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We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be

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healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship

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together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody

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welcome back to the sanctuary. Great to have you with us and for those joining

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us for the first time let me just say welcome. First off let me apologize. Last

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week we did not get the new episode posted and really it's my fault. You know

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I got caught up. I had a lot of stuff going on especially getting ready for

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our veterans ministry and I just kind of lost track of time and missed a

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check mark on my to-do list. So here we are and we're just gonna

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we're gonna pick up right where we left off of course so we're not gonna miss

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anything and we're gonna carry on and yeah so like I said we're gonna carry on

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we're back we're in the book of Ephesians and specifically we're looking

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at chapter 3 and the first part of it we're going to look at God's plan

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regarding the Gentiles and the second part really towards the end we're going

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to see Paul going back into prayer like we've seen previously. Now on a side note

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I love this you know just how we see Paul going back into prayer in this book

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it serves as a great example of what prayer is you know not this humdrum

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Shakespearean nonsense trying to use a form of vernacular or speech that died

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out over a century ago you know or some repetitious lingo like the ancient pagans

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used you know or some meter and rhyme like we're a bunch of five-year-olds

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learning a lemuric that we have to recite before meals so you know we'll

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see more on that here in just a little bit so we're gonna dive in here go

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ahead turn with me now into Ephesians chapter 3 and we're gonna start off with

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the first three verses the Bible says for this reason I Paul the prisoner of

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Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles surely you have heard about

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the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you that is the

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mystery made known to me by revelation as I have already written briefly so to

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start this chapter Paul's reminding us that he's been placed on house arrest in

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Rome and for the very specific reason that he was preaching about Jesus he's

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preaching about the gospel all right if we go back to Acts 28 in verses 16 through

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31 we can see that this was because the religious leaders didn't believe that

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Jesus was the Messiah and that Paul was therefore creating dissension and civil

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unrest within the Jewish community so and so they had to put pressure they

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felt they had to put pressure on the Romans to arrest him on charges of

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treason so in return Paul as a citizen exercised his right to appeal to Caesar

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and at this point he was waiting for that hearing while under guard at home

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all right now this in itself that's something that would bring anyone down

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right and you're locked you're jailed you're locked up you're under guard you

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can't do anything without permission really you know and as people we get

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depressed rather easily for things that aren't even as close to being as

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important as this you know for Paul this was literally a matter of life or death

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yet here he is remaining cool calm and collected you know most people wouldn't

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even respond that way you know instead you know they would flip out you know

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when they when they have to repeat things just at the drive-thru you know

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or they don't get some discount that they feel that they're entitled to so

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it's a great testament to where our faith should be and how it should be

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built up and in those times you know when you start to wonder you know

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where's God how is he in control of this what's the what in the world is going on

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you know when you get to those points you need to step back you know we all

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need to step back and we need to remind ourselves you know God's always in

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control and he can and does use all of these things to his glory and most

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importantly in his time not our time in his he's always with us we just need to

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trust in him

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now going into verses 2 & 3 we see Paul mention the administration of God's

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grace this is referring to the special mission or special trust commitment and

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authority that Paul has been entrusted with to take the gospel to the Gentiles

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you know as you recall last you know week before last you know last time we

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met we were talking about how Christ brought down the barrier to unite the

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Jews and Gentiles into one body all right in Ephesians 3 verses 4 through 6

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the Bible says in reading this then you will be able to understand my insight

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into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to people and other

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generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy Apostles and

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prophets this mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs

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together with Israel members together of one body and sharers together in the

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promise of Christ Jesus now at face value it would appear that God had kept

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his plan from previous generations you know almost as though he was withholding

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you know that critical need to know valuable information right some have

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called it a type of spiritual blackmail however this is not the case you know he

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had to wait until the perfect moment you know that that that perfect time to

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reveal that things so that everyone could see you know again his timing is

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always perfect you know if God had revealed it sooner to the Jews then the

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Gentiles would have been left out if he you know if he let the Gentiles in on

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his plan then the Jews would have been locked out so instead he waited so that

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they could be first united as one body as the church all right so everyone

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could be brought together as the church this way everyone would be able to hear

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of God's intent this was actually revealed all the way back in Isaiah 49

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verse 6 and invite in Isaiah 49 verse 6 the Bible says this it is too small a

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thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring

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back those of Israel I have kept I will also make you a light for the Gentiles

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that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth alright this in itself

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this is telling us that the Gentiles would receive salvation just like the

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Jews what wasn't counted on until Jesus came was that all the tribes would

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actually be united into one body and receive that salvation equally you know

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remember they all had that pride and division that had them all thinking that

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they were better and more favored than the other you know that spiritual pride

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so now you know with with Christ taking the cross everyone's been put on equal

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footing the the playing field has been leveled out completely all right now

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continuing back in Ephesians 3 verses 7 through 9 the Bible says I became a

