Sermon
October 17, 2026 ”God’s Rescue Plan” Pastor Jamey Houghton
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to the McDonald Road
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7th Day Adventist Church. I'm so glad
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that you have chosen to worship with us
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today and I hope that the worship is
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meaningful and brings you closer to
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Jesus as you sing with us and study the
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Bible with us. God bless each one of
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you. So glad you're here. Happy Sabbath.
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>> Happy Sabbath everybody.
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>> It's good to be here worshiping with all
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of you. We're in a series right now uh
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looking at creation and the time just
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after creation and the journey of Adam
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and Eve.
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And last week we looked at the fall, the
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tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam
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and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.
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Today we're going to look at the hope
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that God gives us through scripture
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after that fall. When I was a boy, we
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lived in San Diego, California, and just
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across the border is the lovely town of
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Tijana, Mexico. Anybody ever been to
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Tijana, Mexico before? I'm kidding when
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I say it's lovely. It's not.
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And I can remember going there. We went
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there a couple of times and that was
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enough. We didn't really go back again.
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But I can remember going there as a kid
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and that was the first time I'd ever had
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anybody or that I saw anybody that was
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begging for money. They would come up
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and like have their hand out or a bowl
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out or or asking asking for something.
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And I remember maybe I was like, "Oh
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man, I don't know what to do here." And
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uh and still it makes me a little
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uncomfortable. I don't know about you,
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but when you pull up on the exit and
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somebody's there with a sign asking for
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money. I don't know about you, but
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there's like this this conflict inside
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of me that's like, "All right, this
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person probably needs some help, but
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what if they're gonna blow it all on
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drugs?" And and what if what if they're
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making more money than I am through all
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of this? And uh there's all these
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different questions and and you know,
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for a while we used Taco Bell gift cards
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and we had a whole little thing set up.
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Um, it it's just an an uncomfortable
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situation, but probably the hardest
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thing I've ever seen in life, the most
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disturbing thing I've ever seen when I
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lived in Asia.
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I would see kids begging on the side of
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the road. Kids that were handicapped
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that were hurt somehow or deformed
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somehow. And they were begging sitting
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down on the side of the road. And I
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found out that these kids had been hurt
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so that they could beg better and get
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more money.
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and it tore my guts out.
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And then the money didn't even go to
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them when they got the money. They had a
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controller who would take the money from
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them.
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And uh
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it's hard to even process
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something so horrific.
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This week there was a story in the news
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about a boy riding a bicycle. I think he
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was 14 years old. Just a kid riding a
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bike in a war zone. A bomb went off and
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killed this 14-year-old kid.
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Tragic. Absolutely tragic.
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Another school shooting this week.
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Special ed classroom. Who goes in and
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shoots anybody? But in a special ed
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classroom, a hero teacher and a hero dad
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took care of things to stop more deaths.
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As I was looking at all of this and the
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news and things, I thought to myself,
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how did we get from the Garden of Eden
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to here where all this stuff happens
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to choosing to go outside of of God's
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law, which we talked about last week
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with harmony and how harmony kept things
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together. God never intended for us to
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live in a world where people were
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killing each other. God never intended
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for us to live in a world where a
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14-year-old kid can't ride a a bicycle
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down the road without being killed.
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God never intended us for for us to have
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schools where you have to worry about
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your kid being shot.
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It never was supposed to be like this.
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How did we get from the garden where
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things were perfect
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to the chaos that we live in today?
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Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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chapter 3. Right there in the very
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beginning, third chapter, Genesis
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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chapter 3.
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And uh
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absolutely devastating for Adam and Eve.
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They find out there's going to be pain
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in childbirth and toil you will eat.
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There's going to be thorns and thistles
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and by the sweat of your brow you will
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eat bread. There's never been thorns or
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thistles before.
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And it says in verse 21 of chapter 3, it
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says that the Lord God made tunics of
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skin.
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Tunics of skin. And remember, they had
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robes of light and then the light was
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taken away and they realized they didn't
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have anything on and God provided tunics
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of skin. Where did that skin come from?
