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Luke 15.

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We'll look at the first verse and the second verse.

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Two little verses.

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Probably going to be a short sermon today.

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That's probably everybody's favorite thing to hear when the preacher says it's going

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to be a short sermon today.

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That and this is the last verse.

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Those are the two things that everybody is eager to hear the preacher say.

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Luke chapter 15 verses 1 and 2.

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It's a good chapter to read if you've never read this chapter before.

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You might want to take a peek at it this week.

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It's possible we'll be back in it in the next week or two.

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Jesus often went around doing miracles and preaching and teaching and gathered a crowd.

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There was something that was really unique about Jesus and that is he was compassionate

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to everybody, which was a little different than many of the religious people of his day.

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It appears that we see in this passage and that we see in other passages.

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We're going to talk a little bit about that this morning.

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Let's read through these first two verses in Luke 15 and we'll talk about it for a second.

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All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him and the Pharisees and scribes

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were complaining.

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This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

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Let's pray.

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Father God, we come to you this morning.

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We thank you that we can come here today.

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I pray that you give us a good day.

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God, it's different.

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Everything's kind of hectic.

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We got stuff going on.

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We got food.

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We got pictures.

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A lot on our mind, dear Lord.

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But I pray that for these couple of minutes that you would help us not to be worried about

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stuff of this world.

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We come in here today, dear Lord, some of us with really heavy burdens, God.

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There are some people here today that are going through stuff, God.

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And I pray that you be with us, whatever we're going through, whether it's a lot or whether

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it's a little, whatever our stresses are, whatever our worries are, that you would just

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help us to seek you this morning, that you would help us to be more like Jesus today,

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God, that we would not think too highly of ourselves and think less of others, but dear

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Lord, that we would learn to have the compassion that Jesus has.

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And I ask these things in Jesus' name I pray it.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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What a beautiful couple of verses for us to consider this morning.

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That is how Jesus lived his life, how Jesus carried out his ministry.

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Here were the tax collectors and the sinners, the worst of the worst people, prostitutes,

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I mean, the most evil people you could think of, the people that a society would look down

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upon.

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We see those tax collectors mentioned a lot, not necessarily because they collected taxes.

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That in and of itself is not the most horrible thing.

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But the problem is that the tax collectors would cheat the people.

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They would take more than they were supposed to.

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Whatever they could get, they would get.

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And you might could say that things haven't changed much today.

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Whatever can be gotten from taxes is going to be gotten from taxes, whether it's justified

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or not.

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And so tax collectors were not looked at as good people.

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And here Jesus is with the tax collectors and with the sinners, and he's eating with

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these people.

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He's associating with these people.

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Now, this is a phenomenal thing, because if we are honest with ourselves, we probably

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don't want to associate that much with the lesser-thans in our society.

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We don't want to really associate those that are kind of dirty and kind of nasty, those

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that we're a little better than.

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We don't really want to stoop to their level.

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We don't want to eat with them.

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We don't want to be seen with them.

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We don't really want to have much interaction for them.

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We'll say, well, I hope they get to doing better.

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Maybe they'll turn their life around.

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But really, do we care?

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Maybe we do.

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Maybe we don't.

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Maybe we don't really care too much about them, so long as they stay away from us.

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And Lord knows we certainly would never want to invite them into our home.

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We'd never want to sit down and eat a meal with them.

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We certainly wouldn't want to go into their home.

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But yet, this is the kind of compassion and love we see of Jesus.

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That Jesus really did see people.

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He saw people who were sinners.

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He saw souls that were doomed to hell if they did not hear the gospel, if they did

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not know the truth that He was going to preach, if they did not know what love was.

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They were doomed.

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And so Jesus viewed the world a little different than the other religious leaders of His day.

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A little different than the other religious people of His day.

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Jesus was always encountering the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes.

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And these dudes I'm talking about, they were as religious as you could be.

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I mean, they were at the top of the list.

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If you want an example of somebody who was religious, you just find you a good Pharisee

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in those days.

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And they were the example, the definition of religion.

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But to them, religion wasn't following the commands of God.

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It wasn't loving other people to the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes, at least it appears

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many of them.

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What they cared about was just looking apart.

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They looked religious.

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They probably said all the religious words.

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Do we ever do that?

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You know, there are certain words you only say at church.

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You say those religious words.

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You say them when you pray.

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You say words that you never say anywhere else in the rest of your life.

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But you say them in the right setting because these are the right words that religious people

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say.

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So we want to look the part.

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We want to sound the part.

