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Well, go ahead and give him the best praise you brought in this house.

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Hallelujah.

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You can be seated for just a moment as you're preparing to worship the Lord in your giving

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today.

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I had not planned, but I really felt prompted just a few moments ago standing in worship.

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Today's offering, I just really felt stirred by the Lord, I think.

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It wasn't myself because it wasn't even in my mind.

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We're going to make a donation to either, what is it, Folds of Honor or we're going

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to find a worthy veteran's cause and I'll talk with Chaplain and Chaplain will steer

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us in the right way.

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We're just going to bless somebody.

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All I know to do is what I get stirred to do.

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Amen?

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And I know there's a lot of attention recently brought to the forefront and should be all

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the time for our servicemen.

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I saw a stat the other day about the scores of thousands of our veterans that are homeless

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for whatever the reason they're there.

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The more I think about today and the more we're involved in this service, the more I'm

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involved in it, the more I'm being stirred concerning our reason of being here this morning,

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our focus of being, our reason is the Lord, but our focus on our veterans.

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So if you'll just ask the Lord what he would have you give this morning, we're going to

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pass it right along.

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And we'll get direction as to where the best place for our seed, your seed, you're offering

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your gift to me and we'll put it there and try to be a blessing, part of our mission

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mandate.

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Amen?

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Father, I love you today.

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I'm going to change our normal prayer just a little bit because I know some of you have

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been finding money and God's still blessing and answering that.

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I'm telling you, God's still doing that and it's just amazing what God's doing.

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Government's still mailing out checks, believe it or not.

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IRS is finding their mistakes and folks are still getting good sizeable amounts.

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So that prayer remains over you, but let's just pray for those who have served our nation

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whatever condition they may be finding themselves today that the grace of God sends someone

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by to minister his love to them.

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Is that okay?

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Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning.

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We honor you first and foremost and our soul does sing how great you are.

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And Father, for what you did by sending your own beloved that he would give himself for

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us.

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On the other note, others have sacrificed time and health and sound minds for this nation.

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Father, we pray you would bless this offering that we're about to receive in honor of those

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our tithe belongs to you.

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We honor you with that.

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But we're going above and beyond this morning to give and may the seed that we sow touch

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some life.

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That who has sacrificed time and physical utility.

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Bless them Father.

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In the name of Jesus, amen and amen.

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God bless you.

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Let's stand and come together and let's worship in our giving today.

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Praise the Lord.

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Ain't God good?

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You can be seated.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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It is good to be here this morning.

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It's good to see you this morning.

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You can make me feel a little bit better if you do this.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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You know, sometimes you meet people and say glad to see you and sometimes we look at them

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and say I'm mad to see you.

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But I am thankful for the privilege of being here this morning to preach God's word.

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See, God called me to preach in a church in South Carolina.

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I was looking back at my life a while back and I was thinking my life is full of I don't

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want to.

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I told you know, the honest with you, I never wanted to preach.

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I was a preacher's kid.

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I knew what it involved.

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I didn't want to pastor.

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I was a pastor's kid.

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I didn't want to be a pastor.

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I didn't want to go in the military.

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I didn't have any idea what the military was about.

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When I got out of the military, I told God I don't want to go back to South Carolina.

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I don't want to go back to the pastoring.

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I don't want to go to an old established church.

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Don't ever tell God what you don't want to do because God will put you exactly where

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you tell him you don't want to be.

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But as I was looking back at my life, all those I don't want to's wound up to be a

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wonderful life.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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So if you do what God wants you to do, whether you want to do it or not, it will wind up

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being a wonderful life.

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I'd like to say welcome to my family sitting back here.

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That's a good looking bunch of people.

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I'm so glad to have them with us today.

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My oldest son and his family, my sister, and my good looking wife.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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Take your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 23, beginning reading at verse 8.

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Second Samuel chapter 23, beginning reading at verse 8.

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Now I didn't give them any stuff up here so y'all won't see nothing on the board unless

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they figure it out for themselves and put it up here on their own.

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First Samuel chapter 23, beginning at verse 8.

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Give you a chance to find it.

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I used to hate to be in church and they say turn with me to this pastor and start reading

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this immediately.

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I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa, I ain't got there yet.

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First Samuel chapter 23, beginning at verse 8 and it reads like this.

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These be the names of the mighty men whom David had.

