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I want to once again invite you to join me. I'm going to be reading at a Romans

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chapter 15 and verse 12. The word of the Lord says this and again Isaiah says

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there shall be a root of Jesse and he who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles

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in him the Gentiles shall hope. Everyone say hope. Verse 13 now may the Lord or

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may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may

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abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we celebrate the birth of

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Christ here today and in this season I want to preach just for a few moments

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this afternoon on hope is here. Everyone say hope is here. Amen. Why don't you join

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me in prayer right now? Let us go before him and invite you to close your eyes.

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Father we thank you for giving us this opportunity to gather today God like we

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do every Sunday but Lord with an emphasis on celebrating your birth God we

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have gathered to worship to lift up your name to celebrate that over 2,000 years

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ago God. Heaven came down and touched earth in the form of a baby boy God and

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we give you thanks today. Now I pray God that you would speak to us for these

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moments that we have in the service on this message of hope and that someone's

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life someone's heart would be changed by the Word of God. I pray God an anointing

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in this place would continue to flow and that it would flow out of my body out of

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my spirit. God touch all of us in Jesus name. Everyone say amen. Now you may be

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seated in God's presence. What happened to hope? That's the question today.

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According to a recent Pew Research poll it appears that hope is at an all-time

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low as most Americans at this point in time like never before in history feel

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generally pessimistic about the future. There's just not a lot of hope these days.

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You look around you not only see it in the news clippings and in the media

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but you see it on people's faces. People are just lacking hope. In particular this

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research found that 63% of Americans are pessimistic about the country's moral and

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ethical standards. 59% are pessimistic about its education system and only

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25% of Americans are optimistic about marriage and family. These things are

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are very important of course to the fabric of our nation and there's just

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not a lot of hope about the future of these sacred institutions, these sacred

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things that are very important to our daily lives. Now you couple this with

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the results of a Gallup poll this year which found that depression has hit a

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record high with 29% of adults being diagnosed and this is just the tip of

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the iceberg as you begin to look across the landscape of our society and our

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culture you begin to see that there's just not a lot of hope. People are not

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living with much hope. These negative outlooks are symptomatic I think of a

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very deep-seated and deep-rooted condition of hopelessness. There is a

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sense of hopelessness that stems from a variety of issues that seem to be

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plaguing society such as economic challenges, mental health issues and

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personal struggles, societal pressures and a general lack of purpose in life. But

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most of all this grim outlook stems from the lack of a true and living hope

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that can only be found outside of ourselves through a living and heavenly

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Savior because someone say amen. So today I've come to confront the root of

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hopelessness by pointing out a greater root the root of Jesse the Son of God

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the Son of Man Jesus Christ the Lord who came down to millennia ago in the form

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of a baby boy. So we're going to combat the root of hopelessness by getting to

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the true root of hope today. I want to begin by talking about the source of hope

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and the writer here in Romans the Apostle Paul begins to dive into some very

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interesting some fascinating truths that should be important to all of us

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believers today and non-believers alike. He begins to unearth some theological

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gems as he starts to talk and discuss the the origins of Christ and His coming.

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He begins to talk about these things and the implications of His birth from a

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biblical and theological perspective and he goes beyond just the traditional

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narrative story of Christmas that we hear. He goes beyond just the telling of

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a manger and of three wise men and the story of the nativity. He gets down to

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the innermost part of the story which was the prophetic element to it and

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here the Apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah the prophet and mentions the root of

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Jesse. Now that's not a term that you typically hear about on Christmas

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celebration services but it's very much indeed a Christmas theme when you think

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about what it represents. It refers to a prophetic Jewish lineage. The root of

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Jesse. While Jesse was an important figure he was the father of King David who

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was a very important figure in Israel's history and the line of David is very

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significant in Jewish tradition because God had made a covenant promising that

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David's descendants or his children out of his lineage would rule the throne of

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Israel forever. So God had made this promise to David that out of his line

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that Israel the throne would be ruled forever and so the Jewish people were

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very much living in anticipation of a coming chosen one of a Messiah of an

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anointed one who would eventually fulfill this prophecy of coming from the

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stem or the line of David to be the son of David to be a descendant of David and

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so the root of Jesse is very important especially if you look at it through that

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Jewish mindset that Jewish lens of history very important the root of

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Jesse and the root of Jesse symbolizes the family tree that Christ would come

