WEBVTT

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We're in Judges chapter 7, and in the book of

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Judges, in chapter 6, let me just give you some

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history here so that it makes sense when we read

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it. In Judges chapter 6, Gideon was called, everybody

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say Gideon, just making sure you're all awake.

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Gideon was called, and he was... called in a

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very interesting place. He was threshing wheat

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in a wine press. And he was threshing the wheat

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in the wine press because the Midianites ruled

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the land. And the Midianites were watching the

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threshing floor where the wheat was normally

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threshed. And Gideon knew if I take the wheat

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to the threshing floor, the Midianites are going

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to steal it. And so he was threshing the wheat

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in a wine press, and the angel of the Lord came

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to him and said, greetings, mighty warrior. And

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he did not feel like a mighty warrior in that

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moment. And he said, what do you mean? Who am

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I? And his calling, he was called to be the next

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ruler, the judge of Israel, the next one up,

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and to deliver. the Israelites from the hand

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of Midian. And so then later on, after he said

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yes, he went to choose the army. And God said,

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I want you to do what I tell you to do. And God

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whittled the army down from thousands of people

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across Israel to 300 men. And so God said, I'm

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going to deliver you from Midian with 300 people.

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And that would take an act of faith. The Midianites,

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if you read the story, it says they were like

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locusts on the seashore. They were uncountable.

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There were so many of them. But God was going

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to do it with 300. Can I just tell you this is

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not part of my message, but God does not need

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resources to get anything done. He just needs

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availability. He needs somebody to say, here

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I am, Lord, use me. And God can and will do it.

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Amen? We don't see a way, but God will make a

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way. Hallelujah. And so we pick up the story

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in Judges chapter 7 and verse 9. And it happened

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on the same night that the Lord said to Gideon,

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Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered

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it into your hand. That's a powerful word from

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God, isn't it? If you are afraid to go down,

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go down to the camp with Purah your servant,

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and you shall hear what they say. And afterward,

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your hands shall be strengthened to go down against

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the camp. And he went down with Purah his servant

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to the outpost of the armed men who were in the

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camp. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites,

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all the people of the east, were lying in the

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valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels

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were without number as the sand by the seashore

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in the multitude. And when Gideon had come, there

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was a Midianite telling a dream to his companion.

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And he said, I've had a dream. To my surprise,

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a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp

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of Midian. It came to a tent and struck it so

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that it fell and overturned and the tent collapsed.

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And then his companion answered and said, this

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is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the

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son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand,

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God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.

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This is quite a story, isn't it? So the enemies,

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the ones that don't even know God, had a dream.

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And his buddy interpreted the dream and said,

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this is the hand of Gideon. And what they didn't

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know is that less than a stone's throw away,

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Gideon and his servant Purah were sitting there

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listening to the interpretation of the dream.

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God had already spoken to Gideon. But now God

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is confirming his word through his very enemies.

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This is an amazing story. And so it was, verse

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15, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream

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and its interpretation that he worshipped. Father,

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I'm just asking you that in this moment that

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you would speak to us your very word in Jesus'

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mighty name. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.

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This is an amazing story. Gideon needed to hear

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a word from God. We are no different. We need

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to hear a word from God. We need to hear the

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voice of the Lord. Amen? Let me share some scriptures

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with you. You can just write them down. I'm going

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to read them too quickly for you to turn to them.

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I want to read some scripture. Hebrews 4 .12.

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For the word of God is living and powerful and

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sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing to

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the division of soul and spirit and of joints

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and of marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts

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and intents of the heart. Ephesians 6, 17. And

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take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

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of God. Isaiah 55 10 for as the rain comes down

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and the snow from heaven and they do not return

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there but water the earth and make it bring forth

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and bud that it might give seed to the sower

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and bread to the eater so shall my word be that

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goes forth from my mouth it shall not return

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to me void but it shall accomplish what I please

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and it shall prosper in the thing For which I

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sent it. We're talking about the word of God.

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2 Timothy 3 .16, all scripture is given by inspiration

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of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

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and for correction in instruction and righteousness

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that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly

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equipped for every good work. That's a great

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scripture, isn't it? You can tell from just what

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I'm reading that the word of God changes everything.

