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Praise be to God. Church, I want to remind you, in case you don't know, that next

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Sunday we are beginning our 21 days of prayer and fasting. So would you unite

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together with me starting next Sunday for 21 days of prayer and fasting? And I'm

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believing that during that period of consecration that God is going to visit

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us, God's going to move in a mighty way. Can someone say amen for that? Amen. God's

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going to work in a powerful way. We're going to start this year off right,

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Seek ye the face of God. Amen. Remember what Jesus said, to seek first the kingdom

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of God. Amen. Seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness. He said,

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and all these things will be added unto you. So everything that you're expecting

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God, believing God to do for this coming year, amen, we got to seek His kingdom

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first. Someone say first. And in that spirit, I'm going to invite you, if you

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can join me in the gospel, according to Luke chapter two, gospel, a court gospel

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of Luke chapter two, verse 42. And as you're preparing there, as you'll see it

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on the screen or going there in your Bible, amen. I want to preface this by

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saying that every few years the Holy Ghost leads me to this passage. I have

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preached from this passage before and it's one of my favorite sermons to

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preach. It's, you know, there are sermons and there are messages and then

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there are like these lifetime messages that God, that once he speaks to me, he

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kind of brings me back to these places like a landmark every once in a while

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and as I was seeking the Lord in preparation for this service, he brought

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me back to this landmark in scripture and maybe you've heard me preach it

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before, but I pray today that you will hear it with new ears because there's

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always something new and fresh that God wants to speak. But the word says this

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and when he was 12 years old, he went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of

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the fees. When they had finished the days as they return, the boy Jesus

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lingered behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother did not know it. My

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message today is this, don't forget Jesus. Someone say don't forget Jesus. Don't

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forget Jesus. Church, as we enter into a new year, we better make sure that Jesus

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is with us. We better make sure that Jesus is with us. Why don't we pray? Father, I

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thank you for your spirit, your presence that fills this place today, God, for this

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is the day that you have made. We have gathered today not in vain, but to lift

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up your name, to meet with you God for this occasion and we know that you have a

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word for us, God. I pray God that you would anoint the ears, the hearts of

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every hearer in this place, that they could receive this word, that this seed

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would fall on good ground. And I pray also that you would anoint my lips of

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clay, God. Feel me Lord, with a fresh word in my mouth, with fresh revelation, God,

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with a new anointing. I pray God in the name of Jesus, have your way. We take

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dominion, God, over every contrary spirit to the spirit of God and we take

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authority. We cast it out now in the name of Jesus. There has no place here, God.

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We cast out unbelieved doubt, confusion and we release clarity, wisdom and

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understanding in this place right now. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Everyone

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say amen. Amen. You may be seated in God's presence. Allow me to set the backdrop

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to the story at the time of this incident. Mary and Joseph have taken their

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12 year old son Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover. Every male Jew living

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within a reasonable distance was expected, required even so, to come to

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Jerusalem for this holy holiday. Mary and Joseph being devout Jews as they were,

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gathered their family together, friends, their caravan and they went from Nazareth,

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making that long upward journey to Jerusalem to participate and partake of

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the Passover festivities. And as they were going, I would imagine that there was

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much anticipation, much excitement and much reverence to this holy affair that

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they were about to embark upon. When the Passover had ended and everything had

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come to a conclusion, people were saying their goodbyes. This was like one

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grand major event, the most important event throughout the year where all the

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believers came together. It was like, if I could put it this way, one big

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gathering, one big convention if you want to look at it like that, where all

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the saints had come and descended upon the city of Jerusalem. So you can

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imagine there was a lot of hustle and bustle and people just crossing

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paths and hugging each other. There's no social media back then, so they

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hadn't seen each other for a long time and there's greeting, there's

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tears, there's fellowship, there's breaking of bread and it's all spiritual

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and it's all great. And after this time of had come to an end, Mary and Joseph,

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they began to gather their things and started to head home. They start to pack

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their bags and begin to gather with their caravan, their company and

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started to make that journey back to Nazareth. And that's exactly what they

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did and they began to walk this many road, this many miles back to Nazareth.

