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I think I already said it, my name is Greg, I'm one of the pastors here.

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If we've never had coffee, I like it.

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I'd love to buy you coffee.

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If lunch is more your speed, we can work that out too.

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I like to eat, and so it all works out.

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We are in a series called Radical Effect, because when you plant a seed, the first little

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sprout that comes from that seed is called the radical, and the plant that ends up growing

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from it is the effect.

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And we're talking about this because as Christians we believe when Jesus died, He took all of

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our sin.

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Just think those words.

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All of our sin.

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Not just the sin of that day.

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All the sins of the world, past, present, future.

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It doesn't mean that you cannot sin, it just means that if you sin, then sin is the echo

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of something old.

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It's already been defeated.

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If you look closely enough, even in those moments, you'll see that there's still something

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new that is growing.

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Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, the traditional seven deadly sins,

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they all have something new that can grow instead.

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Things like humility, charity, chastity, gratitude, self-control, patience, and diligence.

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Today we consider envy and gratitude.

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So let's go ahead and open up our Bibles.

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We're going to open to 1 Peter, 1 Peter, it's going to be chapter one.

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1 Peter is really close to the end.

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So if you just open your Bible all the way to the end and then just start flipping back,

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you're going to find it.

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So 1 Peter is after James, and then it goes 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John.

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So if you find any of those, you know you're in the right neighborhood.

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If you don't have a Bible, there's Bibles on the table.

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If you would like one, you can take one of those home with you.

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Otherwise, just download a Bible from any of the digital app stores.

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We have a tradition of giving the scriptures that are read during the sermon our full attention.

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And one of the ways you can do that is by standing with me.

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You're welcome to sit as well.

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But let's give the scriptures our full attention as we read them now.

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1 Peter 1, starting in verse 23, says this, you have been born anew, not of perishable,

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but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

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For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of grass.

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The grass withers and the flower falls.

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But the word of the Lord endures forever.

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That word is the good news that was announced to you.

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Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of

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every kind.

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Let us pray.

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God of every tribe, of every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you for the

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scriptures that they have persisted throughout the millennia.

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And I pray that whatever we talk about today, that whatever you have for us to learn, that

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it would stick.

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It would become a part of the framework of our faith.

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That our faith would become stronger.

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That we would become more like your son Jesus.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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You all have a seat.

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Thanks.

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So I think that Peter lays out our premise pretty well.

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He says that you were born anew.

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You've been saying that over and over again throughout this series, that there is something

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new.

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You have been born anew through something that will last forever.

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There's things, we're constantly surrounded by things that are perishable.

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And yet somehow there's something about what Jesus has done and who Jesus is that is imperishable.

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That can never end.

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Even though we, every day, we're constantly bombarded with what is temporary, we have

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within us something that is forever.

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What Jesus does is permanent.

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So he says, get rid of all the old stuff that will not last.

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One thing I really like about books like Peter and the Johns is you see these hints and shadows

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and mimicry of things that they heard Jesus say himself.

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Jesus said, but do not store up treasures for yourself here where moth and rust can

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destroy it, but store up for yourself treasures in heaven.

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He's talking about the things that Jesus was talking to him about.

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If I was going to put it in other words, just as simply as possible, the root is cut, but

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all those old dead branches, they still need removed.

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The root is cut, but there's still some old branches that need removing because if those

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dead branches get to hang around, they just might affect how we feel about our faith.

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Because if we keep tripping on old branches that don't even have life in them anymore,

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but if we keep tripping on those branches, we might start telling ourselves, maybe we

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haven't changed.

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Maybe that wasn't real.

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Maybe the old way is the always.

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I think that we can be pretty hard on ourselves, can't we?

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Or maybe some of us have people in our lives that do that for us.

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Maybe you've heard someone say, don't raise your hand if this is you, but maybe you heard

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someone say, you haven't changed.

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Let me just encourage you for a minute.

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If you started following Jesus and someone said that to you, I think most of the time

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people say something like that.

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Not because you haven't changed.

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It's because they never changed the story that they have for you.

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So in some ways, whether you have changed or not, they're going to see what they believe.

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And it is also simultaneously true that it can take a long time to break some old habits.

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Some of us have had a lot of dead branches just laying around in our yard.

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And then the wind blows and those branches get strewn across our sidewalk.

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And suddenly we were like, well, I had it where I wanted it.

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Now we find ourselves tripping over things that no longer give us life.

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But hear me, like we may not have completely changed all at the same time or all of our

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behavior on the outside, but that does not change that your heart is new.

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If anyone is in Christ, then they are what?

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A new creation.

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The old is gone.

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The new has come.

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Sometimes the outside needs some time to catch up with the new reality of what has happened

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on the inside.

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That's part of what baptism is about.

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Y'all, Jesus has already forgiven you.

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Your sins are already dead.

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Your heart is already new.

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So in baptism, you're doing something to the outside of your body to communicate what you

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believe has already happened on the inside of your heart.

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And then the church, the people around you, when you get baptized, we're the ones that

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are supposed to be committing to see who you are now.

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There's this video online, and I will not quote it verbatim.

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This guy's getting baptized, and they're standing in the baptismal, and the pastor says into

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the mic, so why are you getting baptized today?

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And he holds the mic up to him, and he says, because I used to be a piece of...

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And he said the word.

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He said it in front of the whole church.

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He was acknowledging that I used to act a certain way.

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That I used to be a certain person, but now I'm doing something on the outside that reflects

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what I believe happens inside.

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Because he didn't say because I am.

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He said because I used to be.

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And as the church, the church is supposed to come around us and believe who we are now.

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Because we know, at least we should, that none of us are perfect on the outside either.

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So when someone diminishes what God is doing in your life, remember, they're probably just

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telling an old story.