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The word of God is powerful and effective. Now

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listen to this. In the beginning, this is John

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1 .1. In the beginning was the word. And the

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word was with God. And the word was God. And

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then John 1 .14. And the word became flesh and

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dwelt among us. beheld his glory. Jesus is the

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living word. Amen? We're talking about the word

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of God. We're talking about that thing that sustains

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us and changes us and shapes us. The psalmist

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said, your word have I hidden in my heart that

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I might not sin against you. This is the word

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of God. I love 1 John 2, 14. It says this, I

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have written to you, young men, because you are

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strong and the word of God lives in you. I want

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to read that one again. All the young men, listen

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to me. I have written to you, young men, because

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you are strong and the word of God abides in

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you. That's powerful. And then the last one that

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I'm going to read for now, John 15, 7. This is

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a promise from Jesus. If you abide in me and

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my word. abides in you, you will ask whatever

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you desire and it shall be done for you. We need

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to latch on to that promise. Amen? I'm going

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to read it again. If you abide in me and my word

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abides in you, you will ask what you desire and

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it shall be done for you. And so just in these

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verses that I've read, the Word of God shapes

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us and changes us. The Word of God leads us and

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guides us. The Word of God empowers us. The Word

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of God changes our prayer life. We didn't continue

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in Acts chapter 4, but in Acts chapter 4, one

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thing they did is they quoted back to God Psalm

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chapter 2. And they prayed the word of God back

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to the Lord. The word of God changes everything.

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The word of God is powerful and effective. There

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is power in the word of God. There has been an

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onslaught down through the centuries against

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the word of God. It's the most burned book, banned

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book, book that has been discarded and tried

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to be silenced throughout history. There were,

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in fact, times in dark times in church history

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where leaders tried to keep the people of God

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from knowing the word of God. They wanted only

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the priests. To know the Word of God. Why? So

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that they could exercise control over the people.

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It was a dark chapter in the history of the church.

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Keep everybody in the dark. That way we can use

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the Word of God to manipulate the people. And

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then came along people like John Wycliffe. John

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Wycliffe was a Catholic priest. Some people don't

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know that. But he was also called the morning

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star of the Reformation. This English scholar,

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he directed the first complete translation of

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the Bible into English in the 1300s. And he argued

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that the Bible was the ultimate authority for

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Christians, not the Pope. He sent out traveling

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preachers to share the Scriptures with ordinary

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people. This was the beginning of something.

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Another man named John Huss was a Czech. In Bohemia,

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he was inspired by John Wycliffe and he promoted

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preaching and worship in the local Czech language

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instead of Latin so that the common people could

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understand the word of God. He was burned at

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the stake for heresy. which sparked a national

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movement to defend the freedom of Scripture.

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Isn't that awesome? Another important step in

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the advancement of the Word of God came in 1440

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when the printing press was invented in Germany

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by, I forgot to write his name down, Gutenberg,

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thank you. And right after the printing press

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was invented, a man by the name of William Tyndale,

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who was an English scholar, he translated the

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first New Testament into English using the...

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the Greek language that the scriptures were written

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in. It was the first one. And he printed the

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first copies in 1526. He stated this, that his

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goal was to make a common plow boy know more

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of the scripture than the clergy. That was his

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goal. I want to make the common plow boy know

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more of the scripture than the clergy. Wow. That's

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pretty awesome, isn't it? He was martyred by

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strangulation for translating and distributing

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the Bible without church approval. Can you even

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imagine it? This is the history of the church.

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This is where we came from. And from that history

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up until now, from the time of William Tyndale,

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really, up until now, the Scriptures have gotten

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more and more and more and more accessible. And

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I thank God for that. Somebody give God praise

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for that. Praise God. And so we, in fact, within

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this last calendar year, we were honored to partner

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with our missionary, Mark Haney, and we helped

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financially support a project that interpreted

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the Scriptures into a verbal language. The language

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of the people that he is trying to reach is not

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written. It is only verbal. And so they translated

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and recorded the entire... scriptures into the

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language of the people so that they could hear

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the Bible for the very first time in 2025 and

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2026, for the very first time they can hear the

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scriptures in their own language. Hallelujah.

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It's happening. It's amazing. And in my lifetime,

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in my lifetime should Jesus tarry. Every language

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on the planet will have access to the Scriptures

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in their own language. Somebody give God praise.