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And they were traveling for hours and hours and as they were traveling, as they

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were walking along this caravan of people, at some point in the journey, I

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don't know how much distance had passed, how much time it passed, but at

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some point in their journey they had gone some time and something

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didn't quite feel right and possibly Mary looked over to Joseph and said,

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you know, honey, have you seen Jesus anywhere? And I imagine at that time

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Joseph looked over to her and kind of raised his eyebrow and like, well, you

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know, what do you mean? Have I seen him? You know, have you seen him? I don't know

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where he's at and at that moment, you know, husband and wife, mother and father

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looked at each other and probably they felt like the bottom fell out from

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under them and something, you know, a sinking feeling came upon them as they

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realized that neither one of them knew where Jesus was. Now, every parent in

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this place today believes and loves our children and they're all important,

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right? All of our children are important. Can the parents say amen? Amen. All of our

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children are important. I think my children are important, but can I just

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tell you that this child here was just a little more important? If there's one

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child you don't want to lose sight of, if there's one kid, you know, you don't

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want to take your eyes off of, it's Jesus. How many of you would agree with that?

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Amen. You know, it's got to be Jesus, you know, and so, but somehow, somehow in

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the process and the hustle and bustle of life, they thought that he was with them,

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but they realized that they had lost Jesus and a sense of panic began to grow

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over a three-day period as they started to retrace their steps to find where

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Jesus might be and they searched high and low and they started asking around and

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what this story does for me, it reminds me and it should remind all of us today

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of how easy it is to lose sight of Jesus. And the question before us today is this,

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if Mary the mother of Jesus, no one was closer to Jesus than Mary both then and

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now. There's nobody here today that can ever say you're closer to Jesus than

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Mary was because she was close to him both spiritually and physically. She was

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his mother after all and if Mary could lose sight of Jesus, then the question

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before us today is who am I? Nobody was closer. I'm sorry, you're not closer to

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Jesus than Mary was and if Mary could lose sight of Jesus, how much more us?

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Mary lost sight of him and Joseph, by the way, and in the process of them going

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through life, I mean, they were at this great spirit. You could be even at a

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spiritual high in your life. You could be in a moment where you're all wrapped up

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into the things of God. You're all wrapped up into the church world and

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still because when you look at the story, what's fascinating to me is that Mary

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lost Jesus in the very last place you'd expect her to lose him. She lost him at

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the temple. She lost him at the temple. She had Jesus inside the church. She had

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Jesus there within the temple and she lost him on the way home. She had Jesus

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there in the temple, in the tabernacle, and she lost him on the way home and

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likewise, many people know and feel Jesus in the temple, but they lose him on the

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way home. And this ought to be a cautionary tale for us. This ought to be a

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wake-up call for us as we think about every place that we want to go in

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2024, as we think about every blessing, every promise that we

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hope to experience, as we think about all of the paths that we are hoping to

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take and the prosperity and the blessings and the goodness of God and the land of

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the living, all of the things that we are hoping to experience into the future

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should the Lord tarry it. All the places that we want to go and the things that we

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want to do and the experiences that we want to have and the adventures that we

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want to go on and the exploits that we want to accomplish. I'm talking about

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every good thing that we are hoping to experience and hoping to take with us

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into the future and to hope to apprehend in this coming new year. We just

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better make sure that all of our getting that we don't forget to have Jesus with

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us and that we don't lose sight of what it's really all about. Can I tell

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somebody today, it's all about Jesus. Turn to somebody tell them it's all about

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Jesus. It's all about Jesus. If we do everything but we lose sight of Jesus,

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what progress are we really making? So what if we accomplish a great career? So

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what if we build a house on the hill? So what if we have this and we do that? If

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we don't have Jesus, what's the point of it all? What's the point of it all? What's

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the point of growing? What's the point of doing and going here and there if we