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As God was laying out the plan of
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salvation, he was laying out the
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necessities for dealing with sin. And
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like the Bible says, without the
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shedding of blood, there can be no
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remission of sins.
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and he walked them through this
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sacrificial system that was going to be
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set up in in dealing with sin that would
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point forward to the lamb of God.
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In the book Patriarchs and Prophets, the
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author says this about this situation.
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To Adam, the offering of the first
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sacrifice was a most painful ceremony.
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His hand must be raised to take life
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which only God could give.
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It was the first time he had ever
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witnessed death. He knew
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that had he been obedient to God, there
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would have been no death of man or
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beast. What a load to carry, huh?
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As he slew the innocent victim, he
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trembled at the thought that his sin
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must shed the blood of the spotless lamb
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of God.
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You know, it's kind of unfair that the
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animals, well, at least some of them got
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kicked out of Eden.
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They didn't do anything wrong.
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I've often thought about the plight of
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animals.
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Many people have asked me, "Will my pets
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be in heaven?" Uh, Steve Wahberg wrote a
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great book on this called, "Will my pet
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be in heaven?" I think I got the the
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title right, Steve. Here's a plug. It's
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a good book, and I think you can get at
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the ABC as well. Will my pet be in
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heaven? And he makes a strong case,
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which I agree with, that I think our
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pets will be in heaven.
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But can you imagine Adam taking that
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first lamb
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and having to sacrifice that lamb and
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take a life
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and see this
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result of his choice to sin.
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Everything was ruined. But yet in the
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midst of all this disappointment and
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this transition for Adam and Eve, there
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was hope given. We see up in verse 15,
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it says, "I will put enmity between you
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and the woman and between your seed and
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her seed. He shall bruise your head and
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you shall bruise his heel." There are
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hints already at a solution to this sin
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problem. There is hope on the horizon.
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Jesus hasn't left them just to wallow in
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this sin and have no hope. Also, Peter
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and John both write about the lamb slain
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from the foundation of the world. Jesus
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had a plan to deal with sin before sin
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even entered the world.
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Some people have said, "Well, Jamie,
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it's not fair
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that I have to deal with this sinful
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world and I wasn't there. Adam and Eve
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made those choices. Now I'm born into
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this world and have to deal with all
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this sin." That's not fair.
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It's true. We are born into a sinful
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world. In fact, the same author that I
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just quoted a moment ago, she says that
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we are born in the sinful world with
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sinful tendencies even.
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But Jesus taught that no matter if we
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were born here in this sinful world with
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sinful tendencies, we can be born again
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and he can help us overcome these sinful
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weaknesses that we have in our lives.
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Peter and John say the lamb that was
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slain from the foundation of this world.
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As I read through Genesis and through
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the scriptures,
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I find that Jesus is looking for ways to
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get people into heaven, not looking for
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ways to keep people out of heaven.
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But we make it hard on ourselves. Dwight
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El Moody said this once. He says, "I've
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never met a man who has given me as much
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trouble as myself."
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We make choices that cause harm to
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ourselves, harm to others and actions
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and words, some small and some big. Many
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years ago, I was sitting at a picnic
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table with a young man about 16 years
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old. And
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if I told you the circumstances of his
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story and his life, you probably
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wouldn't even believe me. It was so
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wild.
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and he'd also made some poor choices in
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his life. But it was it was it was
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tough. We tried to help this young man
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as much as we could. While I was sitting
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with him at this picnic table, the
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police were actively looking for him.
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And as I was sitting there trying to
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encourage him,
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I could tell this was he was in a rough
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spot where he was at.
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Not long after that, this kid
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disappeared off the face of the earth. I
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couldn't find him anywhere. asked his
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family, couldn't find him. For 10 years,
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I couldn't find this kid.
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10 years I looked on the internet, I
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tried to find where he was to figure out
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where he was. I wanted to know what had
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happened to this kid. We had poured into
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this kid. I'd worked spent countless
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hours working with this kid, trying to
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encourage him, help him out in this in
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this tragic situation he'd been brought
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up in. And along with the choices he had
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made, couldn't find this kid. Had no
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idea what happened to him. We moved away
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from that town and I always wondered and
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I would occasionally keep on looking
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online, see if I could find this kid,
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see what had happened.