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It is happening right now. Praise God. Praise

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God. And yet, so many of us in our walk with

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the Lord are neglecting. The Scriptures. It takes

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effort to get the Word inside of you. It takes

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effort. Nobody can do it For you. If you are.

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Finding yourself. Sluggish. In your Christianity.

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It could be that you are neglecting the word

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of God. If you are finding yourself. Bored. with

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your Christianity. You would rather do a thousand

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other things. It could be that you are neglecting

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the Word of God. And the remedy is very simple.

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You open the book and read. Open the book and

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read. Gideon didn't have a Bible to read. And

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I believe God speaks direct just like he did

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to Gideon still today. But I believe that the

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main source of our inspiration and hearing from

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God comes from this book. Amen? Gideon had to

00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:23.099
hear from God. It takes effort to get the word

00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:27.440
of God in your heart. But some of your spirits

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are starving. Your spirit feeds on the Word of

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God just like your body needs food. And some

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of our spirits are starving because we have neglected

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the Word of God. I'm not asking you to read the

00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:58.589
scriptures through in a year. That's some of

00:19:58.589 --> 00:20:04.190
your practice. I think it's good. I'm not asking

00:20:04.190 --> 00:20:09.410
you to read seven chapters a day to keep the

00:20:09.410 --> 00:20:21.230
devil away. What I'm asking is that whether it's

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a verse, One. Or a chapter. Or you have a plan

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that you follow. That you feed your spirit with

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the word of God. Somebody say amen to that. Hallelujah.

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Feed your spirit with the word of God. Hallelujah.

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We had a woman in one of the churches that we

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pastored before we came here who would stand

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up every Sunday nearly and give a prophecy. And

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she said to a group of people, she said, God

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speaks to me direct. I do not need to read the

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scriptures. That was the end of her giving words

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in the church. We got to get the word of God

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inside of us. Husbands, you think you can lead

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your marriage without the word of God inside

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of you? Parents, you think you can lead your

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families without the word of God inside of you?

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We need the word of God. The word of God has

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been exalted above his name. The word of God

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is powerful. Hallelujah. Glory to God. The church,

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friends, is founded on the word of God. Praise

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the Lord. And everybody's glad they weren't sitting

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in that chair right there because I just let

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out some spittle. It must be true. The word of

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God, the word of God changes everything. I'm

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preaching a basic message here. We've got to

00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:23.130
come back to the Word of God. Do you think Gideon

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could have done what he did without a word from

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God? Without the Word of the Lord? No, he needed

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the Word of the Lord. In fact, later in the story,

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I'm not going to take the time to read it this

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morning because I want to get to the part where

00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:41.509
we make a fresh commitment, church, to the Word

00:22:41.509 --> 00:22:44.490
of God. I'm trying to stir you up, brother. I'm

00:22:44.490 --> 00:22:46.930
trying to stir you up, sister. I'm trying to

00:22:46.930 --> 00:22:50.170
stir you up to get back to the basics of the

00:22:50.170 --> 00:22:54.750
Word of God. Amen? Feeding your spirit daily

00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:59.769
by reading the Word of the Lord. It's more important

00:22:59.769 --> 00:23:01.609
than anything else. It's more important than

00:23:01.609 --> 00:23:05.289
your job. It's more important than the physical

00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:07.930
food that you eat. It is more important than

00:23:07.930 --> 00:23:11.890
anything that you feed your spirit with the word

00:23:11.890 --> 00:23:17.930
of the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So Gideon,

00:23:17.930 --> 00:23:21.569
what did he go through? If you read later on.

00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:26.079
towards into chapter 8. It says in verse 4 that

00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:29.180
he came to the river Jordan, although he was

00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:32.940
exhausted, and he crossed it. He had had trouble

00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:36.220
with the Ephraimites in verse 1. He had to cross

00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.460
the Jordan River in verse 4. When they got to

00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:42.680
the other side, the men of Succoth, they had

00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:46.440
refused to give them any food, and they had to

00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:51.789
pursue their enemies with nothing to eat. And

00:23:51.789 --> 00:23:55.289
they did it anyway. Was it food that sustained

00:23:55.289 --> 00:23:58.910
them? No. Was it their own strength that sustained

00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:05.930
them? No. It was the word of the Lord that sustained

00:24:05.930 --> 00:24:10.289
Gideon and his 300 men to go and capture the

00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:14.990
kings of Midian and destroy the Midianites entirely.