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don't have? What's the point of having a rock and church and having this thing and

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that thing? If Jesus is not in the midst of everything that we are doing, we cannot

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afford to take one step in this life and not have Jesus with us. And Jesus

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somehow was lost sight of and somehow I have seen throughout our life that if we

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are not careful, if we're not vigilant, if we're not, if we don't fix our eyes on

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the author and the finisher of our faith, if we don't stay concentrated on him, we

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can lose him in the most unexpected places. We can lose him

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right here. You know you can lose him right here. People think that you have

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to go out into the world to backslide. No, people can backslide right on the

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pew. You don't want to believe it. But you can backslide right on the

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pew and you can lose out with God right on the pew. You can be right in the midst

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of a service like we're having today where the Spirit of God is moving and

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the presence of God is moving and God is healing and God is... You know the Spirit

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of Jesus is literally in this place but we've got our eyes over here and we're

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looking at what that person's wearing and we're looking at what time it is and

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we're looking at what the score is and we're looking at you know everything

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else and we're looking at this and we're looking and you can miss Jesus. I have

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made up in my mind. I don't want to have one service where I miss Jesus. I don't

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want to have one opportunity where I miss Jesus. I want every moment that I have

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with him to matter. Would you clap your hands and give the Lord Jesus Christ a

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round of applause today. Hallelujah. But here's the point of it all is that you

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can lose him and not know it. Mary went a whole day before she realized that

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Jesus wasn't there. It's possible to lose sight of Jesus and not even know it.

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Just kind of go through life and just sort of assume that he's with you. It's

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possible to lose sight of Jesus in all fairness. Let's treat Mary with

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fairness. She's not a villain. I'm not here to make Mary a bad person at all. She

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wasn't trying to lose him. She wasn't playing hide and seek you know. This

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wasn't a game but verse 44 reveals the nature of her problem. It says but

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supposing him to have been in the company she went a day's journey. The problem

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that Mary had was one that many have today is that she supposed Jesus to be

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there. She just assumed that he would be there. Mary and Joseph simply let their

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guards down and they took the presence of Jesus for granted. They just assumed

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because watch this because I've been in this all my life I got this thing on

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lockdown. There's some people they can't learn nothing new because they've heard

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it all already. You don't know anybody like that. You can't tell them nothing

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they haven't heard. They can't be in a service they've never been in

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before. They seem to have it all figured out and those are the ones who are in

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most danger of losing Jesus. Because we can get to a place where we

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assume that we have it all figured out. We assume what we know what this is

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gonna happen at this point. This is gonna happen. We have the whole service all

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figured out. We know when the pastor... This is when Pastor Jacob is gonna say

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there's some of you got me figured out. Maybe I'll throw you a curveball today.

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Huh? And we have everything figured out and I've come to realize that that is

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when we are at most danger. It's not the new ones. The new ones that the new

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converts they're the ones that have got their eyes on Jesus. They're just

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they're just they're fixated on him. It's those of us that have been in this for a

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little while. We are the ones that can get comfortable. We are the ones that can

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just start to coast. We start to coast and we don't have the Holy Ghost. We have

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the Holy Coast. We're coasting. We're coasting and we're singing the songs

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because we know the lyrics. And we're going through the motions and we know

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when to clap and we know when to shout and we know and those are the ones and

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I'm putting myself in that same group that if we're not careful we can lose

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sight of where Jesus is and think we know what he's about to do and God said

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no you don't know what I'm about to do. I might do something that you're not

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expecting so you better be in prayer and you better be seeking me and you better

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be hearing me and you better be worshiping me because I might do

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something that you have never seen before. Is there somebody come on I wish

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somebody is there anybody here today that is going to preach with me is there

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somebody here today that says God I want to see what I've never seen before. I

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don't know about you but I don't want to see a repeat of 2023 or 2024. How many

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of you want new blessings huh? How many of you want to see new victories? I don't

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want to just hit a repeat of what God did last year. I'm believing God for

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greater things but if I'm gonna see greater things then I've got to be

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right there with Jesus. I need Jesus to be with me every step of the way

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lest I just do things on memory. You know what happens you can lose

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him and not know it like Samson. Samson thought he had the anointing just like a

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lot of people just because God used you last year big deal. What about this year?