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We want to follow the letter of the law, at least so much that we can twist and justify

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to feel good about even the parts of it that we break.

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Well, that was the Pharisees.

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Maybe if we're honest, we're not so unlike them.

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But the Pharisees were like that.

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They looked very religious.

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They acted very religious, but they had totally misunderstood who God was and what God cared

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about because if they would have understood, they would have listened to Jesus and they

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would have said, hold up, there's something different about this guy.

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And this guy is special.

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But instead, they said, there's something different about this guy.

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And he doesn't do things any way the way we do them.

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And we don't like that.

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And so they saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and the sinners, the worst of the

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worst.

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And what did they do?

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It said that they begin to complain.

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They begin to complain because Jesus was ministering to sinners.

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What a beautiful thing Jesus shows us.

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Jesus cared about people.

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Jesus cared about those who were sinners.

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Jesus was compassionate to those whose souls had a need for a Savior, but not the religious.

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The religious didn't care about the souls.

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The religious didn't care about the Savior.

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The religious didn't care about anything other than keeping up appearances.

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Now, we got to really be on guard here and we got to check ourselves to make sure we

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don't fall into that trap.

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Here's a good thing for us to do when we read the Bible, especially when we read stories

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about other people in the Bible.

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We read the stories and we see who the hero is and who the good guy is and who the one

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that God has grace on.

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And that's the one we are, right?

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We're the one that God's going to come to their rescue and we're the one who does the

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right thing.

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And we like to see ourselves as the good people in the story, as those who are deserving of

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God's grace in the story.

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Do we ever see ourselves as the Pharisee in the story?

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Do we ever see ourselves as the bad guy in the story?

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Do we always see ourselves as the wise man in the story or sometimes do we see ourselves

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as the fool in the story?

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I think it's good for us when we read God's word to not read through it so quickly and

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give ourselves more credit than we deserve because there are probably more times that

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we would like to admit that we're not the good guy in the story.

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We're the bad guy in the story.

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We're not the wise man but we're the foolish man.

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We're not the man who's seeking to live by God but we're the man who's living in disobedience

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to God.

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And it's good for us when we read these stories and we say, man, look at these people that

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he's talking about.

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We've got sinners in the story.

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We've got Jesus in the story.

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We've got these Pharisees in the story that don't care about anything but theirself.

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Which one of these best describes us today?

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Which one of these best describes our church today?

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Maybe we're better than the Pharisees.

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Maybe we're not.

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Maybe we want the worst of the worst to come into our church but then again maybe we don't

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because it's pretty good when you don't have those low lives coming in.

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It's pretty good when everybody kind of knows how to dress the right way and act the right

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way and say the right thing and do the right thing and everybody's kind of friendly.

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You start going out into the world and you begin to reach lost people.

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Spoiler alert, lost people live like lost people.

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They live in sin.

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They don't know any better.

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Lost people, here's another thing about lost people, a lot of times they don't know that

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they're lost.

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They don't even know that they're lost.

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They ain't even heard anything any better.

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And some of you will tell me, I've heard people say this before, there's nobody in this county

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in this state that's never heard Jesus before.

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Oh, hold up.

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There's people within a few miles of this church, I guarantee you more than one, that

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have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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As lost as they can be.

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They're a soul that is doomed to hell because they have not heard of Jesus Christ.

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The question we have to answer today is do we even care?

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Do we even care?

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Do we pass by them and not give them any attention?

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Do we pass by them and say, I ain't stopping at that house.

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Look at that yard.

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I've seen that person.

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I know how they live.

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I know how they act.

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I know the kind of things that they do.

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And if we're honest with ourselves, there's a lot of sinners out there that we pass and

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we don't want nothing to do with them.

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Why?

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Because we're a little better than they are.

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We come to church today.

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We know what it means to be religious.

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We don't want to get caught up with that riff raff.

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And maybe if we're honest today, maybe we're not any better than these Pharisees.

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How would we feel today if we begin to go out into our community and we go get everybody

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else that the rest of the church has passed on?

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The people that no other church wants.

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The people that are as lost as they can be, that don't know how to look the part, that

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just live in evil ways and we begin to reach out to those people and we begin to bring

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them into our church.

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What would be our reaction?

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Now, I know what your reaction would be today.

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You're saying to yourself, I'd say, praise the Lord.

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And you probably would until they started coming into the church, until they took your

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pew, until you started to actually hang out with them a little bit, until you had to speak

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to them a little bit.

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Pretty soon, you might not be so proud that they were coming to this church.

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You may very well come to me and say, listen, Brother Shan, I know we're supposed to love

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people and I love them, but I just don't think it's the church for them.