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servant of this gospel by the gifts of God's grace given me through the working

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of his power although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people this

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grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ

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and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery for

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which ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things so Paul is saying

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something important here in verse 7 he became the servant by the gift of God's

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grace meaning when Paul became a servant of God the father gave him the ability

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to share the gospel all right now now don't take this out of context all

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right way way way way too many people too many organizations already do that

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all right it doesn't mean you had to be an apostle or a professional evangelist

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or a preacher or whatever title you want to insert to be able to share the gospel

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okay you don't have to spend countless hours out of school earning a piece of

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paper that says you're qualified to share the gospel in your life all right

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we're all there what it does mean is that when you humble yourself as God's

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servant he will equip you with all that you need to share the gospel remember

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God doesn't call the equipped he equips the called you just have to answer the

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call all right now before we move on I'd like to call your attention to what Paul

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has said about himself here he says I am less than the least of all the Lord's

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people all right he's not putting himself down what he is saying is that

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without God's help he would never be able to complete the work that was set

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out for him by God all right this is this is the same thing that we need to

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keep in mind when we hear Philippians 4 13 you know which which says I can do

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all things through Christ who gives me strength okay it's not saying that you

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can leave it buildings in a single bound or fly or any of that kind of stuff okay

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it's not gonna be like oh you know I have faith so I'm a superhero no that's

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not what it's saying you know sometimes we feel like what we're doing is very

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miniscule all right it's really without any real consequence we don't see how it

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fits into the big picture however when God put something on your heart he's

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doing it for a reason okay he when he says hey you know I'm putting this on

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you what you know I want you to do this he's doing it for a reason all you have

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to do is start working on it keep your faith in Christ he will take care of the

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rest all right think of it this way those minor details they might not seem

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like much but God has entrusted you with the fine print of his plan all right so

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moving along Ephesians 3 verses 10 through 13 the Bible says his intent was

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that now through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to

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the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal

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purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord in him and through faith

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in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence I ask you therefore not

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to be discouraged because of my sufferings which are your glory

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there is a huge audience here what what he's talking about what the word is

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telling us here is okay the rulers and authority in the heavenly realms this is

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specifically talking about the angels who are witnesses to God's work and the

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enemy Satan and the fallen angels demons those hostile spiritual forces that are

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at work to oppose God and his plans he has everything at work for all of them

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to see and it's a pretty big crowd all right and this crowd it's watching it's

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not just watching God at work it's watching God's work through us his plan

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unfolding through us so no matter how trivial something may seem as

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Christians we can rest assured that it is not trivial at all we are all

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entrusted with something that no other creation of gods can be trusted with

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that is huge think about that he this is we're talking about the creator of

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everything everything and he's entrusted us with these things all right not only

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that but we have the privilege of being able to go straight to the Father with

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anything and everything because of Christ's sacrifice the Father will greet

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us with arms wide open our prayer places us an open dialogue with him again our

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prayer places us an open dialogue with him you know and you think about it this

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is how big this is some of us really many of us can't even talk to a higher

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up at work without getting in trouble even when they say hey you know I've got

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an open door policy you're welcome to come through at any time you know and

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it's garbage yet the creator of everything known and unknown welcomes us

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with him it's not even a matter of having an open door because he's

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completely removed it all right it is gone and finally here Paul talks about

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his suffering which is to God's glory remember he's been jailed for speaking

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about the gospel now could he have kept you know I shouldn't even say that he

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could have kept his mouth shut and he would have avoided a whole lot of

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trouble however that wasn't what God placed on him and it was not the right

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thing to do the right thing was to do what God had entrusted him to do and has

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entrusted all of us to do you see if Paul hadn't have said anything then

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people wouldn't have known about the gospel you know all the people that you

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know he'd have heard that would have heard it from him however because he did

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speak up people did hear the good news and because they heard the good news

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they found their way into a relationship with Jesus they found their way into a

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relationship as part of God's family the good far outweighed the bad of being

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imprisoned and everything that it entailed remember we're talking life

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or death here right however it's also a reminder to us that life as a Christian

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won't be without strife we could be facing pain and we could be facing death

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however that's exactly what Jesus meant in Matthew 16 verse 24 when he said

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whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross

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and follow me we need to be willing to die for Jesus just as he was willing to

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die for us we need to remember that others have done just that to pave the

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way for us to be able to reach others and continue to answer the Great

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Commission to be able to continue to share the good news and we need to

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remember that through all of this the Lord is with us he hasn't gone anywhere

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he is still with us and now to finish the chapter Paul once ago once again

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goes into into prayer in Ephesians 3 verses 14 and 15 the Bible says for this

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reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth

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derives its name all right the Greek word that's used for family here Patriot

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comes from the Greek word for father peteer all right notice how it shows the

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ownership you know God's family it's very it's it's inclusive all right you