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About five years ago, I got a friend
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request on Facebook
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and it was this kid.
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I almost fell over. I accepted it, went
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straight to his photos to see what his
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life had been like. What had he been
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doing for the last 10 years? Where was
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he right now? What kind of choices was
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he making now?
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Had anything that we had worked with him
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on stuck?
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When I looked at his pictures, I saw a
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picture of he and his wife and his kids
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in church on Sabbath morning.
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I found out that he led his family in
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church worship and would lead them and
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take them to church every Sabbath and
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that all of them would volunteer in the
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food kitchen that they had at this
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specific church. And I smiled as I
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realized
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that God didn't give up on him and he
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kept working with him and he brought
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this kid back around and changed his
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life. There's a a quote from the book
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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings on
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page eight. It's become one of my
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favorite quotes. says,
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"Whatever may have been your past
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experience, however discouraging your
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present circumstances,
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if you will come to Jesus just as you
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are, weak and helpless and desparing,
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our compassionate savior will meet you a
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great way off
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and will throw around you his arms of
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love and his robe of righteousness."
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Friends, you may have somebody in your
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family who you've been worried about,
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who's walked away from God or made a
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mess out of their lives. I want to
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remind you that God is looking for ways
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to get people into heaven, not to keep
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them out of heaven. His arms are wide
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open and he loves our families even more
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than we do. He loves those that have
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walked away from him and he is actively
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reaching out for them and he will meet
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them, she says, a long ways off. I love
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that.
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Maybe it's you that's walked a long ways
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off.
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Maybe in your walk in your life, there's
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been a distance between you and God.
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Maybe there's been something that's kept
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you away from God. I want to remind you
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today that God's arms are open to you
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today as well
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and that he will meet you and he can
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change your life as well.
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One of the biggest complaints about
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Jesus in the Bible
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we see in Luke 15:2 and the Pharisees
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and the scribes complained saying, "This
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man receives sinners and eats with
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them." That was the big complaint that
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he spent time with sinners and even had
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meals with sinners. Didn't they realize
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that was the whole purpose of him coming
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here? His whole purpose was to come and
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to save people messed up in sin. Matthew
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18:11 says, "For the Son of Man has come
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to save that which was lost."
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And that's good news because we are all
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sinners in need of a savior. So, what
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kind of people was Jesus hanging out
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with? Turn with me in your Bible to Luke
Luke 23 chapter mention
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chapter 23. Luke 23. How does Jesus see
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those of us that have messed up in life
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and made mistakes? Luke chapter 23.
Luke 23 chapter mention
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Jesus is on the cross
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between two thieves. Two men who have
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messed up so many times and made so many
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poor choices. The society had said, "Not
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only are we going to remove you from our
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society, but we're also going to execute
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you because you've done this so many
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times. We don't see any hope for you
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changing. We're going to kill you, nail
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you to a cross."
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And Jesus is hung between these two
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thieves. And as I read this verse, verse
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39, I want to see if you recognize the
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wording that's used by the first thief
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on the cross. See if it is familiar to
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you. Verse 39. Then one of the criminals
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who were hanged blasphemed him, saying,
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"If you are the Christ, where have you
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heard those words before in the Bible?"
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You remember where you've heard those
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words? The temptation in the wilderness.
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Who was it that said those words? Satan
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when he was tempting Jesus, he says, "If
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you are the son of God, turn these rocks
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into bread." Right? If you are the son
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of God, you can jump off of this
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building and the angels will take care
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of you. Questioning, making him prove
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that he was the son of God. And we see
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those same words spoken by this thief
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inspired probably by the same person.
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If you are the Christ, save yourself and
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us.
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Verse 40 it says, "But the other
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answering rebuked him, saying, do you
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not even fear God, seeing you are under
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the same condemnation, and we indeed
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justly, for we received the due reward
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of our deeds." It's almost as if he's
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confessing those things, isn't it?