00:24:15.390 --> 00:24:18.410
Hallelujah. It was the word of God. What is it

00:24:18.410 --> 00:24:21.170
that's going to sustain you? What is it that's

00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:23.730
going to keep you on the right path? What is

00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:27.750
it that's going to keep you moving forward? It's

00:24:27.750 --> 00:24:33.609
the Word of God that is going to sustain you.

00:24:34.910 --> 00:24:39.109
It sustained Gideon. It's going to sustain us.

00:24:40.369 --> 00:24:49.380
Hallelujah. Now, Gideon... When he heard the

00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:56.180
first time that God spoke to him, he did not

00:24:56.180 --> 00:25:03.059
mix it with faith. Remember, God told him, he

00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:06.720
said, hey, I'm going to use you to overtake the

00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.059
Midianites. But if you're still afraid, let me

00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:16.279
speak to you another way. Take your servant.

00:25:16.829 --> 00:25:19.630
and go to the camp of the Midianites and listen.

00:25:21.950 --> 00:25:28.950
And God spoke to him another way. And when Gideon

00:25:28.950 --> 00:25:33.430
heard the interpretation of the dream, something

00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:37.869
happened inside of him. And that thing that happened

00:25:37.869 --> 00:25:43.990
inside of him was faith. We have got to mix the

00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:51.779
word of God With faith. And believe. Hallelujah.

00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:59.119
Faith. We've got to mix it. With faith. And the

00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.099
word of God mixed with a believing heart. Will

00:26:02.099 --> 00:26:07.119
sustain you through anything that you face. Matthew

00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.259
chapter 24 verse 35 says. Heaven and earth may

00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:16.559
pass away. But my words will never. pass away.

00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:23.400
Matthew 7 24 says, therefore, whoever hears these

00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:28.400
words of mine and does them, they mix them with

00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:31.779
faith believing. I will then liken to him to

00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:35.579
a wise man who built his house on the rock. The

00:26:35.579 --> 00:26:38.900
rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew

00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:42.839
and beat on that house and it did not fall for

00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:48.319
it was founded. on the rock. Hallelujah. Was

00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:53.480
founded on the rock. Praise God. Founded on the

00:26:53.480 --> 00:27:01.259
rock. Are you founded on the rock? Now, in my

00:27:01.259 --> 00:27:06.400
life, in many different departments, I have had

00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:12.240
goals, but many of my goals have remained merely

00:27:13.800 --> 00:27:17.220
aspirational. Does anybody know what that word

00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:21.880
means, aspirational? It means that you have incredible

00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:26.640
intentions, but they never actually come to fruition.

00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:32.000
You believe that it's a good thing, but it never

00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.559
manifests in your life. How many of you have

00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:41.599
aspirational goals when it comes to eating? Ha

00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:46.200
ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah. There's a lot more hands

00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:48.420
up on the inside than on the outside. I know

00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:51.940
that to be true. You have aspirational goals

00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:57.299
with exercise. You know that it's good for you.

00:27:57.339 --> 00:27:59.859
You know that you should do it, but you don't

00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:06.700
do it. You have the belief. But friends, aspirational

00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:15.579
faith is not faith. Aspirational faith, it just

00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:18.519
keeps you in the same place that you are day

00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:21.319
after day after day after day, year after year

00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:24.200
after year after year, and nothing else changes.

00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:31.339
God wants us to move from the aspirational to

00:28:31.339 --> 00:28:35.500
the real. And where the rubber meets the road

00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:39.900
is, Am I going to get up 15 minutes early so

00:28:39.900 --> 00:28:45.359
that I can pray and read? Am I going to meditate

00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:50.640
on the Word before I go to sleep at night? Am

00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:56.579
I going to feed on the Word? I had a friend that

00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:59.759
just made it her goal that every time she ate

00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:02.880
food, she was also going to feed on the Scriptures.

00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:07.519
That's a pretty good goal, isn't it? have the

00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:10.839
word with breakfast. She had the word with lunch.

