, with your standard of living, the world is how you live by the world's doing everything it can to try to have, there's, there's kind of this spectrum of good, you know, bad, kind of indifferent, neutral.
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There's some negative stuff, but not, it's not so bad.
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But then there's those people that are really bad.
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As long as you don't do that kind of stuff, you know, it'll, it'll all work itself out, right?
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If the world can convince us of that, the world's one.
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But then what you hold yourself to, the standard, not only how you live, but also what standard you hold yourself to.
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And you, well, there's, you know, maybe there's the most pious of people, but then there's also this kind of big middle of people that maybe I'd like to sit, sit in, you know, that I'm, you know, I kind of do pretty good.
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I follow some of the teachings, I believe most of it, but, you know, we all mess up sometimes.
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Right.
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And, and, and then there's, but I'm just, I'm, I'm better than the worst people though that the worst of the worst, ah, no way, you know, and, and we'd love to be, we'd love for this to be true because we could sit right in the middle of it and feel like, okay, we're doing okay, right?
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The world does everything it can to, to make us think that there's this, this spectrum when in reality, the Bible is clear.
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You, you live your life for evil human desires or, or for the will of God.
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So that means that the standard is what the Bible outlines.
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And that means how we live ought to be based on the standard that we say that we're going to live by.
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Right.
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So then, so then listen though here though, because this means that what we do on a day-to-day basis has extreme value.
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Uh, what you consume has extreme value.
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What you produce has extreme value.
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Your words have extreme value.
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Your actions have extreme value because if we were to live and we, if we really believe the world's lie that, you know what, it's kind of okay regardless, then what we'll do is say, well, then it doesn't really matter what I consume.
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It doesn't matter what kind of music I listened to that much.
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You know, it's, it'll be okay.
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And it doesn't really matter what I do then it's, it's, you know, here, there, as long as I'm kind of, you know, there's this wide door that as long as I go through, I'll be okay that this is, this is what, when I say the world, I'm not talking about it.
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I hope, I hope that we understand when I say the world, I'm not saying this type of people or who those who vote this way or those who look this type of way or those, that's not what I'm saying.
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When I say the world, what I'm, what I'm talking about is, is, is the devil, right?
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The devil is the creator of lies, the originator of lies.
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And so when I say the world, I'm talking about the devil's domain and what this, what, what he wants us to believe, but what, when the devil can get you to believe that your actions are not that important, I think he's one.
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This is, this is saying that this means that everything you do can be done for the will of God.
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It's not just showing up to church on Sunday.
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It's not just reading your Bible.
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We can do things that are according to the will of God in our mundane day-to-day life.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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What, what an extreme value, uh, that, that, that your life has then, uh, you know, so I was, I don't know if this, I'll be honest, I'm not sure if this works, but, but work with me here.
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So think about for a second.
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I'm sorry to do this.
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Think about your favorite dessert.
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Think about whatever, whatever it is.
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And now, you know what?
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Just because I'm interested, what are some of your guys' favorite desserts?
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You can just shout them out.
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Strawberry, strawberry, cheesecake, ice cream.
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What do we got?
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Pecan pie.
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Oreos.
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Who said Oreos?
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Come on.
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Come on, man.
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That's the classic.
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Okay.
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Very, very good.
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You can't go wrong.
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They're undefeated.
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Right?
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Never, never lost.
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Nope.
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Yeah.
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Nobody doesn't like Oreos.
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Uh, now, now, now, now we're getting into some, um, some different kind of territory.
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You think about whatever, you know, German chocolate cake or whatever the most, um, you know, and you, you have some kind of pie and you, as we're talking about it, you're, you're actually thinking about it.
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I hope right now.
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You know, we, me and, uh, me and Jeff and a couple of other, I think Ange was there.
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We were talking about, uh, banana pudding and we were like, it's not, it's not banana pudding.
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That's from this instant banana pudding mix.
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Uh, it's, it's banana pudding.
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You know what I'm saying?
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And, and, you know, Bianca has made it, there's like condensed milk and it's like the least healthy thing for you.
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Nilla wafers is like the healthiest part of the pudding.
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You know what I'm saying?
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Uh, that's the part you feel the least guilty eating.
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And so whatever it is, whatever for you is like your favorite dessert.
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Just consider how perfect it is, right?
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Consider that when you take a bite, everything else, it just disappears, right?
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This is, this is, everything's going to be okay, but what the world does though, now work with me here.
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What the world does is the world says that's a good dessert, uh, that's a good dessert, but you can add just about anything else to that dessert to make it better.