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The Tacomite that sat in the seat chief among the captains.

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The same was Adino the Esnite.

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He lifted up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time.

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And after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo the Ahohite.

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One of the three mighty men with David when they defeated the Philistines that were there

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gathered together to battle and the men of Israel were gone away.

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He arose and smoked the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto

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his sword and the Lord brought a great victory that day and the people returned after him

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only to the spoil.

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After him was Shema the son of Agig the Haririte and the Philistines were gathered together

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in a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils and the people fled from the

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Philistines.

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But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines and the

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Lord brought a great victory.

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I want to speak to you this morning from the subject where victory comes from.

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Where victory comes from.

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Let's pray.

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Jesus heavenly father as we come before you here today I thank you for your word.

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I thank you Lord for all that you've given to us.

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I thank you Lord for this day.

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I thank you Lord for how you've blessed us and how you've moved in this service already

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and I pray that you'd reach then and just let this word go forth.

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Lord let it do the work that you want it to do.

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Lord let me diminish until people don't even see me but they see what you want to say.

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Let's move in a mighty way in this place today and we'll give you the praise and the honor

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and the glory for it all.

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In Jesus holy name we pray.

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Amen.

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In case you have not figured it out we are at war.

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Brother String I ain't at war with nobody.

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If your name is written in the name of the book of life if you're a Christian you are

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definitely at war with Satan.

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We are at war.

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I love this passage of scripture because this tells us of mighty men of valor.

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Today is veterans day.

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We joined up.

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None of us were drafted.

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You see when I got to the point where they could draft me they stopped the draft.

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I guess they said it ain't worth it.

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So they didn't they did away with the draft.

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But we joined the military.

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We stood up we raised our right hand and we said I promise to defend the Constitution

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and the officers you obey and defend the Constitution to the officer whatever it said I don't remember

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what it was.

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Those of you that did it you know what I'm talking about.

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Then they put us in boot camp.

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I was a Navy chaplain but before I went into the chaplaincy I joined the Army National

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Guard because I wanted to see what the enlisted side was all about.

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So I went to Fort Dix New Jersey and learned what the enlisted side was all about.

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When I joined the when I became a chaplain I went to Newport Rhode Island and they had

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kind of a wicked sense of humor because they put a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant over us

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to give us some exercise.

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There's a bunch of preachers now we come in all lazy and flabby and here's a Marine Corps

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gunnery sergeant saying all right we're going to do some exercise.

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We got to ask him sometime we said Gunny how many we're going to do he said we're going

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to do a foo of them.

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What that meant is that we're going to do them till he got tired.

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So I did a lot of this kind of stuff but we are in a warfare.

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We are in combat.

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Some of you that served here today may have been in combat.

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We just went through Desert Storm and all these kind of things but we are in a war.

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Now as Christians we are definitely at war with Satan.

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He wants to destroy us.

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He wants to defeat us.

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He wants to drain us of everything that we can come against him with.

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Have you ever seen a Christian that says praise the Lord I'm glad to be here today.

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I know the pastors in this place have.

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You know I've had Christians come into churches I pastor and they've been like I'm so glad

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that I'm a Christian.

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I'm like what?

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I began to develop a saying in the Navy I said if you ain't having fun you ain't doing

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it right.

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And as Christians that's especially true.

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If you're not enjoying your salvation you are not doing it right.

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You see because the scripture says the joy of the Lord is my strength.

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Now that doesn't mean you always be happy.

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That doesn't mean that you always have a smile on your face but you need to enjoy your

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salvation and if you're not enjoying that you're doing something wrong you better go

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back to your knees and find out what it is.

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But there's a lot of Christians in our world today that are just surviving.

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They're hunkered down in a foxhole hoping that the enemy don't send another barrage

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their way.

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They're just trying their best to squeak their way into heaven.

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Anybody met anybody like that?

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Oh yeah I got some Christian people that I know.

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But I'm here to tell you today church God never intended us to survive.

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God never intended us to just get by.

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God never intended us to squeak our way into heaven.

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You see God intended us to win.

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God intended us to win.

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You see that's why the scripture I read here in the title of my sermon is where victory

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comes from because that's the way we're supposed to live.

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We're supposed to live a victorious Christian life.

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Bro's been I can't get my children to come to church to save my life.