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Admitting to his wrong.
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He says, "But this man
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has done nothing wrong."
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Then he said to Jesus,
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Lord, what does he call him?
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He calls him Lord.
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What does this tell us about who he
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thinks Jesus is?
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He's there verifying that he believes
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Jesus is the Lord, the Messiah.
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He says, "Lord,
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remember me when you come into your
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kingdom."
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Now,
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had this guy heard who Jesus was?
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Probably most people had heard about
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Jesus. Had he ever heard him speak?
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Maybe. And heard an appeal. Maybe. But
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yet his whole life had been a mess the
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whole time up until this point where
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he's hanging on the cross. He's about to
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die staring death in the face. But his
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whole life has been a mess.
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Now, in our in our human nature, we
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might say, "Yeah, well, why didn't you
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come before? Now when you're in trouble,
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now you come to me. Why didn't you come
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before?"
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But see, Jesus Jesus doesn't even care.
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The only thing that matters to Jesus is
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just that he comes.
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Doesn't matter if he missed it before
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the last appeal. What matters to Jesus
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is that he just comes to him. Even on
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the cross, nailed to him, right next to
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him,
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Lord, remember me when you come into
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your kingdom. After all Jesus has been
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through, even from the plans way back in
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the beginning dealing with Adam and Eve,
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looking at the beginning of sin, Jesus
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has been seeing all of this, dealing
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with this with Israel. Then he comes
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here, he's been through his ministry,
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he's mistreated, rejected, etc., etc.
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And here he is hanging on the cross. Can
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you imagine the joy it brought to Jesus'
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face and his heart that right next to
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him, nailed on the cross, somebody gives
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their heart to him.
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Somebody right there says, "You know
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what? I believe who you said you are.
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Remember me. Save me. I've done I've
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been a mess. It's why I'm here.
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Remember me." Can you imagine
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the joy in Jesus' heart
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as he sees one more person
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come to salvation. This is what he says.
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Assuredly I say to you today, you will
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be with me in paradise.
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If Jesus can save the thief on the
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cross, he can save you and me from our
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past as well. Because Jesus cares about
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our future, not as much about our past.
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He can handle our past. What I love
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about Jesus is that when he looks at us,
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he doesn't see the mess that we've made
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of our life, our poor decisions, the all
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the different things that embarrass us
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about our lives, the the choices that
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we've made that haven't honored him.
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What Jesus sees when he looks at us is
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potential and what we can be with him.
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That's what he sees with our next story.
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Turn with me over to uh to John chapter
John 8 chapter mention
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8. John chapter 8.
John 8 chapter mention
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We're reminded in this story as well of
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of John 3:16. It says, "For God so loved
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the world that he gave his only son that
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whoever believes in him shall not perish
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but have eternal life." That word
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whoever believes in him, that's anybody.
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We might think that there are somebody
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we know that, oh man, they've gone too
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far. No, Jesus came for them. He came to
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save them as well. The people have gone
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so far that are locked up in prison,
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Jesus came to save them as well.
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You know those people that that text
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message you and email you saying that
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they're me and asking you for those gift
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cards, all those scams that keep coming
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by. I'm not a big fan of those people.
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They're trying to scam you out of money,
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saying that they're me and
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misrepresenting me. That drives me nuts.
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But you know what? Jesus came to save
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those people, too. Next time they ask
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you for money, saying that they're me,
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give them a Bible study.
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Jesus came to save those people as well.
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Whosoever believes in him, no matter
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what their past, can have eternal life
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through Jesus. John chapter 8
John 8 chapter mention
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says, "When Jesus went to the Mount of
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Olives, now early in the morning, he
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came again to the temple, and all of the
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people came to him, and he sat down and
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taught them. Then the scribes and
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Pharisees brought to him a woman caught
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in adultery. And when they had set her
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in the midst, they said to him,
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"Teacher, this woman was caught in
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adultery in the very act. Now Moses and
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the law commanded us that such should be
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stoned. What do you say?" This they
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said, testing him that they might have
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something of which to accuse him. All
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right, pause here for just a minute.