00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:13.339
She had the word with dinner. I don't know if

00:29:13.339 --> 00:29:15.299
she's still doing that, but a season of her life,

00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:19.000
that's the way that she did it. She decided,

00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:21.680
I'm going to feed my body. I'm also going to

00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:26.059
feed my spirit. I'm going to open up the word

00:29:26.059 --> 00:29:29.740
of God. I'm going to open up the word of God.

00:29:30.700 --> 00:29:34.920
Well, I don't understand it, pastor. Well, I

00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:38.980
don't understand it all either. I'm growing.

00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:44.579
But I know this, it has power in my life. And

00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:47.180
God will increase and he'll teach me by the Holy

00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:49.579
Spirit and he'll teach you and he'll lead you

00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:52.339
and he'll show you. And you might not at first,

00:29:52.359 --> 00:29:54.299
at first you might say, well, what good did that

00:29:54.299 --> 00:29:59.400
do me to read that? What good did it do me to

00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:02.960
read all those names in Chronicles? What good

00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:05.920
did it do me to read this or read that? But I'm

00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:08.460
telling you, if you will stick with it and you

00:30:08.460 --> 00:30:11.319
will make it your portion, you will make it your

00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:15.359
habit that you will grow in the Lord simply by

00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:23.440
reading the Word of God. Continue anyway. And

00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:25.799
then finally this morning, I want to say this.

00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:32.980
The written word can never replace the living

00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:39.059
word. I want to say that again. The written word

00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:45.279
can never replace the living word. What did Gideon

00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.839
do when faith came into his heart and he realized,

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.960
hey, this really was the God that spoke to me?

00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:58.180
He got down on his face and he worshiped. He

00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:02.140
worshiped. Let me read a scripture from John

00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:06.059
chapter 5. This is very interesting for the religious

00:31:06.059 --> 00:31:12.819
among us. He says this, you diligently search

00:31:12.819 --> 00:31:17.920
the scriptures for in them you think you have

00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:24.400
eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify

00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:29.740
of me. But you are not willing to come to me

00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:36.700
that you might have life. That's very interesting,

00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:42.680
isn't it? Because the religious scholars were

00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:48.799
looking at this book like a textbook. They were

00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:52.400
looking at this book not as God intended them

00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:58.470
to look at it. They were trying. to master all

00:31:58.470 --> 00:32:01.329
of the commandments so that they could be better

00:32:01.329 --> 00:32:07.930
people. When the living Word, Jesus, came on

00:32:07.930 --> 00:32:13.069
the scene, they were blinded to it. They couldn't

00:32:13.069 --> 00:32:17.289
see. Oh, but when you and I come to this book,

00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:23.269
and we don't forget that this book Leads us to

00:32:23.269 --> 00:32:26.009
the living word of God. Whose name is Jesus.

00:32:27.470 --> 00:32:31.329
Oh, then life comes into us. Imagine what it

00:32:31.329 --> 00:32:34.950
was like for Paul. His name was Saul in Acts

00:32:34.950 --> 00:32:39.609
chapter 9, and he was a master of the Old Testament.

00:32:39.670 --> 00:32:43.009
In fact, he had most of the Old Testament memorized

00:32:43.009 --> 00:32:47.710
as a star student in the Word, hand -chosen disciple

00:32:47.710 --> 00:32:52.589
of Gamaliel. He was a student of the Old Testament,

00:32:52.589 --> 00:32:56.779
but he despised Christians and Christianity,

00:32:56.819 --> 00:32:59.980
and he was even putting them to death. Can you

00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:04.940
imagine what happened to him when he met Jesus

00:33:04.940 --> 00:33:09.039
on the road and was knocked off of his horse

00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:13.180
and blinded, and he heard the voice of heaven,

00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:18.829
and he saw the light, and he said, Saul, Saul,

00:33:18.970 --> 00:33:23.630
why are you persecuting me? And Saul, his heart

00:33:23.630 --> 00:33:27.369
began to stir. Something began to happen. And

00:33:27.369 --> 00:33:32.009
he responded and said this, who are you, Lord?