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Well if you don't if you grumble and complain about how the preacher's preaching and what

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the singers are doing and all this kind of stuff duh surprise surprise.

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You see if you go home say wow you should have been there today.

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You should have heard the pastor he let loose.

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That was good stuff.

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You know if nothing else they may come to see how crazy this fellow is.

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You see but God wants us to have the victory.

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You see this passage kind of symbolizes David's reign.

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His reign was known for his victories.

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He defeated the Philistines everywhere he went.

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He won battle after battle and he drew courageous men to him.

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You know that's the way the kingdom of God is.

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If we win battle after battle after battle then courageous men and women will follow

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us.

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They will say okay that's the church I want to be a part of.

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That's the household of faith.

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That's what I want to be a part of because God wants us to win the victory.

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It's our heritage.

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As Christians we have a heritage of victory.

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God never intended us to live a defeated life.

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God used men and the history of the Christian church to win victory after victory.

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What are you talking about Brother Strickland?

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Men like Enoch who walked with God and walked away.

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Men like Noah who saved himself and his family.

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Men like Joshua and David and Daniel and Peter and Paul all won great victories for God.

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The message is loud and clear.

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God didn't save us to bring us defeat.

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I didn't join the Navy to go sit in the corner somewhere and wait until the cows come home.

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I didn't join the Navy because I wanted to.

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The boss said I had to.

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But when I got in the Navy I was stationed in Sicily.

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We had people come to Sicily and they stayed right on the base.

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They had nothing to do here.

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This is a miserable place to be.

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I'm thinking are you crazy?

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You in Sicily you can go right over yonder and visit Rome.

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You can go right up there and visit Venice.

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You can go all over the country.

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You can go just a couple of days drive.

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You can be in Germany and Austria and Switzerland and all this kind of stuff.

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I can't do that.

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God wants to give us the victory.

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God has called us to victory.

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In fact Romans 837 says, nay in all these things we are made more than conquerors through

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him who loved us.

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What does that mean?

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More than conquerors.

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That means we're going to win and win and win some more.

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And Corinthians 2 14 says now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ.

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Breast ring you don't know what I'm going through.

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I don't know what you're going through.

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But I know that he has promised victory.

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He has promised us victory.

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You got victory in the midst of the storm.

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You got victory in the midst of the gale.

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You got victory wherever you turn.

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Breast ring I know I'm going through stuff and I can't find my way out.

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You don't need to find your way out.

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You just need to put one foot in front of the other.

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And after a while God is going to move the clouds away.

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After a while God is going to give you what you need.

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After a while you're going to be victorious and you're going to say woo.

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God has called us to victory.

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You see God brings the victory.

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John 16 33 said these things have I spoken to you that you might have peace.

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In the world we have tribulation but be of good cheer.

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I have overcome the world.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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I don't care how black it looks.

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I don't care how tough it looks.

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I don't care how bad things are happening to you.

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You can always hang on to Christ because Christ said I have overcome the world.

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I have brought the victory.

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You don't have to do it.

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He's already done it.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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Second Corinthians 12 and 9 said and he said to them my grace is sufficient for thee for

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my strength is made perfect in weakness.

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Brother Strangler I'm too weak to win the victory.

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Pastor when we're weak he's strong.

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When we can't win we got a big brother standing right behind us.

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When we are not able he is more than able.

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When we are just dragging along all we got to do is reach up and take him by the hand

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because he said I will never leave you or forsake you but I'll go with you every step

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of the way.

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You know there's a lot of people that feel like act like the Lord has gone somewhere

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gone on vacation.

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Have you ever felt like God's gone on vacation in your life?

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I don't know about you but I have.

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God you're around there somewhere.

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I don't see you.

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I don't feel you.

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I don't know you're there but your word says you are and your word is true.

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Your word says you are and your word hadn't lied to me yet.

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Your word says you are and I'm going to stand on the promises of your word.

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Praise the name of the Lord.

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Verse John 4 and 4 said year of God little children and have overcome them because greater

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is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

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You see great victories call us to do something.

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God has already given us a heritage of victory but we have to do something.

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Were you talking to Brother Strickland?

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First of all victory comes from connection.

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Because David lived in a world based on connection with God.

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He worshipped watching the flocks as a boy.

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He used his connection to defend the flock from attackers.

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He faced the enemies based on his connection.

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David came to visit his brothers one day and they were kind of doing army stuff.