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Jesus is always they're always trying to
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trap Jesus. And any way he answers this
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question is going to be the wrong
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answer. They'll have something on him no
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matter what he says. Either he's
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rejecting Moses' law or he's he's trying
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to usurp Roman power and they'll get him
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in trouble with the Romans. There's no
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good answer to this question. But that
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question
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is insignificant, I think, compared to
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the woman who's there that they've
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dragged in.
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This poor lady
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has a long track record of poor
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decisions in her life. But they've set
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this woman up. How much do these people
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hate this woman to set her up for a
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capital punishment of stoning and then
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bring her in in public and humiliate
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her?
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Yeah, she's made some mistakes, a lot of
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mistakes.
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But my heart breaks for this woman as
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they bring her in and use her as an
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example,
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not even caring about her as a person.
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In fact, leading her into this,
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what does Jesus do?
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says here that Jesus stooped down and
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wrote on the ground with his finger as
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though he didn't hear. He ignored them
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and he goes down into the sand and he
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starts writing with his finger in the
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sand. They repeat their questions. Maybe
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he's not hearing us. Says verse 7, they
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continued asking him. And he raised
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himself up again and said to them, he
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who is without sin among you, let him
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throw the first stone. And he stooped
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back to the ground and kept on writing.
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Here's this woman probably hands in her
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face, tears streaking down her cheeks,
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not sure if she's about to die or not.
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And Jesus is writing in the sand.
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There's a crowd of people around. He's
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been teaching to a crowd of people, but
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now these Pharisees are here as well.
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He's writing in the sand and he's not
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answering their question. Well, what is
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he writing in the sand? And they they
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kind of they kind of look a little
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closer and they're they're reading a
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little bit.
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What if there was a guy named like
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Bartholomew and he's writing Bartholomew
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with his finger and then he just starts
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writing Bartholomew's sins? Like
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Bartholomew did this and Bartholomew did
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this and then there's another guy named
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Judas over here and he writes Judas and
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he starts writing he's writing their
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sins in the sand with probably their
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name on it
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and they're looking and they're like how
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in the world does this guy and and it's
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embarrassing for them. And here's here's
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what it says. Those who heard it, verse
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9, being convicted by their conscience,
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went out one by one, beginning with the
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oldest, even to the last. As Jesus is
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writing their sins in the in the sand,
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they realize it and they start leaving,
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dropping stones and walking away. But
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did you notice what it said about them
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in the scriptures? It says they were
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convicted by their conscience.
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They were being faced with their own
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mistakes.
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And when we are convicted in our
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conscience, we have two choices we can
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make. Right? Two choices. We can either
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respond to those convictions and ask God
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to change us and to forgive us of those
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things or we can continue in those
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things and reject the prompings of the
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Holy Spirit and keep on in our sins.
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Somebody said this once. They said, "The
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only reason people will be lost is
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because they love their sin more than
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they loved Jesus."
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And here these men as they they're
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confronted with their own mistakes as
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they've been trying to bring up her
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mistakes,
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they reject those prompting and that
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conviction
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and walk away. They walked away from the
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one person who could change their lives
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and change their futures.
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We often we we know what it what it
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feels like to have our conscience
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pricricked, right? When we've done
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something we know is wrong and we feel
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that conviction like I shouldn't have
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done that. I shouldn't have said that.
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We know what that is. And we have two
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choices as well.
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When we have those choices, don't be
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like the Pharisees and walk away.
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Come to Jesus.
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As they leave, it says, "And Jesus was
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left alone and the woman standing in the
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midst and Jesus had raised himself up,
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looks around. I picture in my mind as
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Jesus his hand's been in the dirt. He's
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been riding with his hand. He gets up
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and probably like we would gets the dirt
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off of his hand, looks around
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and it says, "And Jesus was left alone
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and the woman standing in the midst."
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When Jesus had raised himself up and saw
-
no one but the woman, he said to her,
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"Woman, where are those accusers of
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yours? Has no one condemned you?" And
-
she said, "No one, Lord." What did she
-
call him, by the way? She calls him
-
Lord, doesn't she?