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through and this is significant it's important that we understand this this

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detail this fact about the line that Jesus came through because it was this

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very line that would qualify him to make him the rightful heir to the throne of

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David the rightful heir to sit over his people and we read in Matthew if you'd

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like you can go through all the genealogies you begin with Matthew chapter

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one and you start to read all the baghats you know the so-and-so be got so-and-so

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and you can see all throughout the line of biblical history the patriarchs the

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matriarchs and he establishes this this line this theological prophetic lineage

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all the way from the beginning of time all the way to Jesus Christ and we see

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that in there is Jesse and in there is David and he wants us to see Matthew the

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book of Matthew was primarily written to a Jewish audience so he wanted to

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establish the fact that this Christ this and this Messiah was indeed the

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promised Son of God was indeed the one whom the prophets had spoken of the one

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whom Isaiah and Jeremiah and others had spoken even David had prophesied would

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come he was that one and so today as we celebrate the birth of Christ let us

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understand that that God did not just come up overnight with this idea of

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coming to save us he did not have to create a line out of nowhere and zigzag

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his way to get to where we are there was indeed a prophetic lineage that Christ

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came through to fulfill prophecy and to be that one hope of the world hallelujah

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somebody today and the root of the tree is the source of his life and that

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picture in my mind today I'm picturing that root I'm picturing that that

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established root that that stem that that from that stem and from that that

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root is the source of life and today we acknowledge that our hope this afternoon

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is rooted in Jesus Christ can you clap your hand let's give God a hand praise

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right now amen so we acknowledge that that he came through this very important

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very significant line of of kings and priests and prophets Jesus Christ was a

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part of that line in 2000 years ago in that lonely manger in Bethlehem the root

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broke through the ground just like Isaiah foretold he writes in Isaiah 11

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verse 1 a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse there's the root and his

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roots a branch will bear fruit I want you to understand today my fram that

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that that hope does not stop at the root that's where it begins someone say the

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root that's where it starts that's the source but it does not stop at the root

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he speaks of a branch and so I want to now talk about the stretch of hope now

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that we've seen the source let us see the stretch of hope he says Isaiah he says

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not only did I see a root but I saw a branch not only did I see a root but I

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saw a branch roots represent depth but branches represent width roots grow

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downward and they grow upward but branches grow outward and so the picture

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in my mind today that I think that Isaiah was drawing and then the Apostle

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Paul echoed in his writings was a beautiful picture of God's plan

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flourishing in the world his plan of redemption his plan of hope his plan of

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salvation and he points us first to the root the roots us in the ground and we

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know 2,000 years ago the room broke the root broke ground but it didn't stop

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there it began to flourish and it began to blossom and the life of Christ is the

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blossoming and the ministry of Christ is the blossoming of that beautiful

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prophetic tree that is now growing not just downward getting stronger and

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upward getting higher but growing outward to the furthest expanses that we

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can possibly a month imagine in our mind what I have come today to preach to you

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today is not only are what we celebrating of what we're putting our hope and our

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trust in today is founded and grounded in the ground and strong and sturdy but

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God did not say just come and find the root wherever it is there is a branch

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of salvation there is a branch that extends to where we are I've come today

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not just to preach about the root of Jesse but I've come today to preach

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about the branches of the cross and the branches of Christ and that he came to

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find us how many of you are thankful that when you couldn't get to him he came

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down and he found you come on and give God some praise today Hallelujah Jesus

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came to be the branch and as the branch that extends itself to every four

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corner of the world as the branch that reaches it to the furthest place that

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you can possibly imagine has the branch that goes to where the root will not go

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the roots days where it is the roots not gonna move the root is like the word of

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God it's unmovable and unshakable all that can be shaken will be shaken so

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that which is unshakable remains that's the kingdom that's the root but there

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and there is also not just the righteousness and not just the holiness

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that is rooted but then there is the grace and the mercy and the hope that

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extends beyond because God knows that you're not good enough to get to the

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root my God he knows that you're not strong enough to get to the root so he

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says I'm gonna touch you where you how many of you today are here because there

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was a branch an olive branch a branch of grace and a branch of hope that reached

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out to where you were and said I've got enough grace and I've got enough come on

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somebody magnify the Lord with me and let's give God some praise today he found

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me one day remember the day he found you he found us and I have pictured in my

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mind the branching out of hope the branching out and I come to tell you