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Samson rose up and he said I'm gonna beat these fools up like I did. Sorry

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that's just you gotta watch my language here. I'm gonna beat these bad guys up

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like I did last year because I did it before and you know what he found out

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his power was gone because he got too comfortable and he let Delilah cut his

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hair. Hey you better make sure your head is not in Delilah's lap brother and you

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gotta get into the spirit of God and make sure that when you go I come on

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somebody better come on now and make sure that the spirit of Jesus is with

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you. Come on give God's praise today.

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Oh hallelujah I can't live off yesterday's power. I can't live off

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yesterday's anointing. I can't live off yesterday's experience. I need a new

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touch from God. Oh my God behold I'm about to do a new thing the Lord says.

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Is there somebody today that can give God a praise if you're believing for a

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new thing? Come on give him about 30 seconds of praise right now.

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Oh my God I believe him for something new. Come on and worship him. Come on and

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praise him today. Hallelujah hallelujah.

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And you know what happens is we get so predictable. We get so predictable. It's

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like we do the most predictable things and I'm not against routine. Routines are

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good. Discipline is good. I'm for all of that but sometimes we can get so

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routine and so we just get predictable and then God can't move and you what

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starts to happen is that you know what we start doing? We start moving where God

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isn't. I wonder see that's when we get into trouble. We start moving into places

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where God isn't and we start moving without. We start making decisions

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without Jesus. We start getting into relationships without Jesus. We start

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oh we just we start taking jobs without Jesus and like Mary and Joseph they just

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are moving through their life and Jesus is not with them but they're supposing

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that he's there. Suppose that I just suppose he's with me. I just suppose that

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we get comfortable. We get comfortable around around the people of God. We just

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could just like you know there's this kind of safety that we feel like well

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as long as I'm going to church and as long as I've got good friends around me

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then then he must be with me but is he with you and there are three prevalent

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attitudes that can take our focus off Jesus and I'm going to try to breeze

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through these because because every one of them is like a message in of

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themselves but but there are three basic attitudes and the first is

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entitlement. The second is self-righteousness and third is just

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plain old neglect. These are attitudes that can take our focus off Jesus. The

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attitude of entitlement is one I think I've kind of been preaching about

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already where we just assume that because you know we know the right things

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or we we believe the right things are we been in this for so long that you know

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we got this thing figured out that God's just gonna show up just because

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because we have the right beliefs we have the right doctrine and those things

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are true but you know what I've been to a lot of places that have the and I say

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this with all due respect but you know they look the part that you know they

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got apostolic on the church sign but but there's there's no life inside the

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church. Just because we're apostolic and just because we may have a

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dark doctrine and we believe the right things praise be to God but you know

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that there are also dead apostolic churches. Maybe you haven't been to one

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in a while huh? I'll tell you where they're at and I'm just kidding. I would never do that

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but I've been I've been to a lot of churches I have preached it throughout

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the throughout the country I think I've been in almost every district I'm not

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saying this to boast just in the last 10 years I have probably preaching almost

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every district throughout this throughout this country and I can tell

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you that just because a church says they're apostolic doesn't mean that

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Jesus is there because there's no miracles there's no power there's no

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manifestation I mean it's just dead. God forbid that ever happened here and if

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we're not careful it can happen here if we take our eyes off of Jesus. Hallelujah

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somebody I don't want that to happen here not on my watch not on my watch that's

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not gonna happen here hallelujah but we need the anointing of God we need the

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power of God we need the love of God in this place and it's gonna happen when we

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keep our eyes on Jesus the second attitude is self-righteousness self-righteousness

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and this is a this is a big one because or spiritual pride disguised as

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holiness there's a big difference between holiness and self-righteousness and

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and when you when you when you have a relationship with God and you're

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discerning you can you can tell the difference between the two you could tell

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the difference because one is self-glorifying and another is God glorifying.