-
And he says, "Neither do I condemn you."
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And he says, "Go and sin no more." Why
-
does he tell her to quit sinning?
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Because it will change her life.
-
The things that we read about in the
-
Bible that God calls sin only bring us
-
harm in our lives.
-
And when he calls her to leave her
-
sinful life and to go and sin no more,
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he knows that she's going to be much
-
happier in her life living in harmony
-
with God's law.
-
And Patriarchs and Prophets, here's what
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the author says first about Jesus. He
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says, "Well, he knew. Jesus knew for
-
what purpose this case had been brought
-
to him. He read the heart and knew the
-
character and life history of everyone
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in his presence. These wouldbe guardians
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of justice had themselves led their
-
victim into sin that they may lay a
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snare for Jesus. As Jesus looks at this
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whole situation,
-
he sees potential. Listen to what it
-
says in the next page about this woman
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after her experience with Jesus. After
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interacting with Jesus,
-
it says this was to her the beginning of
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a new life,
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a life of purity and peace devoted to
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the service of God. This is what a life
-
without sin will look like. If we reject
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those temptations and choose to look up
-
to Jesus, we will have a life that it
-
says here, peace,
-
a new life in Jesus.
-
Jesus saw the potential in her. Thank
-
God he sees the potential in us when we
-
make mistakes.
-
Thank God we can go to him
-
no matter what our past is and have a
-
new life in him when he gives it to us.
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There's a story, one of my favorite
-
preachers, Elder CD Brooks, told this
-
story.
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A friend of his
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had made a big mistake in his life
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and uh the church removed his membership
-
a while back. He came back in tears,
-
repentant, came back into church
-
membership. A little while later, made
-
the same big mistake.
-
He was embarrassed,
-
ashamed,
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wasn't in church.
-
And a while later, Elder Brooks came and
-
was doing an evangelistic series in this
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town.
-
And there was the audience that was
-
there. He'd been preaching. And and on
-
this specific night, he was making an
-
appeal to accept the grace of Jesus, to
-
turn from the the things in life that
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had brought you separation from Jesus,
-
to repent and and confess your sins and
-
to have a new life in Jesus. Making a
-
big appeal.
-
And after his appeal, he prayed and the
-
the meeting was over and he turned to
-
walk off stage and he looked over behind
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the curtains over here and here was this
-
guy, his friend.
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He was standing behind the curtain. He
-
was too ashamed and embarrassed to be
-
seen by everybody out in church because
-
of his past. And he was behind the
-
curtain still listening though. And as
-
Pastor Brooks walked off the stage, he
-
looked at this man. The man's head was
-
down. He could see that he was crying.
-
And on the floor right in front of him,
-
the floor was was wet with tears from
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this man crying.
-
And being his friend, knowing his past,
-
he knew that the Lord was working on his
-
heart.
-
He walked over to this guy behind the
-
stage. Nobody could see. And he just he
-
gave this guy a big bear hug. Just held
-
him close and just just hugged him
-
tight.
-
He could tell the Lord was working on
-
his heart. The Lord was changing his
-
heart.
-
And after a moment, he stepped back and
-
looked at him and he said, "You love the
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Lord, don't you?" And through tears, he
-
just nodded his head.
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And as as Pastor Brooks was fond of
-
doing and raising his voice and and and
-
preaching with power, he said nice and
-
loud, he said, "Welcome back to the
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family of God."
-
And held him close again and hugged him.
-
That man,
-
his life was changed by Jesus.
-
Mistakes that he'd made in the past,
-
Lord gave him victory over those and a
-
brand new start.
-
He went on later to become a Seventh Day
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Adventist minister
-
and tell people about the grace and the
-
new start that God had given him and
-
that God could give them as well.
-
I'm so glad that God doesn't give up on
-
us,
-
that God is long-suffering with us,
-
that God forgives us when we ask.