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You ought to be in the military you know what army stuff is.

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You know they may have been cleaning their weapons.

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They may have been doing something and all of a sudden this big old ugly fellow stepped

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out on the hill on the other side and said who is going to come and fight against me?

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And the Israelites did.

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He bigger than me.

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He's stronger than me.

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He's taller than me.

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I can't defeat him.

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I like this little shepherd boy he said.

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You ain't going to go fight him?

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I'll go fight him.

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I'll go fight him.

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I'll go out and face this rascal and when he did he turned down the king's armor.

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He turned down the king's weapons.

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He went out to fight him with his staff and a slingshot and he walked across the river

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and Goliath was like huh.

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This is the best you got?

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This little run of a boy you sending him to me.

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I'm going to chew him up and spit him out.

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Now that's how Kalein interpretation folks.

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One fellow said the Israelites thought that Goliath was too big to defeat but David thought

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he was too big to miss.

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God wants to give us the victory and victory comes from connection.

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Victory has always been a result of our connection.

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Joshua began and ended his ministry with connection.

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He stood for God when everybody else failed.

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The twelve spies that went with him said we can't go in.

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Joshua and Caleb said let's go.

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We got him.

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And then the very last thing he did he called Israel together and he said choose this day

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whom you're going to serve.

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But as for me and my house.

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As for me and my house we're going to serve the Lord.

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As for me and my house we're going to do what God has called us to do.

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You see God has called us to stay in connection with him.

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We can't win if we're not connected to him.

338
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,960
We can't win if we don't ever pray.

339
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,240
Brother String I pray once a week whether I need it or not.

340
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:45,080
Lord have mercy you better pray more than that because the enemy is going to pray.

341
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,320
P-R-E-Y.

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Pray on you if you let him do it.

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But if we spend time on our knees spend time making the connection sure spend time drawing

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close to God then God will give us a victory based on our connection.

345
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:07,400
You see Jesus told her that our victory is based on our connection.

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John 15 said if you abide in me and my words abide in you you shall ask what will and it

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shall be done to you.

348
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He didn't ask what you want.

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He didn't say there's a line of limitation right here.

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He said if you abide in me and my words abide in you the sky's the limit.

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If you abide in me if you draw close to me I'm gonna tell you something some of the weakest

352
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:53,200
times in my life the bad the boss has been there.

353
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Some of the hardest times in my life the master has showed up.

354
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Some of the times that I didn't deserve him to show up he showed up.

355
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I know y'all probably don't believe it but I was I faced judgment one time.

356
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Preachers admitting that.

357
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:22,240
I faced judgment but what I found is that mercy goes hand in hand with judgment.

358
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And the boss was there and he lifted me up and he gave me so very much but it's important

359
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:34,800
for us to understand that we must stay in contact with him because if we want to win

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00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,480
we got to stay in close contact with him.

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Secondly victory comes from determination.

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These men refused to give up.

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Verse 8 they had unthinkable odds.

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Verse 9 they had to fight all by themselves.

365
00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:57,500
Verse 11 said they were fighting a losing battle.

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One part of the scripture says that Adeno the Azenite lifted up his spear against 800

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men at one time.

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You know how many people will fit in this sanctuary?

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Maybe 600.

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That means if you filled this house to a gill then Adeno faced more than that.

371
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So why didn't he lose?

372
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Because he was fighting for God.

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Brother Stringer I don't believe I can win.

374
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There are too many out there against me.

375
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:43,960
Let me tell you something.

376
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:53,520
You until you face 800 at one time you ain't faced nothing that God can't do.

377
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God wants to give us the victory and it comes when we are determined to take a stand.

378
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:02,760
This has always been the case.

379
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:07,240
Aaron and her refused to allow Moses hands down and the victory was won.

380
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:13,200
Joshua and Caleb refused to be discouraged and they alone entered the promised land.

381
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:18,080
Jesus refused to be defeated in the Garden of Gethsemane and he purchased our salvation.

382
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:22,560
Paul refused to quit and he brought the gospel to the western world.

383
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God commands us to hold on.

384
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I have witnessed to a lady one time she was saying everything was going wrong with her

385
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:40,640
life and she said I know preacher you are going to tell me all I have to do is give

386
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,520
my heart to the Lord and everything is going to be hunky and dory.

387
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I am like nope that wasn't what I was going to tell you.