00:33:33.609 --> 00:33:38.130
Who are you, Lord? He was saying, I don't know

00:33:38.130 --> 00:33:43.569
who you are, but you are bigger than me. Who

00:33:43.569 --> 00:33:48.710
are you, Lord? He already knew this person talking

00:33:48.710 --> 00:33:53.869
to me right now has some cloud. And Jesus responded

00:33:53.869 --> 00:33:57.549
and said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

00:33:58.009 --> 00:34:00.630
It's hard for you to live the way you're living.

00:34:01.589 --> 00:34:06.190
And in the next three days, Saul surrendered

00:34:06.190 --> 00:34:12.210
his life to Christ. And can you imagine? He had

00:34:12.210 --> 00:34:15.880
all that. word in him that he had diligently

00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:19.960
studied and it was inside of him but can you

00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:24.079
imagine how all of that word began to go and

00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:28.400
come to life as he met the living word and he

00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:31.860
came he came to the understand the old testament

00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:35.119
scriptures now not through the lenses of gamaliel

00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:37.880
not through the lenses of all his all his teaching

00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:40.800
ever since he was a child but through the lenses

00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:46.230
of the living word Jesus. Hallelujah. It's no

00:34:46.230 --> 00:34:49.050
wonder that as soon as Ananias came and laid

00:34:49.050 --> 00:34:51.289
hands on him and he received his sight, it's

00:34:51.289 --> 00:34:54.190
no wonder that he began to preach and teach that

00:34:54.190 --> 00:34:57.849
Jesus was the Messiah. And he began to prove

00:34:57.849 --> 00:35:00.949
it from the Old Testament scriptures that he

00:35:00.949 --> 00:35:04.489
had memorized in his heart. Everything came to

00:35:04.489 --> 00:35:09.449
life. Hallelujah. Because you cannot separate

00:35:09.449 --> 00:35:15.070
the written word. From the living word. We've

00:35:15.070 --> 00:35:19.610
got to come. To the Lord. When you open your

00:35:19.610 --> 00:35:23.730
scriptures. You're saying to God. God I want

00:35:23.730 --> 00:35:29.250
to know you more. God I'm hungry for you. God

00:35:29.250 --> 00:35:35.530
feed me today. God open up my eyes. To what you

00:35:35.530 --> 00:35:39.630
want to say to me today. Give me ears to hear.

00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:46.440
What you want to say to me today. God is speaking

00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:50.519
to some of you. And he's saying come back son.

00:35:52.099 --> 00:35:59.099
Come back daughter. To my word. It will sustain

00:35:59.099 --> 00:36:02.579
you. I'm going to ask if the worship team would

00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:11.500
come. And begin to minister. We build our life

00:36:11.500 --> 00:36:19.039
on Jesus. What are we building our life on? The

00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:27.219
Word. The eternal Word of God that will never

00:36:27.219 --> 00:36:37.400
change. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Father.

00:36:39.340 --> 00:36:46.579
Thank you, Father. Just begin. Just begin to

00:36:46.579 --> 00:36:59.699
respond this morning to the Word. I don't know

00:36:59.699 --> 00:37:08.239
what everybody else is going to do, but I'm I'm

00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:15.500
going to give myself to God's word. I'm going

00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:25.340
to feed my soul and my spirit every day on the

00:37:25.340 --> 00:37:35.679
word of God. I'm going to lean my ear into here.

00:37:38.349 --> 00:37:49.849
What God would say to me through his word. We

00:37:49.849 --> 00:37:52.730
believe in this church and the gifts of the spirit.

00:37:52.889 --> 00:37:55.090
We believe in the verbal gifts. We believe in

00:37:55.090 --> 00:38:00.110
teaching and preaching. We believe in the prophetic.

00:38:01.150 --> 00:38:04.170
We believe in prophecy and interpretation of

00:38:04.170 --> 00:38:08.710
tongues. We believe that God speaks to us in

00:38:08.710 --> 00:38:17.469
many different ways. But this morning, the call

00:38:17.469 --> 00:38:27.690
is to reaffirm our commitment to the Word of

00:38:27.690 --> 00:38:43.780
God. The Word of God. Thank you, Lord. Just have

00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:48.300
a conversation with the Lord right now. Just

00:38:48.300 --> 00:38:55.340
you and him. God, renew our love for your word.

00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:00.380
We're addicted to so many things in this life.