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know much like you know let me put it in the turn into terms here that you know

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all of us could you know can fathom all right when it comes to God's family much

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like our family is here on earth it includes believers of the from the past

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all right ancestors present us here and future children and grandchildren right

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so with God's family though it includes all believers all right not just blood

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believers we tend to think of our family here on earth is just being blood for the

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most part you know those you know served you know those of a in certain

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upbringings you know those whose parents weren't around you know we all know you

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know family goes much further than that but here specifically we are talking

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about the family of God which means believers all right and not just those

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who say that they are but those who actually are continuing on you know

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what that said you know it we need to remember that as believers we are

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adopted into his family we are a family with God as our father and he promises

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to love his family his family being the church and I've said it time and time

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again the church is God's people gathered together it is not a building

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it's not an organization you know it's not a denomination you know it's it's

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believers coming together that's why it's important for us to get to know

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other believers we need to know our family and that's what it means to come

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together as the church is to be with other believers all right

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continuing on from here Ephesians 3 verses 16 through 19 before I go down

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any more bunny trails here the Bible says I pray that out of his glorious

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riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and I pray that you being

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rooted and established in love may have power together with all the Lord's holy

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people to grasp how wide and long and how excuse me how long and high and deep

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is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you

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may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God again God's love it's

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great he loves us all he loves you his love knows no you know bounds that we

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can't even imagine you know that's why we say it knows no bounds you know for

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our short existence here to well beyond in his kingdom you know no matter what

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you do no matter what you've done God still loves you and welcomes you home

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all right let me say it again no matter what you do and no matter what you've

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done God still loves you and the only way we can know and understand his love

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for us is in Jesus by coming to know him and his spirit within us you know and

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that's that right there that's where we find purpose that's where we find

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sufficiency that's where we find love this is where we find that that peace

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that just you know it can't be explained and we find fulfillment and everything

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and that's what he's referring here referring here to when he says you know

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love that surpasses knowledge you know it's that peace it can't be explained

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it's just there all right join me in our last couple verses here Ephesians 3

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verses 20 and 21 the Bible says now to him who is able to do immeasurably more

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than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us to

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him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for

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ever and ever amen amen right you know this shows just really how timeless the

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work of the churches all right for the generations that have been the

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generations that are here the generations to come you know that that

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work you know it needs to continue you know we need to continue to bend

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together and share the good news for all to hear you know we need to continue to

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to answer the Great Commission you know the first three chapters of this book

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here you know it's if you noticed they set they're set up in the same manner as

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other books that Paul Paul's written all right the first part is the doctrine

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it's the foundation all right he's laid out the principles here it is all right

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and now we can see how it's all been laid out first is the doctrine right and

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the next few chapters as we move on we're going to see the practical

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application I mean we've already seen you know some of that practical

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application I mean right here I mean we're talking about you know sharing the

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word of Jesus to reach others and especially in a war in a world that's

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you know just as we've been told is more and more so turning its back on him

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right believing the traps of the devil so like I said here in the next few

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chapters we're going to see the practical application of things that and

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how it's being laid out you know being you know that we're in a joyous season

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right now this in itself you know this should help many of us to feel even more

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festive it really should you know after all this is a season which we celebrate

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the birth of the king right and going through this book we're reminded just

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how dear we are to him how much he loves us how you know just how meaningful his

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sacrifice for us is all right we're loved more than any other creation and

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we've been entrusted with duties that no other has been and no other will be you

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know you've been given this gift because you are a gift that's right you you are

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a gift you've been placed on this earth as a gift for others and that is how

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highly God thinks of you and how highly he loves you you are so special that

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you have to be shared you know think of it you know as a little kid gets it gets

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that you know that new toy he's like oh look look that you know look how great

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this is and how excited they are about it that's how God feels about you and

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there's going to be those moments in your life where you feel like your light

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is just it's getting it's getting dim right you're starting to feel like you're

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you're kind of sliding back in this dark into the darkness and those right there

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that that's the time to pray pray talk to God like you know hey you know dude

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this is what's up come on now right you just take your burden to him and what's

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going to happen you'll find is the Lord is going to refill your lamp and your

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light is going to get that much brighter just like when Moses came back down the

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mountain after speaking with God what happened right he had this glow about

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him that was so bright people had a hard time even trying to look at him and that

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was just from being in the presence of God the same happens when we go to the

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Lord and we let him refill our lamps so we can continue out in the world so that

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we continue to be a light remember you are loved you are blessed you are a

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blessing so go and be the church thank you all for joining us here today at

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healing scars with pastor Burton please like subscribe and share our podcast on

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any platform it is that you tune in to us on if you do have any questions any

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prayer requests or would like to know more about our ministry you can find us

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on our website at be the light sanctuary org or on Facebook at be the light

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sanctuary you can also find how to contact us there whether it's direct

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message or email we look forward to hearing from you all God bless