388
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Because let me give you a secret church.

389
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You are going to face tribulation.

390
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,600
Jesus said if they hated me they are going to hate you too.

391
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So just because you got smooth sailing right now don't mean it is always going to happen.

392
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:17,880
But when I am facing troubles and hardships and struggles I keep looking behind me because

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I got a big brother.

394
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They ain't afraid of me but they are afraid of him.

395
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They come against me like a flood but when it comes against him they know better.

396
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:40,040
The scripture says when they come against you like a flood he will raise up a standard

397
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against them.

398
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I never knew what that meant until I went into the military.

399
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,040
Military service has got a standard.

400
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,440
They got a flag that has battle streamers.

401
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,400
Anybody know what I am talking about?

402
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,580
They got battle streamers around it.

403
00:30:57,580 --> 00:31:02,520
So when they march it is not just the American flag but it is those streamers flowing in

404
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:03,520
the wind.

405
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:09,080
It says we won this battle, we won this battle, we won this battle, we won this battle, we

406
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:13,440
won this battle and we can win the next one too.

407
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:19,680
See God has called us to stand in his power and his might because he is able to give us

408
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:20,680
the victory.

409
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,360
He is able to help us to overcome.

410
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:30,800
Thirdly victory comes from courageous abandon.

411
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:36,120
You see these men understood that victory requires more than just willingness.

412
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,200
Verse 9 said they defied the Philistines.

413
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:49,760
Verse 16 says they broke through to Bethlehem to get David a drink of water.

414
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Now I didn't read that in the scripture but if you read a little bit further on that thing

415
00:31:52,960 --> 00:32:00,660
you find that David said oh that I could have a drink of water from Bethlehem.

416
00:32:00,660 --> 00:32:09,120
So these fellows said yes sir and they stepped out and went into the enemy's camp and they

417
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,360
got a glass of water and they brought it back to David.

418
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,640
You see it takes courageous abandon sometimes.

419
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:21,960
Sometimes you don't know what's going on.

420
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:27,200
When the Lord called me into the military I was praying one night and I said Lord what

421
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:28,520
you want me to do?

422
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:33,720
And he spoke to me and told me I want you to go into the military.

423
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,440
But then after a little while the devil jumped on my shoulder and said you don't know nothing

424
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:39,440
about the military.

425
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,640
There ain't nobody in your family ever been in the military.

426
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:48,880
You crazy as a loon if you think you're going to be successful in the military.

427
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:54,840
And like any good Christian I listened to him.

428
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,560
You can look at me that way if you want to but I know several of you have done the same

429
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:00,560
thing.

430
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:05,560
And I began to pray and said Lord show me what I'm supposed to do.

431
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,280
I believe you call me to the military but I'm not sure about this thing.

432
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:11,960
Show me that you call me into the military.

433
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,600
And the Lord spoke to me and he said something really simple.

434
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:22,600
He said trust me I know what I'm doing.

435
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,320
You see I just got finished telling him Lord I don't know nothing about the military.

436
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,680
Lord I don't know anything about being in the military.

437
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:30,480
I don't know whether I should be there or not.

438
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,200
He said trust me.

439
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,680
I know what I'm doing.

440
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,880
God has called us to victory.

441
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:39,860
God has led us to victory.

442
00:33:39,860 --> 00:33:42,640
God has anointed us for victory.

443
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:49,760
And sometimes we got to just say OK Lord here I go.

444
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,680
Now I will say something to you.

445
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:57,080
Just cause brother so and so or sister so and so said you supposed to do something.

446
00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,560
That don't mean you supposed to do it.

447
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:06,880
But if you pray and then God impresses you to do something you follow God and don't worry

448
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,600
about it.

449
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,640
But God wants to wants us to be willing to step out.

450
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:21,440
Jesus came walking on the water one night and the disciples said Lord have mercy.

451
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:23,480
There's a ghost on the water.

452
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,720
Know what he said.

453
00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:29,000
There's a ghost out there.

454
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,800
Jesus said calm down boys.

455
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,520
It's just me.

456
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:43,240
And Peter said if it's you Lord let me come to you.

457
00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:45,280
Walking on the water.

458
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:51,560
Brian if anybody should know what water work like Peter should know what water work like.

459
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,560
Peter was a fisherman from the from being a little teeny boy.