00:39:03.019 --> 00:39:12.110
God, forgive us. We come back to the word. God,

00:39:12.150 --> 00:39:18.250
we feed our bodies, but we so often neglect our

00:39:18.250 --> 00:39:27.150
spirit. God, we give ourselves to the word of

00:39:27.150 --> 00:39:46.570
God. We come back. We come back. Thank you, Lord.

00:39:49.909 --> 00:39:56.650
Thank you, Lord. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh,

00:39:56.710 --> 00:40:12.210
my God. Thank you, Father. I'm going to ask everybody

00:40:12.210 --> 00:40:16.360
to stand across this place. And the altar call

00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:21.179
this morning is simple. We're giving ourselves

00:40:21.179 --> 00:40:27.199
to the word of God. We're going to sing this

00:40:27.199 --> 00:40:35.380
song just once through. Building our lives on

00:40:35.380 --> 00:40:39.840
the foundation of Christ, the living word. And

00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:42.320
as we sing it, if you... If you want to make

00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:44.619
a fresh commitment to the word of God, I'm going

00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:46.400
to ask you to get up out of your seat. I'm going

00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:48.900
to ask you to come down. I'm going to ask you

00:40:48.900 --> 00:40:52.260
to come down to the altar here and just make

00:40:52.260 --> 00:40:54.280
that commitment to the Lord. Brianna, go ahead

00:40:54.280 --> 00:41:03.099
and lead us. Thank you, Lord. You're worthy,

00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:07.820
God. You're worthy. Just find a place around

00:41:07.820 --> 00:41:16.539
the altar. All of it. Worthy of every breath

00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:21.300
we could ever breathe. We live for you. We live

00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:31.139
for you, oh God. Holy, oh. Jesus, the name above

00:41:31.139 --> 00:41:37.679
every other name. The living word. Jesus, the

00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:52.639
only one. We could ever breathe for you. We live

00:41:52.639 --> 00:42:03.900
for you. There is no one like you. There is none

00:42:03.900 --> 00:42:29.829
beside you. To those around me. There is none

00:42:29.829 --> 00:42:37.389
beside you. There is none beside you. Open up

00:42:37.389 --> 00:43:00.059
my eyes in wonder. to those around me. Let's

00:43:00.059 --> 00:43:05.380
sing, I will build my life. Oh God, this is what

00:43:05.380 --> 00:43:08.719
we're praying this morning. Calling out to the

00:43:08.719 --> 00:44:59.699
living word. I will build my life. Lord, we repent

00:44:59.699 --> 00:45:01.940
right now from the things that have kept us from

00:45:01.940 --> 00:45:06.280
your word. It is the enemy that has worked overtime

00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:10.579
to keep us too busy, too entertained, too comfortable,

00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:16.559
too enthralled with this life, too caught up

00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:22.619
with other responsibilities. And we have neglected

00:45:22.619 --> 00:45:27.300
your word. And we ask your forgiveness right

00:45:27.300 --> 00:45:33.130
now. In the name of Jesus. And we ask a washing

00:45:33.130 --> 00:45:38.289
to come. A washing to come. God, never has your

00:45:38.289 --> 00:45:42.429
word been more accessible than it is right now.

00:45:45.510 --> 00:45:50.869
But we repent, God, and we turn. We turn to your

00:45:50.869 --> 00:45:57.059
word. We turn to your word. We will build our

00:45:57.059 --> 00:46:01.119
lives on your word. We will follow your word.

00:46:03.400 --> 00:46:09.619
Come what may, we will give ourselves to the

00:46:09.619 --> 00:46:21.300
living word of God. Hear our cry, O God. couples

00:46:21.300 --> 00:46:23.400
are up here together I thank you for marriages

00:46:23.400 --> 00:46:27.119
built on the living word of God I thank you Lord

00:46:27.119 --> 00:46:30.260
Jesus for families and homes built on the word

00:46:30.260 --> 00:46:33.219
of God that say like Joshua as for me and my

00:46:33.219 --> 00:46:37.420
house we will serve the Lord hallelujah I thank

00:46:37.420 --> 00:46:41.820
you God for the commitment to allow the word

00:46:41.820 --> 00:46:46.440
to have its place in our lives and in our hearts