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One one seeks to build himself up and other seeks to build up God and and some

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people think that for instance that let's just say because they speak in tongues

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or they speak in a lot of tongues that that their tongues is a sign of Christ

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like character you can speak in tongues like a motorboat and G hateful and have

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no fruit of the spirit in your life I'm not impressed with tongues that we all

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need to speak in tongues but tongues is not an automatic sign that Jesus is with

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you you know what the sign is everyone say fruit that's the sign that Jesus is

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actually that you're walking with Jesus hey man somebody yeah kind of hot in

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here hallelujah you can speak in tongues and be arrogant and the Bible says that

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God reason how could God be with you if you're

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proudful and arrogant he resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble

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that's self-righteousness or unkind people have a form of godliness but they

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deny the power thereof I'm reminding of what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1st

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Corinthians 13 verse 1 if I speak in the tongues of men and or of angels but

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do not have love everyone say love I am only a resounding gong or a clanging

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symbol if I if I do all these spiritual things but I don't have love in

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other words if I don't have God if the spirit of Jesus is not with me then

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what's the point of it all I can speak in tongues I can prophesy I kid I can

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interpret I can do all of these things God can even use me in a mighty way but

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if that doesn't guarantee that Jesus is with me we can have spiritual activity

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we can drop a great plan we can say this is what we're gonna do but if Jesus is

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not with me then I'm not really making any progress at all but if Jesus is

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with me then one inch one inch with Jesus is further than one mile without

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him let me say that again one inch with Jesus is further than a mile in the flesh

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I'd rather go one inch with the spirit than a mile in my carnality because then

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I know that I'm making progress with God come on and put your hands together I

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feel something in my spirit today number three is neglect you could put up the

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three that I mentioned the third is neglect and this happens just just as

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we get too comfortable we start taking our focus off Jesus and and and we just

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get preoccupied we get too busy with life and oh I'm gonna get to it when I

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get some time and you know as soon as I get this in order and then I'll do it

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and then I'll go like one of those disciples that Jesus called and said

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you know you know well first let me go take care of this and let me go bury my

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family members and there's always something we just get preoccupied we get

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too busy and we just start to neglect the altars in our life we start to

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neglect our prayer life we start to neglect the things of God and we start

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to borrow from yesterday's fire borrow from the past borrow from what God did

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and we're just we're just living we're living in the past but God wants to do

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something new and so we can't be neglectful of the things of God Paul told

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Timothy I remind you to stir up the gift of God that is within you don't neglect

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your spiritual gift my friend don't neglect tend to it and re if the fire

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has gone out then rekindle the flame of the spirit rekindle the spirit of

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Jesus in your life get back to the heart of worship get back to the altar get

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back to consecration come on somebody get back to your gift get back to your

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ministry if you took 2023 offer it's time to get back on it in 2024 and say

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I'm gonna give double of what I gave last year I'm gonna do more for God is

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there anybody here today that wants to do more for God in this coming year than

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you did last year

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amen somebody I said is there anybody that wants to do more for God this coming

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year the last year can you say man I want to go further than where I went last

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year but it's only gonna happen if Jesus is with me and we cannot sit back in

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neglect and we cannot sit back and say well you know I do a lot of things so

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that that counts no lest we be like the Church of Ephesus you read in the opening

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chapters of Revelation where the Spirit writes to the seven churches and one of

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them was a church of Ephesus and they had it all together they were he

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said I know your works your works are great man you you're well organized you're

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well executed you everything with excellence but the problem is with all

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of your excellence with all your execution operate you are well finely

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tuned machine while oiled machine the problem is there's no love and so he

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said go back to your first nevertheless I have this against you that you have

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left your first love you forgot about Jesus you got so caught up in the in the

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work of God that you forgot about the God of the work

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you got so caught up in the things of God that you forgot the God of the things

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you got so caught up in the gifts of God that you forgot the God of the gifts I'm

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not seeking the gifts I'm seeking the giver of the gifts

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who i'm not seeking blessings brother don't get me wrong I feel the

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anointing I'm almost I feel the anointing too never i'm not seeking

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I'm seeking bless over you.