460
00:34:55,560 --> 00:35:01,360
So Peter knew that you don't walk on the water.

461
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:02,360
So Peter began to debate.

462
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:03,360
Hmm.

463
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:04,360
That's not what he did.

464
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,560
What do you do.

465
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,840
He got out of the boat.

466
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:15,440
Can you imagine his thrill when his foot hit the water.

467
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:20,200
And he didn't sink.

468
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:24,160
You know he only got in trouble when he took his eyes off of Jesus.

469
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,680
But for a while he was walking on the water.

470
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,040
God has called us to courageous abandon.

471
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,740
Sometimes it calls us to do stuff that we don't think will work.

472
00:35:34,740 --> 00:35:41,920
Sometimes it calls us to do stuff that we don't imagine we can survive in it.

473
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:46,600
And sometimes we only win when we abandon ourselves.

474
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:56,640
You see there's a song that says let go and let God.

475
00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:08,080
Sometimes we got to let go and let God and then God will step in and do the rest.

476
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:19,440
And finally victory comes from praise.

477
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:25,560
Now when David mentioned that he wants some water from Bethlehem and his three heroes

478
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,160
went and got him some water and brought it back to him.

479
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,040
It always puzzled me.

480
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:36,920
What David took the water and poured it out and on the ground.

481
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:41,960
I looked at that thing many times in my life said what in the world is he doing.

482
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,720
Don't he know he just insulted the three men that put their lives on the line to get him

483
00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,520
that water.

484
00:36:48,520 --> 00:37:00,480
Then I realized one day that what he was saying is Lord this water is yours.

485
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:05,480
You see when all else fails praise the Lord.

486
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:10,000
When everything else doesn't work for you praise the Lord.

487
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,200
When you come against a battle you can't win.

488
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:14,280
Praise the Lord.

489
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:18,800
When you come against something that the devil says I got you I'm going to cheer you up and

490
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:19,800
spit you out.

491
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:27,760
Don't worry about it just praise the Lord.

492
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:34,800
I was pastoring a church several years ago and one of my leading men, one probably the

493
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:40,640
leading man in the church, the devil was attacking him left and right.

494
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:47,240
He was fighting him tooth and nail and this man was having a tough time.

495
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:49,240
When I get something solved something else happens.

496
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:53,960
When this has resolved something else is resolved.

497
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:57,960
He was hurting physically, mentally, emotionally.

498
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:03,280
He was hurting and I went over to visit him one day and I'm not the smartest preacher

499
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:13,200
in the world but the Lord spoke to me and said tell him to praise me.

500
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:14,200
What?

501
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:19,160
Lord did you get the doctors report on this fellow just the other day?

502
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:23,360
Did you hear what the doctors told this fellow just the other day?

503
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:28,560
He said tell him to praise me.

504
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:36,240
You see when we come against the enemy and we need victory in the worst kind of way then

505
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:41,160
all we got to do is lift up our hands and say Lord I'm going to praise you.

506
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,160
Lord I'm going to glorify you.

507
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,280
I'm going to magnify you.

508
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,160
Brothers strictly I don't feel like praising the Lord.

509
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:58,800
There ain't nothing in the book that said you got to feel like praising the Lord.

510
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,280
I'm one of those people that drive on the freeway and I do not like people to drive

511
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:07,640
slow in front of me.

512
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:14,320
And I used to get really really really mad and I'd be driving gripping the steering wheel

513
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:18,960
and I'd be like get out of my way you sorry rascal.

514
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:26,320
I didn't cuss at him but I'd come awful close.

515
00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:32,080
But then one day the Lord said you got to start praising me.

516
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:33,080
And so I did.

517
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:34,600
The first time I did that I'm driving along.

518
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:39,200
Get out of the way you sorry rascal.

519
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:44,200
Praise the Lord.

520
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:53,000
But then I did it again.

521
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,560
Praise the Lord.

522
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,440
After a while my hands started relaxing.

523
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:00,560
Praise the Lord.

524
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:03,860
After a while I can drive with one hand again.

525
00:40:03,860 --> 00:40:05,280
Praise the Lord.

526
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:06,560
Nothing changed in this circumstance.

527
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:12,900
There's still a sorry slowpoke in front of me.

528
00:40:12,900 --> 00:40:16,520
But something changed in here.

529
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,320
You see sometimes God doesn't have to change the situation.

