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Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.

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The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.

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Hey everybody, welcome to the Sanctuary. It's great to have you with us as always.

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This week we're going to take a short break from our Sancturian series.

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And the reason being is there's something that's been pressing on me.

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And you know, when the Lord puts something on your heart, it's for a reason.

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And what we're looking at today is something that the body of Christ unfortunately gets wrong on an all too regular basis.

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And it's something that we can easily correct course on.

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And really it has to do with how people are instructed to live.

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And not just live, but who they associate and interact with.

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You see, so many churches get things wrong when they tell people to only hang around with other Christians, with other believers.

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That's right. That's what we're talking about today. This is something that actually happens.

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And we've all likely run into this at one point or another.

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And unfortunately they'll take a piece of scripture, like the cripple who's being passed down in his bed by his friends.

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Or some other person will twist it to say, oh you need to be careful who you surround yourself with. It should only be other believers.

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And the first and biggest problem with this is it actually goes against the Great Commission.

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So let's take a look at that real quick just for a frame of reference.

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Turning to Matthew 28 verses 16 through 20.

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The word says, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

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When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

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And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

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Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

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teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

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And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

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So we're already being told to go to all nations. In other words, go into the world.

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Not just sitting at pew every so often getting preached at.

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But to actually get out there and to share the good news, to share the gospel with everyone.

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After all, that's why Jesus came. That's why Jesus bled and died for us.

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So we shouldn't just be out there saying, Oh, John 3.16, John 3.16.

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We need to actually take it to heart. We need to speak to the Holy Spirit about it.

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We need to let these words infiltrate our minds, our bodies, and our souls.

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John 3.16, we all know the word says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

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that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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Turning to Luke chapter 5, verses 31 through 32, Jesus said,

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It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

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I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

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Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again.

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We are not simply to sit around and just talk the talk.

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We are commanded to get up off our rear ends and to walk the walk.

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Not only that, but Jesus provided us with the example by doing it himself.

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He didn't just come for the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.

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Wait a minute. Do I mean to say that we need to engage with nonbelievers?

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That we need to associate and interact with these people?

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Yes! Jesus interacted with a multitude of sinners and perceived unclean people.

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Prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, tax collectors, lepers, and then some.

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And you don't have to look far to see it.

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Luke 5, Luke 7, Matthew 9, Matthew 21, Matthew 31, Mark 2, John 8, and so on and so forth.

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We can find accounts all throughout the Bible of God working with and through various sinners.

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Matter of fact, some of the most influential people in the Bible were some of the greatest sinners of all.

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We are to connect with each and every single one of them.

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Jesus loves everyone. Everyone!

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In Revelation 22, verse 17, the word says,

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The spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one who hears say, Come! Let the one who is thirsty come,

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And let the one who wishes to take the free gift of the water of life.

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This doesn't say Christians only. Nonbelievers need not apply.

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It says the one who is thirsty.

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This means anyone and everyone, all of the lost, not the perfected ones and not merely the saints.

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Just like when Jesus came and spoke to the woman at the well.

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He offered the water of life.

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Matthew chapter 25, verses 34 through 40.

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The word says, Then the king will say to those on his right, Come! You who are blessed by my father,

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Take your inheritance. The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

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For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

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I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

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I was a stranger and you invited me in.

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I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me.

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I was in prison and you came to visit me.

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Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?

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Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

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When did we see you a stranger and invite you in?

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Or needing clothes and clothe you?

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When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

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The king will reply, Truly I tell you,

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Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

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And it's not of compulsion or of guilt.

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This is serving others with the expectation of nothing in return, loving on others as Jesus did.

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Serving isn't just about going to a church service.

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It's stopping to help others, to look after one another,

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to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That's love.

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That's the love of Jesus. That's loving the Lord.

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You know, here in the US, we have the Statue of Liberty.

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It's one of our nation's many symbols, right? It's well known all around the globe.

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And on it, there's a plaque with a poem that's titled The New Colossus.

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It was written by Emma Lazarus.

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And the most popular and most likely the most important piece of it reads as this.

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Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

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The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

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Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.

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I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

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We tend to forget about our nation's roots,

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of people considered by many other nations and many other countries to be

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nothing more than vagrants and vagabonds, a bunch of blowhards and loudmouths, right?

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Yet this poem sums up not only what our nation was founded on,

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but the love our nation at least once held for everyone.

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A nation of religious freedom as provided by Christ.

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Yet we start, you know, now we bicker about the most trivial things.

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We riot and protest and destroy property instead of having an open discussion,

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instead of loving and acting as we should as mature people.

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And as far as those who say we shouldn't interact or befriend non-believers,

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you know, that we should only interact with and be friends with believers,

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well, they're simply out of touch with the world

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because they have the status that's kept them away from it.

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Or they're living in fear of it.

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So they'll use this man-made exception as a control tactic

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to hide themselves away and to get out of loving on others

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that they perceive as less than or undeserving.

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Some even try to hoard their kids away as if they're doing them

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some great act of protection, storing them away in a cave.

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When the reality is those children will either, one,

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find ways to kind of sneak out or get around things and skirt the rules

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and, you know, get out into the world anyways.

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Or two, they'll be totally unprepared to interact with the world.

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The first being the most likely for the vast majority.

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You know, and they'll mask it as, oh, my family needs to be first.

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It's like, you want to do what? No, no, no, not if it's not their family.

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You know, yeah, let's be honest. It's fear.

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Second Timothy, chapter one, verse seven, the word says,

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for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

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So stop trying to control the world.

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It's not your job. It's not mine.

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Nor is it anything that we have the power to control.

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That power rests on the Lord.

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And believe me, the Lord is hard at work.

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Jesus went to the world to tell them, to tell the world that we all need to change,

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that we all need to repent of our sins and get to know God.

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He did that for us.

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He did that for you.

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And because of it, each of us, you and me, we have the ability to take that light that He's given us to the people.

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Because it's within you as the Holy Spirit.

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Because of Jesus' sacrifice and then sending us the Holy Spirit,

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we all have great influence in the lives of others.

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And that influence is introducing them to Jesus.

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See, we can't expect the world, our country, or even our communities to change

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if we continue to hide in pews and hide in buildings while doing everything that we can to stay away from the world

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and the people in it to keep them away from us,

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the very people who need to hear the good news, the gospel the most.

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We need to stop running like Jonah did.

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Like Jonah, what we do need to do is to get over ourselves.

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We need to swallow that pride in talking to the Lord.

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And then go share the word that Jesus sacrificed so much for us to be able to do.

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We all need to stop being fearful.

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Everyone gets fearful.

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But we all need to learn to become brave.

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Bravery is leaning on Christ to help you overcome that fear.

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And even though it's still there, it's still lurking in the background,

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with the power of Christ, you walk into the world, you walk into the fire, and you take care of business.

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And that starts by reaching out to one person, pulling them out of the darkness,

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and then going back in for another, and then another, and then another,

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to reach everyone that you're able to, and to the Lord says,

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Well done, good and faithful servant.

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So the next time you hear someone talking about how you should only be friends with,

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or only associate with other believers, rebuke them and remind them of the Great Commission.

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Remind them of all that Jesus did, and all the people that Jesus interacted with,

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and came to call friend, and brother, and sister.

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Remind them that we are to be in the world, not of the world.

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That's our time for this week, so remember,

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so you go out, and you go into the world.

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You are loved, and you are blessed.

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Now go and be the church.

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Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Please like, subscribe, and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us on.

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If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry,

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you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

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You can also find how to contact us there, whether it's direct message or email.

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We look forward to hearing from you all.

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God bless.