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You can, I mean, just don't add anything that's not edible.
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Like don't add pencil shavings to that dessert.
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Definitely don't do that.
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Um, you know, right.
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Don't, don't add plastic.
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Don't do that.
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But virtually everything else you can add to that dessert and it'll be, it'll be pretty good.
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Uh, you can add, you can add a little bit of sprinkles and you're like, well, you know what?
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That's not that bad.
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That's not, it's not as good.
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It's okay though.
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Right?
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Uh, but then what is, man, nobody's going to ask her, Hey, put some garlic powder in it.
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And the world says that's okay because you can just add a little bit of stuff on it.
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It's, it's, it's up to you.
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And yet we'd understand you're not going to add ranch to this, this apple pie.
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Like that there's, it goes from, it goes from amazing to appalling, right?
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I was, I was trying to think of what some of the most disgusting things that I won't even, I don't even want you guys to know where my mind went with all of this.
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So I'm not going to keep going, but the world also says, you know what?
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You can remove everything or at least components of it.
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It's still okay.
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Right?
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You, if you take the butter out of, out of that, that pie, it'll still be okay.
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And you're like, no way.
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Right?
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Give me the butter.
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You know, you think about the condensed milk and the, you know, the, the banana pudding, it's still good without the condensed milk.
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And you're like, really?
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Have you tried it?
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Right?
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Whatever cake, whatever pie, you take the top off of it and you're like, it's still pie.
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It's still good.
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And the world's doing everything it can.
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There is a perfection in what God has created in, inside of all of us.
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And he's the, the world's like, add a little bit, take a little bit away.
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It's all going to be okay.
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That's what the world is saying, except for the worst of the worst.
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Everything you do has value though, that the God, God organized it that way.
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And so you can make a decision every day.
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It's not just on Sunday.
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It's not just when you show up to live for evil human desire, or you can live for the, the will of God.
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And, and you know, it's, it's, it's cool.
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This, it says some of these, these activities that it talks about, these are some activities that are outward.
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They're obvious.
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You see them and, and they're in your face on the surface.
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It appears like, well, what's, what's the big deal.
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There's not the consequence for a lot of these actions doesn't seem to be immediate all of the time.
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And, and, and yet we understand there's something wrong with the Bible is teaching us.
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There's a different way, but it's not only this, right?
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You think about for yourself, maybe it's, maybe it's not these, this outward sin of the old flesh that you are trying to fight.
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Maybe it's gossip.
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It beats bitterness.
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Maybe it's hatred.
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Not, not for everybody, but for that person, maybe it's, maybe it's jealousy, not in every area, but in this area though, these are the inward sins that, that if you've, if you've lived according to the faith for any length of time, these are the ones that are difficult, right?
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All of it.
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All of it is hard.
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Objectively.
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It's very difficult, but man, I think I'm going to be, I'm going to be fighting my ego for the rest of my life.
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That, that's, that's something that that's just, I'm going to be fighting my selfishness for the rest of my life.
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I'm going to have to try to die.
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I'm going to be disgusted by it.
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I'm going to be selfish again.
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I don't want to feel like I'm going to repent again.
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I'm committed to it for the rest of our lives though.
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These are things that we can always choose to live for the will of God.
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Amen.
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So what you do has, has great value.
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Let's, let's keep reading.
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Says in verse seven, the end of all things is near, therefore be alert and of sober mind that you may pray above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins, offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
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Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
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If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.
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If anyone serves, they should do, they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ, excuse me, to him be the glory and the power forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Starts out.
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And what does it say to be, to be at the beginning, be alert and sober minded so that what?
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That you may pray.
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Interesting here.
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So work with me.
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I think the world is again, the world, we're not speaking of a person we're speaking of our battle against the, the, the demonic forces of evil that, that still are working in, in all of our lives.
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This the, the world is trying to get us to think mental, to be, to be able to pray.
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You've got to just ignore all of what's going on.
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You got to just turn, turn off and just go to this blissful state of unaware if we're really going to pray.
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The exact opposite is true, isn't it?
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The Bible says be alert and sober minded so that what, so that you may pray.
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If we really had this full idea and understanding of, of the spiritual battle of what's going on in our day to day of the, the, the, the fight that we have to continue to wage against our flesh.
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If we had that awareness, if we were that sober, we just have to pray.
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That would be out of the, out of the overflow that I know that I'm not able to do this myself.
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I know that there's, I have, I have no ability to, to fight this sin.
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I have no ability to not want to sin.