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You can hold on to whatever Jesus has done.

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And then in some cases, I think people diminish how you've changed because they envy what

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you have experienced.

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You ever been telling someone about something good that happened, like a vacation, a promotion,

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a new relationship, and they just want to poke holes in it?

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Hey, hey, I had a great vacation.

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Oh, I bet it was pretty hot, huh?

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Expensive?

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How are you going to pay that one off?

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Oh, I got a promotion.

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Congratulations.

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Oh man, it sounds like a lot of extra work now, huh?

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Hey, I'm in a new relationship.

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That's great.

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Let's hope he doesn't cheat like the last guy.

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You sure know how to pick him.

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And it's sad to say that the same thing can happen between Christians.

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Because one of those old branches that some of us still have laying around is called envy.

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Envy isn't just wanting what someone else has.

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It can turn into not wanting them to have what they have.

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Sometimes someone will say to you, you haven't changed because they don't feel like they

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have changed.

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If they don't feel like they have changed, they don't really want you to feel like you

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have changed either.

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They envy what you're experiencing.

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So I want to say something clearly.

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When we believe in Jesus, we are not meant to be using each other for comparison.

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Jesus is our model.

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Jesus is our standard.

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Jesus is our benchmark and beginning.

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He is the end and everything in between.

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When we feel like we do not measure up, the grace of Jesus is our comfort.

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If you feel, if you believe in Jesus, and if you feel disappointed or envious of what

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someone else is experiencing, right now I'm talking to you.

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I know the sting of feeling unchanged.

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I know the frustration of old sins hanging around.

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I know the feeling of looking in the spiritual mirror and wishing that I was further along.

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I know how it feels to have moments, even seasons, where this life with Jesus isn't

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what you thought that it would be.

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To those of you that this applies to, I just want to say that I'm sorry.

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Because some of that comes from a version of Christianity that told you, if you just

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believe in Jesus, all your problems will go away.

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Every illness will be healed.

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Your anxiety will disappear.

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Everyone will love you as you are.

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Your enemies will become your best friends.

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Your addictions will dissipate.

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You won't have to feel envious of anyone because you will have everything you hoped for.

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And if that's you, I have no harsh words for you.

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I have only compassion.

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I just hope that you won't give up.

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Because Jesus is still good.

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Jesus is who He says that He is.

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He is the way.

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He is the truth.

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He is the life.

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And hear me.

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Your heart is as new today as it was the day that you met Him.

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Your heart is as clean and perfect as Luke's, as Zayla's and Zaya's.

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All these little babies that you see running around this church that couldn't possibly

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have done anything wrong yet in this life.

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Because of who Jesus is, your heart is as perfect as theirs.

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So what do we do with this?

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Other than need to blow your nose.

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How do we participate?

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There's this old saying, gratitude is the heart's memory.

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Gratitude is the heart's memory.

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And if your heart is as new today as it was the day you met Jesus, then we might need

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to develop our sense of gratitude to remember what that felt like.

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There's a gratitude practice that's called three good things or counting your blessings.

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Each day what you do is you write down three good things or blessings and you intentionally

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identify the cause of that good thing.

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You don't just say, oh, I had a good day at work.

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You identify why.

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Oh, I felt blessed in this way.

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And then you identify why.

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Oh, this worked out.

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You identify why.

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One study that involved this practice found that even six weeks later, the people involved

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in this study that were using this practice were happier than previously reported and

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they were experiencing less depression.

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And another study, people that wrote a letter of gratitude every day for three weeks.

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12 weeks later, they reported significantly better mental health.

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What am I saying?

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I'm saying when gratitude is our focus, it can become difficult to trip over our envy.

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It's not a magic wand.

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It's not going to fix everything.

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But when we practice gratitude, that is the action of us picking up those old branches

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of envy and throwing them into the fire.

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Because now we are walking with gratitude instead of tripping over envy.

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The more we practice gratitude, the less chance those old branches have a chance of hiding

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in the yard.

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So I thought that we could use a bit of our time today to count some blessings or to write

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a letter of gratitude.

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There's at least two or three journals that are on each of the tables.

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If there's more people at your table than journals, feel free to go to another table

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and grab one that isn't being used or open your phone to the notes app.

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But I just want to give you a little time to write three blessings and identify why

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are they a blessing.

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So write down three things that are good that you're grateful for and identify why.

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If you would prefer to start a letter of gratitude, start that, but finish it later.

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You can take that journal with you if you need it.

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Let's just take a few minutes to identify what God has done or what is good and you're

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grateful for in your life and identify why.

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We'll give you a couple of minutes.

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Good luck.

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One, two, one, one, two, one, two.

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One, two, one, one, two, one, two, one.

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My three things.

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My kids.

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I'm grateful for my children because every day I get to love them and offer them love.

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No matter what the world throws at them, God lets me be their dad.

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And I'm blown away that I get to know them.

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My wife.

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I am not the best husband, but she loves me like I am.

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My church.

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I could not have imagined what this would be.

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And I can't really put into words how grateful I am that we are who we are and that it's

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because of Jesus.

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If you feel so led, do this every day for three weeks.

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See if it has an impact or an effect on your heart.

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Invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of developing the gratitude that you have in this life.

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And believe me, you will start to see how new your heart really is.

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Amen?

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Let's pray.

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Fathers, thank you so much for loving us, for giving us life, for making us new.

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Even when we don't feel like it, the Holy Spirit comfort us and counsel us and lead

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us into knowing you more.

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Pray that gratitude would grow, that the old branches of envy would burn up in the bonfire,

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that we would watch it float away like sparks in the night.

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We do this because of you.

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Thank you for being with us.

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Your name?