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You're just a blessing preacher.

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No, I'm not seeking bless.

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I'm seeking the blesser.

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Oh, I'm seeking the giver.

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I'm seeking Jesus.

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I want more of God.

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Hallelujah.

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Somebody just worship him right now for a few moments.

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Rabababaya Shandalabakanda.

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Hallelujah, hallelujah.

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I want more of God.

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I want more of his spirit.

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I don't want to forget about him.

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I don't want to get so caught up in life

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because this coming year, with this year,

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is going to be a lot of opportunities.

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Some of you, there's going to be so many.

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Not every door is a God door.

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Not every good opportunity is a God opportunity.

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Come on now.

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Not every good thing is a God thing.

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And you've got to make sure that Jesus is in it.

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Because if Jesus ain't in it, I don't want it.

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Hallelujah, God.

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I'm saying this to myself.

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I'm saying, I don't want to preach if Jesus ain't in it.

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Every message I preach, I dedicate this pulpit to God.

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Every time I step out, Jesus has got to be about Jesus.

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Can't be about me.

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Can't be about what I've done.

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Can't be about who I am.

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It's got to be about Jesus.

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And you know, if you're struggling to find him,

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you say, well, I realize that maybe I've been going on memory.

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I've been going supposing that he's with me.

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Here's what I'll tell you.

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If you're trying to find him, you'll find him right

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where you left him.

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Right where you left him.

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Moses, or not Moses, but Noah.

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No, not Noah.

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I'm all over the place today.

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Hallelujah.

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That's all right.

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Hallelujah.

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Once Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was missing,

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they began to search for him.

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And they began to realize that they, you know how much

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humble pie they had to eat?

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Like how do you explain to your friends that?

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How do you tell them?

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How do you even tell the story again that you lost him?

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You did what?

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What kind of parent are you?

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I mean, they probably wanted to call CPS on them.

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Come and take your child from you.

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You did what?

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Imagine?

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And so there's some humility.

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And there's some steps of humility that they had to take.

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And this is a humble journey as you're going back to finding

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Jesus.

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And their search reveals what we tend to do.

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And they started looking all, they

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started looking among their friends and their family,

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among their relatives.

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And then they realized that Jesus isn't there.

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Jesus is not there.

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He's not there.

394
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And sometimes that's, you know, we're

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trying to feel around.

396
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Where is he?

397
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Where'd I leave him?

398
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Where's the fire?

399
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And they started looking around their friends and family.

400
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And he wasn't there.

401
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And then they kept searching.

402
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And then they kept going until the Bible says in 1st 45.

403
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So when they didn't find him among friends and family,

404
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they went to Jerusalem, seeking him.

405
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And still they couldn't find him.

406
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Can you imagine the sense of panic that came over them?

407
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Man, he's not with a family and friends.

408
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He's not in Jerusalem.

409
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We've knocked on every door.

410
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:05,240
We went to the marketplace.

411
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We thought maybe he might be there.

412
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The public square.

413
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,720
Where is he?

414
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,000
The last place they thought to look

415
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,160
was the place where he was.

416
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The keyboardist in Kimono.

417
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The last place they thought he would be.

418
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You know why?

419
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,440
Because I think that somewhere in the back of their mind,

420
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they didn't want to believe that they actually left him there.

421
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,720
I think in the back of their minds,

422
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,240
they didn't even want to go there.

423
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Like there's no way we left him at church.

424
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There's no way we left him at church.

425
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That happened to me one time, by the way.

426
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My dad's a good storyteller.

427
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He'll never tell the story about the time they actually

428
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,160
forgot me.