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I need to pray.
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I need to, I see this battle with that.
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This person is struggling with, and I, I want to give the answer and you've been in conversations where you've wanted to give the answer and you just knew there's no answer I can give you for this difficult part of your life.
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So what do we got to do?
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If we're that aware, if we're unaware, we'll try to come up with a great solution.
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If we are aware though, we're going to decide that we, we've got to pray, bless you.
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So this awareness needs to, needs to transcend.
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I ask us, how, how aware are we?
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How aware are we of the spiritual battle that you're in?
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But how aware are you of the spiritual battle that your brothers and sisters are also battling?
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And it says this, this powerful thing, above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.
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And I love this scripture.
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This is the one that I'm trying to, we're trying to teach, we've got a lot of stuff to teach our children, obviously, but it's one of the, I think she can learn it.
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Like it's just, it's a one sentence thing above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.
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You guys, this is what's cool is you guys know that's true.
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You think about if you're a parent, you realize that's true because your kids say and do some reckless stuff to you and they just, they just smile at you for a second and you're like, I love you.
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There's nothing, there's nothing you can do.
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I forgive you.
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You know, you didn't even apologize and I forgive you, right?
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Think about your spouse, similar thing, right?
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And maybe it's a little bit more difficult, but something, right?
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Be honest with me.
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Maybe it's just for me.
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I, one day, one day it won't be more difficult.
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However, yeah, we, I forgive you.
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I just love covers it all, I'm not even worried about it anymore.
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I don't even consider or think about it anymore.
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You really know this is true if you, if you grew up with siblings because you guys can be in a full on fist fight, calling each other X, Y, and Z names, uh, slam doors on each other.
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And then 30 minutes later you're like, Hey, we got some McDonald's money.
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You want to go with me?
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And the answer is always, yeah.
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You know, um, and somewhere, somewhere along the way we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll make up, right?
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You know, I love you.
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Yeah.
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No, shut up.
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Okay.
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That's, that's right.
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Maybe, maybe just me.
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I don't know.
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I, it's, it's a powerful reminder though, right?
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That means that if we're going to be in a family, think about being in a family that's like that, uh, on earth, but think about being in a heavenly family.
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That's about that.
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Right.
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That man, love covers over a multitude of sins.
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That's stuff that we do, uh, that we're like, man, you, again, we've done stuff and love covers over that.
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But then a lot of it's probably stuff that, that that's done to us too, right?
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That we just have to be like, man, love, love covers over it.
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I know that guy's hard.
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Yeah.
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I'll bring us something up to him.
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I'm not, this doesn't mean we don't have conversation, but I just, my intention, I trust that I trust their, their best, that they have my best interest in mind all the time.
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Is that always true?
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Maybe not, but that's, that's my commitment.
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And that's the commitment that we're all making.
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If we are saying that love is going to cover over a multitude of sins, it doesn't mean doesn't stop the conversation, but the conversation is, is pretty doused in love.
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Amen.
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Yeah.
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And then, uh, then it's cool.
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It, there's certainly so many different ways that we can serve God.
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There's in Romans, it talks a little bit more deeply about a few other ones, but this, it has a couple of them speak the, if you're going to, your gift is to speak, speak the very words of God.
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And if you're served, if you're gifted to serve, serve with strength from God.
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And I think we could take these two to be really narrow minded or very, very, uh, there's a narrow definition and speaking would only be preaching on Sunday.
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Um, and, and we could say serving is only if you have a title or an appointed, like you're a deacon in the church or you're in charge of administering some kind of thing, we could take them very narrowly, but I think we can probably take them extremely broad.
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Right.
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Uh, you think about how, what kind of a call is it to speak the very words of God?
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Good luck.
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Right.
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That's, that's, that's a difficult call, but that's not just a Sunday morning call.
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It's not just, it's not just for me, it's, it's all of us making a decision that we're going to do everything we can to speak the very words of God, man, that is tough, isn't it?
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You know, I, I, I think it's cool though.
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The cool thing is if you speak the very words of God, you're going to be able to interact where one is true.
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You're interacting with people that I don't ever interact with.
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If you speak the very words of God, you're going to compel people that wouldn't give me or somebody else here at the time of day.
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Right.
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And that, what a great call then, what a great call that God is calling you to the same thing you serve with, with strength from God.
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This is certainly, it's helping the needy jumping in search of service projects.
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That is, that is what it is, but it's also choosing to be a servant in every setting and facet of your life and doing it, looking at God and doing it with his strength.