530
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,600
Sometimes God has to change us.

531
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:26,880
And when we get to the point where we can praise him whether the circumstance changes

532
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:34,960
or not then God will move in our lives.

533
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,280
Praise the name of the Lord.

534
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,880
God has called us to victory.

535
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:45,720
Because the enemy wants to defeat us and if there was ever a time in our world when the

536
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:51,080
enemy is attacking a church this is the day.

537
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:56,060
If there's ever a time when the enemy is attacking your family this is the day.

538
00:40:56,060 --> 00:41:02,680
If there's any time that Satan is attacking you this is the day.

539
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:07,480
And he wants us to believe that there is nothing we can do about it.

540
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:09,680
But he's a liar.

541
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,440
And a prince of liars.

542
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:20,160
And God has said claim the victory.

543
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,160
Stand in the victory.

544
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:24,280
Let's stand.

545
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:30,840
Musicians if you can come.

546
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,600
Praise the name of the Lord.

547
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:39,840
Victory is mine.

548
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:42,960
Victory is mine.

549
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,240
You see that's what you got to say.

550
00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:50,160
When the enemy comes in like a flood the scripture says he's going to raise up a standard against

551
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:57,320
him and he might be able to defeat us but he can't defeat those standing behind us.

552
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:02,280
You see we've got to realize that being a Christian is all about going from victory

553
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:05,760
to victory.

554
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:07,360
The bloodstream can make it sound too easy.

555
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,360
It ain't easy folks.

556
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:14,560
I can tell you right now it is not easy.

557
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:19,200
Sometimes you stand up and the devil smacks you back down.

558
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:21,160
What do you do?

559
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:29,480
I'm going to just lay on the floor and go oh I don't want to be here this is too hard

560
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,720
for me.

561
00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:35,200
God said get up.

562
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:37,680
Raise your hands.

563
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:39,520
Praise me.

564
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:40,800
Go forward.

565
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,720
Victory is mine.

566
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:44,400
Victory is yours.

567
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,980
Victory is ours.

568
00:42:46,980 --> 00:42:51,960
We can win the victory.

569
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:54,720
Brothers Strickland this is 2024.

570
00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:55,920
That doesn't work anymore.

571
00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:58,360
Don't tell me it doesn't work anymore.

572
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,240
I've seen it work.

573
00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:08,240
Time after time after time again.

574
00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:11,440
Victory is ours.

575
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:17,800
Now that doesn't mean you got to walk around looking like this all the time.

576
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:22,120
Anybody ever met people like that?

577
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:27,720
Me I want to smack them.

578
00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:34,320
But God said we can have the victory.

579
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:39,800
As I was preparing for this and as I was thinking about this I was thinking about how I should

580
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:52,240
close and I thought there may be some people in this house that are almost defeated.

581
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:58,000
And the enemy has come in like a flood and they don't know whether they can stand anymore

582
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:01,680
or not.

583
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:03,840
I don't know whether I can take another day of this.

584
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:09,440
I don't know whether I can take another hour of this.

585
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:16,880
The scripture says Jesus said come unto me all you that labor under heavy laden and I

586
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,400
will give you rest.

587
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:28,600
I'm not going to prolong this but if you need victory these altars are open.

588
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:35,160
There are people here that will pray with you and for you.

589
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,800
Victory is ours.

590
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:41,680
That's a promise from the word.

591
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:47,140
You don't have to go from defeat to defeat.

592
00:44:47,140 --> 00:44:51,100
We can go from victory to victory.

593
00:44:51,100 --> 00:44:55,320
So if you need a victory today these altars are open.

594
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:57,900
Gracious Heavenly Fathers we come before you here today.

595
00:44:57,900 --> 00:45:00,600
We thank you for this day.

596
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:05,200
Father this day is dedicated to warriors.

597
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:09,000
Lord warriors in the United States, warriors in the military.

598
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:13,140
But dear Lord and Master there are warriors standing here today.

599
00:45:13,140 --> 00:45:16,060
Warriors in the household of faith.

600
00:45:16,060 --> 00:45:21,400
And I pray that you would help us to realize and to lay hold on the claim that victory

601
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:24,400
is mine.

602
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:28,560
Move in this place today and give us that that only you can give.

603
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,360
In Jesus' holy name we pray.

604
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:46,800
Amen.