WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.860
and you're receiving this message because you

00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:05.360
opted in to be encouraged. Hey, this is Pastor

00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.599
Dan, and it's my birthday today. I'm 55 years

00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:10.580
old today, and I know you may look at me and

00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:13.119
say I look much older or much younger, but I'm

00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:17.359
55 today, and soon I'll be 30 years saved, born

00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.739
again. That's awesome to me, and I'm so grateful.

00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:25.219
So, I'm picking a verse that I want to pick today,

00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:27.660
and I think the Lord led me to choose it. It's

00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:31.399
1 John 1, 3, and it says, We proclaim what we

00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.100
have seen and heard, that you may have fellowship

00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:37.100
with us, and our fellowship is with God the Father

00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:40.979
and through his Son, Jesus Christ. And so the

00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.700
bottom line is this. We just tell people, we

00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:46.859
just show people what we know. You don't have

00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:49.479
to go to Bible college to be able to tell people

00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.679
what you know. You don't have to go learn a whole

00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.619
bunch of new stuff before you can tell people

00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:56.060
what you've seen and heard. You just proclaim,

00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:57.859
just tell people what you've seen and heard.

00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:01.359
And knowing what you've seen and heard, they

00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.179
might come into fellowship with you. And the

00:01:03.179 --> 00:01:05.040
goal is that you would have relationships with

00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.379
people and that their relationships would also

00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:09.620
be with your Father, that is God in heaven, and

00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:11.519
his Son, Jesus Christ. And that's how we come

00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:13.799
into relationship with God. In fact, Jesus is

00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.379
the only way to come into relationship with God.

00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:19.680
And he chooses to use his church, of which he

00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.439
is the head, to whom he has given the keys, that

00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.280
we might overcome the gates of hell. And I am

00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:28.980
sure grateful. But all I have to do to do that

00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:33.340
is to proclaim what I have seen and heard. And

00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:35.840
so I try to do that, and I'm sure I fail on many

00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.700
occasions, and maybe we will. But the bottom

00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:41.840
line is, you can, I can, proclaim what we have

00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:43.439
seen and heard so that others can have fellowship

00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.579
with us. And of course, we know our fellowship

00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:47.980
is with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:49.799
God bless you today on my birthday.