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What a difficult call this is because then we're not looking for praise, right?
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And what does it look like though for somebody who just speaks what God wants?
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Well, I think there's a thoughtfulness, there's an intentionality, but then on top of that, there's like this constant dialogue going on with God, right?
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Should I say this?
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Should I not?
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What do I, what do I got to do?
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You know?
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And that has to be pretty continual.
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And then whenever something good comes out of your mouth, you're like, that wasn't, that wasn't me.
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That was just, that was God.
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Anything good that has to be from God, right?
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What happens in the heart of us when we decide we're just going to be servants, not just service opportunities, but we are going to be those who decide to serve at every facet and opportunity our egos at the door, isn't it?
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Whatever kind of pride that we can feel that is, that is way pushed to the side.
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My glory now has to be found in God sees it and he's fired up.
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God sees it and he's so excited about it.
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I don't need anybody else to know this is what serving with the strength of God looks like.
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It's powerful because both of these are, if you had to decide, if you had to, if you just had to give me a couple of, uh, stories about Jesus and I'm, we're not going to do this, but I said, Hey Drew, what are some favorite stories you have about Jesus?
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Usually maybe it's something he did, uh, but something he did would be serving, right?
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Five, beating 5,000, washing his disciples feet, uh, deciding to sit down, even interacting with, with the Syrophoenician woman and you know, you, you're going to, you're going to have some grace.
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I'm going to have some grace right now.
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You're going to feel it.
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All of, all of these things, it's stuff that he said, it's stuff that he did.
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If we're going to do this, if we're going to, if we do this effectively, it can be overwhelming.
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If we just focus on Jesus, we're going to be well on our way.
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Amen.
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Let's, let's keep reading here.
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We'll kind of bring this in for a landing as we, as we keep looking.
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Yep.
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Here we go.
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In verse 12 says, dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
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If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
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If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal or even as a meddler.
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However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name for it's time for judgment to begin with God's household.
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And if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
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And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the center?
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So then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.
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There's, we talked about how this was, uh, this, this letter was written in the midst of, um, some of the really intense persecution by the church, by, from, from the, the rulers specifically Nero, uh, to the, to the, the entire church.
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And so this was, he's writing this and it's, it's probably way different than how we suffer for being Christians.
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Uh, it, you know, we, we can suffer for being Christian.
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Certainly we can be insulted for being a follower of Christ.
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Certainly there are assumptions made about us, uh, certainly, but, but the government is not killing us for being Christians though.
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Yeah, I'm with it.
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This is the, the, this is who Peter's writing to is the people who are, were, were dying to be Christians.
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And he's saying, don't, don't worry about the insults.
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Don't, don't worry about that.
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But what should you do?
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Look at Jesus and say, well, I'm suffering with him.
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And so it's all worthwhile.
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It says, don't, if you suffer as a Christian is what it says, I think it's, it's super, super cool.
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You know, there's this, this word Christian would have been one that would be full of shame in that day that you're, you're just, you're not following.
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I wasn't, it was like, we say Christian and it's very normal.
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Uh, I think this was one of the, only a few times in the Bible where the word Christians even mentioned, um, because it just wasn't commonplace name, uh, disciples, followers of the way were, were maybe a little bit more common in that time.
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So this, the word Christian was like, you're a little Christ and it's, it's, it's diminutive.
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It's negative.
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All of, all of that thing, all of that stuff is kind of encompassed in this word.
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He says, don't be ashamed to be, to bear that name.
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That's a, that's a good name for you to bear.
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Uh, it's, it's cool that, that, that name, uh, has been one that we can wear with a badge of honor today.
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Right.
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This is praise God.
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And then it says, uh, this, this interesting thing though, right, right towards the end.
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Do I got it on here?
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I don't, I don't even, I didn't pull it on here, but in verse 19, if you'll follow me, it says, so then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.
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We said at the beginning part of the lesson that you can either follow, uh, evil, follow what the devil has organized, or you can follow God's will.
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We talked about some, some good about following God's will, but this then is saying there's times when if you follow God's will, it's just a known thing.
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You're going to suffer.
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Even if you say, it says, if you suffer according to God's will, then, then wear like a badge of honor.
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What does this suffering look like?
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Well, so many of us, so many of you guys have made decisions that I'm willing to suffer financially.
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Uh, if it means I don't need that promotion then, because it's going to exhaust my time and I'm not going to be able to give it to God and his people.
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That's that's suffering.
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That's a form of suffering.