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They just ain't living right.

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And we do exactly what these Pharisees do.

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We complain because lost people who are living like lost people want to come into our church.

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Whoa.

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That's pretty serious.

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And we want lost people to come into our church, I hope.

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We don't want them to keep living like lost people.

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Don't misunderstand what I'm saying.

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I'm not saying we want people who are evil to come into the church and do evil and we

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just say, well, they're doing evil, but they're at church.

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We don't want that.

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But there's a point that we have to have some compassion that as they begin to come, we

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have to realize that they're not going to live like Christians because they're not Christians.

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But how are they going to know the word of God if we don't go out and reach them?

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How are they going to know that Jesus loves them if somebody doesn't tell them?

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How are they going to come to church if you don't knock on their door?

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Because you've passed by their door a thousand times and you know what?

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So has every other church in the community.

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So there are opportunities for us to have compassion on people, people who don't deserve

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it, people who are rotten, people who are sinful, people who come to church and even

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in church, they say things and you think, man, they should have said that's not appropriate

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in church and it ain't sometimes.

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But they have to be taught better.

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They have to be taught and how are they going to learn if somebody doesn't have compassion

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on them?

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Pharisees, scribes, it doesn't appear as though from reading scripture, too many of them had

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compassion on the sinners.

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But Jesus did.

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Jesus went where nobody else would go.

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Jesus sat with sinners that nobody else would sit with.

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He didn't find the most religious guy, the well-dressed guy at the front of the temple.

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He didn't go up there and sit by him.

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Jesus would seek out the worst of the worst.

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What about you and I?

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Who are you seeking out today?

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Are you seeking out the people that pretty good people look pretty good?

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Are you seeking out the worst of the worst people?

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The people that you really don't want to talk to, the people that you really don't want to

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come to church here, those are the people that you probably need to be reaching out

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to.

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So as we look at this story today, who are you in this story today?

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Are you the Pharisee?

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Are you the one who's complaining because the church is trying to reach lost people?

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Maybe you're like Jesus.

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Maybe you are having compassionate people.

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Praise the Lord.

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There's probably some in here that are.

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That's great.

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There's probably some in here who are reaching out to the worst of the worst, who are trying

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to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

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Praise God.

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Maybe you're that sinner today.

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Maybe you're that sinner today that's lost and you've been living like you're lost.

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You've heard the Word of God.

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You don't hate God.

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You don't even deny God's Word, but you've never trusted in Jesus.

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Maybe today that's why God's brought you here.

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Maybe today he's brought you here to let you know that there is one who has compassion

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on you, to let each of us know that we are sinners and we don't deserve God's grace,

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but Jesus gives it to us, that we are sinners and our souls are doomed to hell apart from

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Jesus Christ.

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How are you going to know that if you don't read the Word of God?

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How are you going to know that if you don't come to a church, if you don't come to a place

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with other brothers and sisters in Christ who can tell you those things?

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How are you going to know that?

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People are going to know that when we follow the example of Jesus and we begin to love

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people like Jesus loves people.

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When we stop thinking too highly of ourselves, when we stop judging other people, when we

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stop expecting lost people to start living like saved people until they get saved.

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So who are we in this story?

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Maybe you're the one who came here today and you're lost and you've been seeking something.

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Well, praise the Lord.

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The Bible says that if you're lost that Jesus has come to seek you.

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The scripture says that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost.

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That's every single one of us apart from Jesus Christ.

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We're lost.

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We're doomed.

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We're just poor and pitiful and horrible people that are in need of a Savior, that are in

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need of deliverance, that are in need of something better than what this world has to offer.

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And so today there may be some in this room who have come seeking something better.

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I was reminded this week of a saying that I'd heard.

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I didn't even know where it come from, but I remember this saying and you may have heard

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this before too.

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It says this.

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It says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

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Has anybody ever heard that before?

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Probably some of you have.

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Some of you have probably seen it before.

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It's engraved in stone at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

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A young lady by the name of Emma Lazarus wrote that 150 years ago for all of those people

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who were coming to the United States who were looking for a better place, who were looking

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to be free.

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What a beautiful invitation.

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Here was the Statue of Liberty as the people would come along and they would be on the

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boats and there was the statue holding the torch and at the bottom of that statue was

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that message of freedom that they could see that torch, that they could see that light,

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that they could know that there was freedom on the horizon, that there was something better

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ahead of them.

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And Jesus uttered some similar words to these, more beautiful.

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In Matthew 11 28, Jesus said, come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give

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you rest.