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that hope is one of the stretchiest words in the Bible it stretches to distant

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people distant places and distant situations when Jesus came to earth the

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branch began to stretch out into unreachable the far corners of society

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the dark shadows of the culture the dark shadows of sin and wretchedness and

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depravity he goes to places that nobody else would go he touches people that

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everyone deems untouchable he goes and sits with sinners and prostitutes and

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hormongers and people you would think have no business he goes to the places

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that nobody else he stretches to the godly and the ungodly he stretches to

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the religious and the in religion he stretches to the saints and the ain't

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so he stretches oh my god he stretched to a patient Simeon who is waiting as the

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Bible says for the consolation of Israel when he saw that baby boy come and to be

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dedicated in the house of God Simeon's tears begin to fall down his face as he

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began to magnify God because the branch had touched him oh my god can I preach

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like I want you today it touched a hurting man by the name of Jerry is

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whose daughter was on her sick bed and needed a miracle and all he said was

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just send your word and by your word she shot the branch reaches all the way to

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the hospital room it reaches all the way to the crack house it reaches always

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somebody knew what I'm talking about today that branch reaches where medicine

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cannot reach that branch reaches where doctors cannot reach come on that branch

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reaches where the judicial system cannot read that branch reaches where

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governors and lawyers and doctors thank you for the branch today

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it reached to a thirsty Samaritan woman who wanted the living water and it

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reached to a failing Peter who after denying Jesus three times needed a

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second chance the branch found him on the shores of Galilee and said come on

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it reached him and I've come to tell you today that if you don't know where to

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find hope if you're lacking hope in some area of your life and you don't know

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where you're gonna find it and you don't know if it's ever gonna get better I've

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come to tell you that you're in the right place at the right time the branch is

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here the branch of Christmas that's what it is I've got good news it stretches to

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every one of us here today clap your hands why don't we give God a hand

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praise today come on give him that hand praise hallelujah the branch the

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stretchiness of hope it branches out and then with that stretch comes the

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support of hope thirdly the support of hope that Paul writes about as he begins

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to weave these parallel principles together of God's plan of redemption we

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start to see that hope when hope shows up it doesn't come alone he writes now

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may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace how many of you are

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thankful for joy and peace today amen I said how many of you are thankful for

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joy and peace today when hope comes it doesn't come alone hope doesn't just show

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it by itself hope is not a one-person party when hope shows up into your life

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it brings his friends called joy and peace with it oh thank you God when hope

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shows up it comes as a branch intertwined with other branches the branches of

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joy and the branches of peace the branches of faith and the branches of

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love three things remain faith hope and love my God it comes all intertwined with

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other blessings and other mercies and under other graces that God offers to

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us today so I want you to know that if you feel any kind of joy I don't know

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about you but when I heard the saxophone playing I felt joy in my heart when I

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heard the musicians play when I heard the praise he pray something about there

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was a joy that's sort of cut let me tell you something if you feel joy in your

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heart today that's a sign that hope is here if you feel my God when you are

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hallelujah it's a green light if you feel joy in your heart you've got

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permission go ahead and smile again brother go ahead and laugh again sister

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go ahead and shout again go ahead and dance again sing again lift your voice

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again if you feel joy in your heart joy unspeakable and full of glory that's

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a sign to you that God is still God and he's still sitting on the throne and

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he's not done with me yet come on somebody say hallelujah

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hallelujah this joy that I have the world didn't give it to me and the world

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can't take it away anybody know what I'm talking about in this place right now

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I've got the joy of the Lord down in my soul just like the Bible says

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oh da-ba-ba-ba-ba-ya shah I feel the holy ghost so if you if depression is

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knocking on your door you tell depression goodbye if anxiety is knocking on

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your door you tell anxiety goodbye it brings joy and it brings peace the

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peace of God surpasses all understanding hallelujah be anxious for nothing

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come on now summer I said be anxious for nothing but by everything by prayer and

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supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the

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peace of God with surpasses all understanding will guard your heart in

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mind in Christ Jesus I'm here to tell you that if you feel peace today if you

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feel a calming in your spirit that's a sign that hope is here

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hallelujah somebody I said hallelujah somebody the Prince of Peace is here

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everlasting father Prince of Peace that's one of God's titles and when hope

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shows up it brings with it joy and it brings with it peace and I don't know

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if there's somebody here today that needs to know that everything is going to be