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You think about so many of us have decided that, that we're not going to be those that speak up and air dirty laundry.
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We're going to be okay being slandered, uh, inside of our families or outside, you know, however, we're going to be okay with it because I don't, I don't want to bring up, bring up old stuff.
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And you know what?
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God is, God is good.
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He, he knows what's going on.
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That's a form of suffering as well.
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You can, you can think about, uh, you know, I think about in, in school or at the, you know, lunch, do you guys are out of school right now, but I just think about, uh, you know, some of the, the kids and being at being a teen to suffer is to say, this is, I don't, I don't, I don't believe in this stuff.
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You know, you guys are jumping in high school here pretty soon.
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And I think one of the most, uh, it's probably the most difficult time in my entire life to be a disciple was when I was in high school, because, uh, when you're in college, everyone finds their own, uh, little, little group or their, their niche.
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And in high school, it's like, it's, it's not that way.
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You know, there, there's one way to do things in high school, at least when I was there.
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And if you stood up against that and for that, it was something that was, it was, you were just seen as lower and less.
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And there's so much, uh, you just received so much backlash.
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And so I, I say that, that you guys are making decisions to, uh, to follow the will of God.
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It might mean more suffering.
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It's going to be better in the long run.
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And so when we're with you guys, as you guys go through that as well, um, these, these fiery ordeals, they weren't, they weren't something that was, uh, just, just how we might even consider a fiery ordeal.
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Uh, and so what, what do we pull from all of this stuff?
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You know, as we, I think if we close this fourth chapter in first Peter, we just need to make decisions to grow in our awareness of how the devil manipulates us, right?
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If we were alert and sober, we'd have to pray.
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We'd be aware that our decisions are extremely valuable.
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Every decision we make has extreme value for eternity for ourselves.
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Yes, but for those around us as well, we can tap in to, to the power that God has.
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We can see that when we become people that we, we just, we decided we're going to love each other deeply.
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We're going to serve each other.
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We're going to outdo each other in, in, in honor.
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We are going to make mistakes along the way, because if it says love covers over a multitude of sins, the assumption there is that there will be sins that that love has to cover over.
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And so we're not perfect and we're going to make mistakes, but how, how much fun is it going to be to continue to build this family on, on, on those things?
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We look at the life of Jesus.
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We look at his death.
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We look at all, uh, what he did, how he served us, how he spoke to us.
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And we decide we're going to be those that try as hard as we possibly can to do the same thing.
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Uh, certainly we're, we're, we're going to have an awesome time here, but you know what's going to happen is people are going to just be interested.
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I want to see, I want to feel this feeling and Jesus so, so much of it.
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I have to imagine this is just maybe me thinking, I had imagined when people interacted with Jesus, they just felt a certain way, right?
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It didn't like when they, when Jesus looks you in the eye, I'd have to imagine you just melt, right?
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You might not even know who he is, what he did, what he said.
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When you look face to face with Jesus, everything's going to be okay.
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And, and we're not there, but we can point to the one who is there, right?
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Because you, because the stuff that I just described, you felt that as well.
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When you walked close with God, you felt like it's all going to be okay.
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Life's not going great, but it's all going to be okay.
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You felt that.
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And I just, I, it encourages me to think about how many people want that feeling, right?
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We have the solution to every problem that the world has ever had.
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Amen.
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Let's, uh, let's consider that.
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Let's close with a prayer.
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And, um, and then you'll be dismissed.
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Let's, let's pray.
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Dear God, Lord, you, you've, you've overcome the world.
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I thank you so much for that proclamation and that promise, Lord, that you've overcome, you've gone ahead of us and, and you have organized things perfectly.
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Father, we don't want to, we don't want to follow evil human desires, Lord.
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We want to pursue wholeheartedly your will for us, Lord.
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And we know that means that things are not going to be easier.
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We know that that means that things are going to be, uh, more, more stressful at times.
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There's going to be more that's, that's expected of us, Lord.
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It's a, it's a heavier weight father, but we're so grateful, uh, to be able to hold it.
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But Lord, we're grateful that we can, we can rest it on you, Lord.
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It's certainly, it's a heavier weight, but it's one that we were, we're going to be carrying alongside our brothers and sisters.
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And ultimately, uh, you're, you're the one that's lifting us up, Lord.
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I pray that you'll give us encouragement, give us strength, uh, throughout the week to, to live according to your will.
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Father, we love you so much.
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This is in your son's name that we pray.
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Amen.
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Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast.
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If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected.
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Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on.
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In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.
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So busy saving souls.