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Jesus's invitation is he says, come to me.

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You who are sinners, you who are evil, you who are prostitutes, you who are tax collectors,

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you who lie, you who cheat, you who steal, you who commit adultery, you who have done

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whatever sin you can think of.

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Jesus tells us today it's written in the Word of God and we can look to the Word of God

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today and we can know that there is hope and that there is freedom in Jesus Christ.

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That we today are those who are broken.

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We today are those who are sinners.

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And there was a day in our life for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, there was

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a day in our life that we were a lost person living like a lost person.

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But somewhere along the way we heard the gospel.

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Somebody cared enough about us in our pitiful rotten sinful state that they shared Jesus

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Christ with us.

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For some of you there was somebody in your life that cared enough about you that invited

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you to church.

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You heard the Word of God.

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You heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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And you went from a sinner to a sinner saved by grace.

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And we want to be a church.

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And we want to be a people that does not forget where we come from.

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We want to be a people that does not forget that one day we were sinners at the bottom

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of the barrel doing stuff that we don't even care to speak about now so bad.

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But Jesus changed our life.

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And those people that we may be tempted to pass over, Jesus can change their life too.

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We don't need to just look at sinners and see their sin.

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We need to look at sinners and see their soul.

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It's a soul that God put within them.

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It's a soul that God wants to be saved.

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So let us not make the same mistake as the Pharisees.

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Let us not complain about the work that Jesus did.

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Let us not complain about the work that God may do in our church.

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I pray that God will send us the worst of the worst, every one of them.

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You can complain to me if you want to if they start coming.

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I hope they do start coming.

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And I hope we love on them.

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And I hope we share with them the love of Jesus.

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And I hope that they would put their faith in Him just as many of you have today.

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But maybe you're here today and you haven't.

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Maybe you're here today, maybe you've been to church a lot, maybe you've heard scripture

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a lot.

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But maybe today you realize for the first time you've never asked for forgiveness of

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your sins and your soul is doomed.

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But I want to tell you there's a savior for your soul today.

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And praise God that Jesus came for the worst of the worst of the worst.

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And that's you and I today.

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So let us look to Him and find hope in Jesus Christ this morning.

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Let's pray.

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Father God, we come to you today.

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We thank you for your good word.

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I pray God that you would help us not to be like the Pharisees.

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And maybe if we are honest, we are too much like them sometimes.

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Maybe we do real good at looking religious.

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But maybe our hearts are far from you, dear Lord.

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So I pray today that if that's the case that you would grab a hold of us, help us to see

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that.

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God, I pray that we would not complain when you begin to work.

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That we wouldn't complain about the people that you bring to us, the people that you

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put in our life, dear Lord.

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But that we would minister to them and that we would love them as best we can, God.

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Pray that you would help us to be more like Jesus.

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That we would take that step as scary as it is, as tough as it is.

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That we would ask you to help us with our judgmental attitude.

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And that we would see people for who they are.

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There are people created by you who are lost and in need of a Savior.

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And I pray that we would take that step, dear Lord.

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We may be the only one, dear Lord.

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We may say that we'll pass by and the next person will get them.

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But dear Lord, for some people, they've been passed by their whole life.

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So God, maybe we are the next person that's going to walk by their path.

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And I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to love on them.

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Dear Lord, maybe there are some here today and they are that sinner that has never experienced

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the grace of Jesus Christ.

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They've never asked for forgiveness of their sins.

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Maybe they know about you, dear Lord, but they have never really put their faith in

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Jesus Christ.

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To live for Him and not for themselves.

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God, maybe there are some whose hearts today you're working on.

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You're convicting them.

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They know that they don't really know you, dear Lord, but they need to.

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I pray that in this moment, dear Lord, that they would just pray to you.

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They would ask you to forgive them.

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God, that they would seek you right now.

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That they would repent of their sins.

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And that they would accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

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God, if there are some here this morning that have done that, I pray that in this song of

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invitation that they would walk up front and let us know that we can celebrate and rejoice

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with them, dear Lord.

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That we can baptize them just as Jesus has commanded.

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Maybe there are some here today, dear Lord, and they're yours.

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But maybe they see some of their sin that's kind of been brought up to the surface today.

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And maybe they realize they hadn't been doing what they should and living the way they should.

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I pray, God, that they would seek you today.

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God, if there are any that need prayer, I pray that they would come forward today.

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I'll be glad to pray with them.

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But, dear Lord, I pray that as we have this moment of response, that if you've worked

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on anybody's heart, God, that they would seek you and call out to you now.

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And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

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Amen.