429
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And the lights were off and everything.

430
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It was a terrifying experience.

431
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:03,520
But they didn't actually go all the way home.

432
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They were just making their way out.

433
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,880
And they realized they went back in.

434
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:08,680
Now I was there.

435
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,680
I was asleep in the pew, you know?

436
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:13,320
And there I was.

437
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:14,600
They got me.

438
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,320
You know?

439
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,960
They left him there in the house.

440
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,520
And oftentimes, that's where we leave him.

441
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,640
He said, well, I left him at church.

442
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,080
I left him at 1425.

443
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:28,760
Without swinging a road and mountain.

444
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,920
I don't mean you left him in this physical place.

445
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,560
I mean you left him in a place of his business.

446
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,600
Because when they got there, this is what happened.

447
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:42,800
Verse 46, so it was.

448
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:44,800
And after three days, they found him in the temple,

449
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,760
sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them

450
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,680
and asking questions.

451
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,200
He's doing what he's supposed to do.

452
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:59,720
He's right there.

453
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:01,880
And they were upset.

454
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:06,800
They're saying, Jesus, why did you do this to us?

455
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,080
Actually tried to blame him.

456
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,520
Why'd you leave us like this?

457
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,280
We were worried.

458
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,120
We were worrying ourselves sick about where you were, Jesus.

459
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:20,520
We were worried.

460
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,720
We were anxious.

461
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:25,480
We were distraught.

462
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:26,320
We were crying.

463
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:27,400
We didn't know where you were.

464
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,360
And that's how it feels when you can't find that thing

465
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,240
that you're looking for.

466
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:34,360
You're worried.

467
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,000
That's when anxiety shows up.

468
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,360
That's when depression shows up.

469
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,160
That's when fear shows up.

470
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:42,040
And they were afraid.

471
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:43,320
And they were worried.

472
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,240
And finally, they see that Jesus was right where they left him.

473
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,840
And his response to them was this.

474
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,280
Why did you seek me?

475
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:58,080
In verse 49, did you not know that I must be about my father's

476
00:33:58,080 --> 00:33:58,560
business?

477
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:08,880
If you want to find him today, I'll tell you where he is.

478
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:14,240
It's not that he is in this physical place, though he is.

479
00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:16,720
If you really want to find where Jesus is,

480
00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:21,840
you'll find him when you get back to seeking his business.

481
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,320
Seek first the kingdom.

482
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:32,000
When you get back to seeking the kingdom with all of your heart,

483
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,920
when you get back to seeking his purpose and his will,

484
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,720
and you get back to his business, I'm not

485
00:34:40,720 --> 00:34:43,000
talking about just doing religious things.

486
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,440
I'm not talking about just going through the motion.

487
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,440
I'm not talking about just going to church,

488
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,720
because you can go to church and still lose him.

489
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:55,120
I'm talking about making the presence of God

490
00:34:55,120 --> 00:35:00,080
and the purpose of God the number one priority of your life

491
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:01,760
again.

492
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,720
And saying, God, I want you more than anything else.

493
00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:08,280
And if you make that commitment today,

494
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,000
you will find him where you left him.

495
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,680
Let me give you some examples.

496
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,000
If you're not exactly sure what I'm talking about,

497
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,480
you'll find him when you repent of your sins.

498
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,520
You'll find him when you let go of that anger.

499
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,240
You'll find him when you come back to obedience,

500
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:28,960
back to submission, back, oh, hallelujah, to prayer,

501
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:33,520
back to believing again, back to forgiveness.

502
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,640
Would you stand with me here today at this hour?

503
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,360
Thank you, God.

504
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:41,960
So the Lord began to speak to me.

505
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,880
And he brought me back to this passage.

506
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:46,720
He brought me back to this point,

507
00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:48,680
because there's somebody here today

508
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,440
under the sound of my voice.

509
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,720
There's somebody here today that needs this reminder.

510
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,160
You need this wake-up call.