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alright because hope is here when he brings hope he adds to it joy he adds

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to it peace just like the wise men they brought these gifts to Jesus they've

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they brought these three gifts to Jesus oh hallelujah on that day where they saw

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him Jesus has also offered us three gifts this Christmas season it's the gift

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of hope and of joy and of peace you better open up those gifts this year

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hallelujah oh I said you better open up those gifts it's the gift that you didn't

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even know you needed hey man have someone ever got you a gift and you

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opened it up and you it wasn't what you wanted and but you had to kind of fake

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it man that's just what I've always wanted well you know how did you know

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how am I you know I don't know but then you come on later on you find yourself

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using that gift you never thought you needed some of these some people they

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didn't know you needed church until you got to church you know I'm saying you

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didn't know how oh come on you didn't know how hungry you were for the word

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until the word started getting preached you didn't know how far you were until

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you got into the house of God but now that you're here brother your mind is

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well opened up the gift sister you might as well receive what God has for you oh

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my god you might as well and if you don't want it then give it to me because I

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can use some more of it in my life I can use some more hope I can use some more

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joy and peace the angels told the shepherds as they were there in the night

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do not be afraid for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be

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to all people he said glory to God and the highest and on earth peace good will

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toward man so you see when when hope comes he brings with it joy and peace

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hope never shows up alone hope never shows up empty-handed and I've come to

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tell you today so hope is here someone say hope is here come on one more time

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say hope is here praise God for the support of hope but I want to close

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today I don't want to be much longer I want to close today by telling you about

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the strength of hope the strength of hope lest you think that hope needs you to

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be hope lest you think that hope is depending on you you need to see that

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there is something else that is supporting and strengthening the hope in

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your life and it is the power of the holy ghost hallelujah Paul continues saying

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in verse 13 that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

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someone say abound abound means I love that word it means to overflow a man it

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means to overflow it's like David writing in Psalm 23 my cup runneth over

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you know God wants to bless you so good that it causes an overflow in your life

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oh my god come on now I said he wants to bless you so good it causes an

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overflow good good measure pressed down shaken together and running over that

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you come you serve a running over kind of God oh come on I said you serve a

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running over kind of God God never does anything just at par God doesn't just

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want to meet your expectations no no no he wants to exceed your expectation he

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shall do exceedingly remember abundantly above all that you can ask or

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think according to the power that worketh within you so this is how God does

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God does everything in excess that's why when he fed those 5,000 men there was

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leftover food amen I don't know about you but sometimes I like the leftovers

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more huh you eat you you can have your your ham and your turkey on on Christmas

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or on Thanksgiving but I like to have it like a couple of days after because then

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it's really like you know leftovers huh you know give them to me and I'm here to

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tell you that God is so good he'll bless you he'll touch you and I believe

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that we're going we're going into a place right now in the spirit of overflow

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I'm not just talking about financial thing I'm talking about spiritual things

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I'm talking about God blessing you so much you got joy you don't know what to

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do with you like man I just need to give people joy because I got too much joy I

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got too much peace I need to start giving this piece away why do you think

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God gives you more than what you need not so that you can hoard it for yourself

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the devil's alive God gives you more than what you need so that you can give it to

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others oh my god hallelujah so if you've got hope today blessed be the name of

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the Lord but don't hoard it all for yourself give some of that hope to

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somebody else and tell it hey everything is gonna be all right we serve a good

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God we serve the God of the overflow that's right

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amen somebody and so he says a bound and hope and that's where God wants us to

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dwell he doesn't want us to taking the scraps from the table he's giving us a

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seed at the table we as children of God are sitting in heavenly places today

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that's why he came that's why he came so that hope which was unreachable and

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unattainable would come in the form of this lowly this humble baby boy born to

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to marry in Joseph why so that hope could touch us and so that we could live

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with an everlasting hope as Paul said a living a blessed hope we've got a

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blessed hope in God that our hope is not in this world but our hope is in Christ

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our hope transcends me on this world amen and we are living in the overflow

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and that overflow is in the power how many of you are thankful for the Holy

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Ghost today I'm gonna bite if the musicians can come on how many of you are

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thankful for the Holy Ghost today oh I'm so thankful for the Holy Ghost I couldn't

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serve God without the Holy Ghost I couldn't be a Christian without the Holy

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Ghost because this in the Holy Ghost that I get to I get to wear the where the