-
Friends,
-
all of us, the Bible says, have fallen
-
short of the glory of God. All of us
-
have dealt with sin in our lives. We all
-
have choices and mistakes that we've
-
made that we we look back and we can
-
say, "Man, I wish I had done that
-
differently. I wish I hadn't said that.
-
I wish I hadn't done that." Friends, I
-
want to remind you today that God is
-
much more interested in your future than
-
your past.
-
If your past has been holding you back
-
from giving your future to Jesus,
-
I promise you that Jesus can handle your
-
past when you give him your future.
-
If he can save the thief on the cross,
-
he can save you. If he can save the
-
woman that was brought by all these men
-
into the middle of the square and give
-
her a fresh start, he can give you a
-
fresh start as well.
-
You see, all the way back in the
-
beginning in the Garden of Eden, when
-
when God saw through the the the the
-
halls of time how sin would ravage the
-
human race and his love for us,
-
he gave us hope and he gave us help.
-
And when we feel those prompings of the
-
Holy Spirit pricking our conscience and
-
we come to Jesus repentant, he will give
-
us a brand new start. Before you were
-
even born, God was working out your
-
salvation
-
and making a way for you to be saved.
-
If he forgives the thief, if he forgives
-
that woman, he'll forgive you as well
-
and give you a fresh start. Our song
-
we're going to close with is a song
-
called Jesus Saves. I want to invite our
-
worship team to come up and lead us in
-
our closing song here.
-
And the theme of the Bible is a rescue
-
mission by Jesus for you. And indeed,
-
the words of this true are or this song
-
are true that Jesus does save. And if if
-
Jesus has given you a fresh start in
-
your life and you've experienced the
-
grace and forgiveness of Jesus when we
-
sing this song, I encourage you to sing
-
it nice and loud and remind be reminded
-
today that Jesus came to save you. Let's
-
stand together as we sing our closing
-
song. Jesus saves.
-
Today I want to remind you just how
-
valuable you are to Jesus. That he would
-
set this whole plan of salvation up just
-
for you.
-
How important you are to him because he
-
will move in different ways in your
-
life. He'll respond to your cries for
-
help.
-
He'll respond with forgiveness when we
-
repent. And all of this he does because
-
he can't imagine heaven without you.
-
And as we get closer and closer to the
-
second coming of Jesus,
-
may we be as faithful to Jesus as he has
-
been to us, may we remember the plan
-
that he has for our lives. May we
-
remember the way life is supposed to be
-
and how God meant for it to be and look
-
forward to living in that way in harmony
-
with God. May we live our lives in
-
harmony with his his scriptures and his
-
law that he has given for our own
-
happiness today. I'm so glad that today
-
we're one Sabbath closer to being with
-
Jesus in heaven. Let's pray. Father in
-
heaven, Lord, thank you for going that
-
far to save us. Thank you, God, for
-
looking more at our future than our
-
past. And Lord, if there's anyone here
-
today who's been hesitant about coming
-
to you because of their past, Lord, give
-
them courage and boldness to come to
-
you, knowing that you will accept them
-
and forgive them of their past and give
-
them a fresh start in you. Lord, we
-
thank you for that for each and every
-
one of us and look forward to being with
-
you in heaven. And we're so glad that
-
today we're one day closer to that in
-
Jesus name. Amen.
-
>> Amen.
-
>> Thanks so much for joining us here at
-
the McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist
-
Church for worship. Each month we reach
-
between 25 and 30,000 people with gospel
-
content online. We're looking to expand
-
our audiovisisual department this year
-
and looking to raise $30,000 in this
-
project. We would love for you to
-
partner with us on this and consider
-
making a donation to our audiovisisual
-
department as we look at expansion and
-
reaching more people with the gospel
-
across the internet this next year. You
-
can go to mrcsda.org
-
to make a donation directly to our
-
audiovisisual department. Thank you so
-
much for considering making this
-
donation and the privilege is ours to
-
partner with you in making this a bigger
-
and more effective ministry here at the
-
McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church. God
-
bless each one of you and thanks again
-
for joining us here at the McDonald Road
-
7th Day Adventist Church.