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You are too kind. You are too kind, Pastor Greg.

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As you can tell, if you can see, I'm still trying to stretch the holiday, the global holiday that is May the 4th,

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to the weekend with my my Star Wars love.

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And I just found out recently there's going to be another movie coming out about 26 or 27 or so, so starring Rey.

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So I'm really excited about that. I'm very excited.

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Again, my name is Eric Rowell, and I have been a member here at the House Church for about 10 years.

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I'd like to thank Pastor Greg for allowing me to speak today.

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This morning I seek guidance from our Lord to deliver words that hopefully will resonate with you and serve you well.

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When we quote the Bible here at the House, we like to honor God by standing if you are able.

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2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 says, for we live by faith, not by sight.

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And in Matthew 18 chapter 2 verse 5, therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

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And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. You may be seated.

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In today's message, I bring the continuance of the radical effects series with a focus on the deadly sins.

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These sins have been featured throughout Christian theology for centuries and serve all humanity when we consider their impact on society.

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They include greed, lust, sloth, pride, envy and wrath.

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To allow these emotions to govern one's behavior is near certain to lead the spirit down a dangerous path.

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For these are the vices that spur on other sins and the potential for immoral behavior.

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My efforts this morning center on the sin of gluttony, which simply defined is an excess in eating and drinking.

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Although eating and drinking for pleasure is not seen as sinful in and of themselves, eating and drinking to excess beyond reason is cause for sin.

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The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 23 verses 20 and 21,

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Do not join with wine, bibers, nor with those who glut themselves on meat, for drunkards and glutton's come to poverty and lazing about clothes won in rags.

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Essentially to abuse food and alcohol can lead one to dissemination because faithful natures can be dropped.

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Careful plans can be thwarted and desired images can be ruined.

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What I'm not speaking about is the Thanksgiving that you had where you ate so much turkey and cranberries and stuffing and green bean casserole as a favorite in our household,

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that you pass out on the couch or the time you had one too many drinks out with friends when you had to be driven home.

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But I do not want to overlook these for they can be springboards to spirals down shameful paths.

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How many diets have been lost and never found or sobriety stances given away to during the holiday celebrations that many of us take partake in yearly.

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Never should we ignore these traps when we are vulnerable to our own vices.

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Proverbs chapter 25 verse 28 says a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

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I believe very few people desire initially to abuse food, alcohol or drugs.

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Most times these are simple necessities of life that are normal and needed.

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And when practiced purposefully and discriminately, our bodies and spirits are nurtured properly.

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First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31 says so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all in the glory of God.

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This essentially means holding one's body in high regard in the wish of God.

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Gluttony becomes an issue when we begin to prefer a desired substance to sustain an important aspect of life or to compensate for the lack of something important like happiness, love, security, joy.

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Sometimes the sin of gluttony begins with pain and manifests itself into something that can completely devour one's spirit, one's existence and depending on the influence one has over the others, over others, the existence and spirit of those around us.

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Here's an example.

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If one is hungry and there is a consistent lack of food, the attainment of food can become a great desire.

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When one finally has access to it, perhaps in abundance, the desire to consume it, to hoard it can become strong.

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And the stronger it is, the more of an addiction it can become.

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Here is where the mind begins to believe that with food we will achieve happiness, that by simply having it around us or on our lips, in our mouths or resting in our stomachs,

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all that ails will disappear and the success and that success has been achieved because we are no longer hungry.

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Hunger then becomes our enemy and we will do all we can to keep it at bay.

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The same can be said with alcohol and drugs as out of pain, one attempts to find peace and fulfillment in either of these.

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The same can also be said about gambling, pornography, shopping and the Internet.

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As I said, many of the sins, the vices that we cannot let go of are birthed in pain.

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These are the negative experiences that over the course of our lives can color us in every way.

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So visible at times, it is all that anyone ever sees in us and all that we ever see in ourselves.

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How many times have we been disappointed when we stopped by our mirror, not wanting to be the reflection we see?

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And sometimes it is a false narrative that is given, a satanic trap that causes you to believe that everyone has the exact same opinion of you,

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the exact same negative opinion of you.

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Then the vice can become your savior, your savior, that which provides solace and eases the tension, the remorse, the sadness, and usually only momentarily.

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Pain is a natural part of life.

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I imagine a few of us probably stubbed our toes recently or had a bad day at work or grieved the loss of a loved one in the last few years.

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Pain is not always bad because pain causes a reaction, a reaction that can often lead to positive outcomes.

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Athletes who are doubted in their youth can use their pain to become more focused and achieve great things on the playing field well beyond their imaginations.

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Children who grew up without loving or concerned parents can become fabulous parents themselves who offer tenderness and attention and guidance to those they brought forth into the world.

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And the person who saw people around them struggle with employment can work hard to find and sustain careers that positively alters their lives and outlook and creates greater opportunities for their children and their children's children.

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The anger, the rejection, the resentment, the fear that we experience can all be tools to inspire one to achieve.

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But once achievement is sustained, why do so many of us hold on to it?

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You see, pain, like food and alcohol, can be hoarded.

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It too can consume you and make you unrecognizable to your previous self.

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Pain has then left its mark and the attempts to remove, for many of us, is our greatest struggle as the sins brought forth can be monstrous to overcome, like the whale to Captain Ahab.

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My question to you all today is, are you enough without the pain?

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Are you able to let go of what had inspired you if in the beginning it had hurt you?

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Are you able to let go of what soothes you to find what heals you?

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So many times I have seen in the athlete the chip that is kept on the shoulder, fearing that he or she will no longer prosper on the field without the anger or the hurt.

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So it stays with us.

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We carry it around like wallets and car keys, and they become present in other areas of our lives, in our homes, in our relationships.

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In the parent, though we offer to our own children more than we ever received, we still harbor guilt and shame that rears its head so often it manifests sustained bitterness between us and those we love.

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Never are we to forgive our mothers and fathers, our former friends, our exes, society itself, and our very own children if they hurt us as well.

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And in the person who sought security and career, we often work so long and so hard, work itself has become our passion, not what we could provide for ourselves and those around us.

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How many games and recitals of our children are missed?

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How many charities do we ignore?

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And how many spouses were abandoned?

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I believe forgiveness is a necessary component to healing and ridding ourselves of the sin of gluttony and the pain that most often was born in.

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One does not have to forget what hurt was experienced, and one can still be cautious when dealing with certain people or aspects of society.

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Forgiveness allows us to find space in our hearts and minds for the things that will nurture and heal us.

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We can then begin to work to find the joy and the happiness and peace we need through faith in God's guidance and the effort we can all muster to abstain and train and refrain.

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Galatians chapter five verses 22 through 24 states, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

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Against such things, there is no law.

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Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with his passions and desires.

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You see, the mirror will always reveal what we look like, but it will never reveal who we are.

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Who we are is what we believe in and what we do with our beliefs.

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If we are to overindulge in food or alcohol, then the mirror will reflect what that looks like.

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If we are to show temperance and respect to ourselves, if we are to appreciate our lives and God's love of us,

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then we will not be disappointed at our reflections because we will know who we are.

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We will know that we are beautiful.

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We will know that we are significant and we will know that we are loved.

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My friends, I say to you now, try.

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Try to be what you wish God would love to see.

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Forgive yourself for your sins and mistakes.

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Hold not to the past when it only tears and belittles.

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Exist today and long into the future for the purpose of love.

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Love of God, thyself, and thy neighbor.

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And whatever the result is, be content with your efforts, for I believe your reflection,

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because you had faith and because you tried, will possess a smile.

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May peace be with you.