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source and I get to wear the support and I get to wear the strength of my hope is

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it's in the Holy Ghost someone say Holy Ghost it's in the spirit of God and

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you've got to make sure today if you don't do anything else on this special

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service the one thing I would encourage you to do is get more plugged into the

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Holy Ghost get more plugged into the spirit of God because that's where your

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strength is that's where your power is that's where that that's where we get

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what we need to keep going because there are days where you you'll feel like you

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can't do it there are mornings you wake up how am I gonna you don't feel like you

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can do it you don't have it in you and it's in those days where you realize

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that it's not by power nor by might but by my spirit says the Lord oh I'm so

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thankful for the Holy Ghost because it's been the Holy Ghost that when I don't

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know what to pray brother David I know some of you real spiritual you always

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know what to say when you pray but there's some time I don't know what to

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say but I'm so glad that the Apostle Paul wrote in second training he said

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it's alright because there are mornings and groan when you begin to speak in

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tongues you speak in a word in a language you start to enter only you

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and God knows but it's the Holy Ghost there are some times I don't know what

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to say but I don't thank God for the Holy Ghost whoo my god sometimes I I don't

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know what to do I don't know how to respond but I'm so glad I got the Holy

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Ghost imagine where you would be if you didn't have the Holy Ghost whoo I don't

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think about that imagine what things you you would say oh my god I thank you God

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for the Holy Ghost because there's some times I want to I want to send a text

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message in my flesh none of you never had this problem man you've never had

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this problem but people like me we man I gotta check in with the Holy Ghost before

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I say what I'm about to say have you ever written out a whole text and the

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Holy Ghost say you better not send that and you just delete it all okay okay

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okay okay okay thank God for the Holy Ghost we're gonna say something to your

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wife or to your children yeah I better make sure that it's the Holy Ghost

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talking right here because it's the Holy Ghost it's the Spirit of God if you see

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you'll miss the Spirit of Christmas if you miss the Spirit the Holy Spirit of

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Christmas I'm not here to preach about this spirit of Christmas like you know

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like this I'll just be you know festive for no reason I'm here to be like the

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Holy Spirit of Christmas which is the Spirit of God would you stand with me

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this day hallelujah remember these words whenever the devil wants to put a

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question mark where God put a period whenever the enemy wants to lie to you

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and tell you about your past whenever the devil wants to keep you where you are

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and cause you to live back I want you to hold on to these words remember what

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we read in Jeremiah 29 and 11 for I know the thoughts that I think towards you

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says the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future everyone

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say future and a hope someone say hope God said my whole plan for you and your

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family is to give you a future and a hope how many of you are thankful to God

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for that today I wonder for a moment if we could just give God some praise right

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now father I thank you for the hope I know that there's somebody that came into

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this place you came in low on hope you came in wondering how this next year is

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going to be you came in wondering how you're going to get through this trial

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you came in wondering with the work because some of you right now under the

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sound of my voice the odds are stacked against you in some way some of you are

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dealing with odds that are stacked up against you against your family members

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at work oh hallelujah in your ministry your spiritual life and your finances

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some of you today it seems like it's stacked against you and even though you

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know from a mental standpoint you know or even a biblical standpoint that

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God's it controls sometimes it doesn't feel that way because everything is

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spinning out of control how about your son your world spinning not happening the

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way you want it to happen or in the way in the timing that you wanted to happen

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but God sent me here today to tell you that hope is here hope is here hope is

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here right now and I don't know who needs it today but I want you to know

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that if you need it the branch has already been extended the branch has

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already been it's already available to you right now in fact right there where

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you are would you begin to close your eyes I feel the Holy Spirit right now

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moving I feel God dealing with somebody I feel God talking to somebody right now

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I feel that somebody is just hmm hallelujah the is hearing the Lord speak

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to you letting you know everything's gonna be alright I just need you to

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believe again I need you to hold on and even when you can't hold on hope is

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holding on to you I need you to know that God is with you and if God be for

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you who can be against oh if God be on your side then who can rise up against

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you your God is for you your God is with you your God is in you and

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everything I say right now is gonna work in your favor because God is not

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slack-consuming his promises God his arms are not too short that he cannot

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reach you so if there's somebody today that needs to just oh let him find you

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right now let him find you stop trying to save yourself oh my god stop trying

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to save yourself let him save you right now let him save you