511
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,120
You need to know that as we move forward,

512
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,880
we cannot forget Jesus.

513
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:03,720
Cannot forget Him.

514
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:13,240
And some are in danger today of stepping into a new year,

515
00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:16,240
and Jesus is not with you.

516
00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:18,960
You're on the verge of repeating some mistakes

517
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:19,960
that you've made in the past.

518
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,760
You're on the verge of recycling the same things again.

519
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:32,120
You're on the verge of going without Him.

520
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,120
So if that's here, you need to get Him back.

521
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:44,680
And there might be somebody today supposing that He's with you,

522
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,960
because you believe the right things.

523
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:51,840
You attend the right church, baptize in the right name,

524
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,440
and all those things are essential.

525
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:59,040
And yet, you could still lose Him.

526
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,000
Because if you are not affected by the presence of God

527
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,320
in a service, it doesn't do something.

528
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,800
If it doesn't do something to Him,

529
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:12,840
if it doesn't cause your hands to go up,

530
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:18,200
if it doesn't cause a worship to come out,

531
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,240
then you need to get Him back today.

532
00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:25,440
If you've got ministries that you've been putting on hold,

533
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,080
hallelujah, I feel the Holy Ghost right now.

534
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,280
If you've got things that God, if you're calling,

535
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:34,800
if you put your calling on hold, if you put your ministry

536
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:40,520
on hold, if you put things that God, if you put obedience

537
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:42,520
on hold, then this is your moment.

538
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,080
This is your opportunity.

539
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,440
This is the last service you're going to have this year

540
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,400
to say, God, I want it back.

541
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:50,400
Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost.

542
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:52,560
Could you close your eyes just for a moment right now?

543
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,960
As I continue to minister in the Spirit,

544
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,240
hallelujah, I feel God.

545
00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:00,800
I feel the Holy Ghost ministering to somebody right now.

546
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,600
I feel the Spirit of God touching and tugging on somebody

547
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:04,400
today.

548
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:06,440
Oh, hallelujah, Jesus.

549
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:11,760
And let us not, oh, hallelujah, let us not think more highly

550
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:15,720
of ourselves than we ought to just assume that He's with us.

551
00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:18,240
Just to say, well, this message wasn't for me,

552
00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,720
because Jesus, is He really?

553
00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:23,280
Oh, what would it hurt you today?

554
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,160
What would it really hurt you today to just look over

555
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:28,880
your heart and your life?

556
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,960
What would it hurt you to draw close to Him?

557
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,000
They say, even if I've got Him, I'm

558
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,680
going to hold Him tighter today than I did yesterday.

559
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,720
Oh, my God, even if God is with me,

560
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:42,280
I'm going to draw closer.

561
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,160
God said, if you draw close to me,

562
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:46,720
I'll draw close to you.

563
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:50,560
Draw nigh unto me, and I'll draw nigh unto you.

564
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,760
Oh, I don't ever want to get to a place where I'm satisfied.

565
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,280
I don't ever want to get to a place where I'm content with

566
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:57,960
where I've been.

567
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,880
I don't ever want to get to a place where I said I've had

568
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:02,160
enough of God.

569
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,200
No, I want more of Him.

570
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,280
Is there somebody in this place right now that says I want

571
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:08,320
more of God?

572
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:10,700
Is there somebody in this place today that says,

573
00:39:10,700 --> 00:39:14,480
I'm going to this new year, as I go into this new season,

574
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,720
as I go into this next step?

575
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:20,520
I've got to make sure that God is with me right there

576
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:21,320
where you are.

577
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,640
I wonder if there's somebody right now that can begin to call

578
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:25,880
on Jesus.

579
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:30,000
If there's somebody here in this place that can begin to call

580
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:31,160
on God.

581
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,160
Oh, my God.

582
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,720
I think about Mary and Joseph as they were walking through

583
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:39,920
the city of Jerusalem.

584
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,280
I guarantee they weren't just whispering, Jesus, are you there?

585
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,600
Jesus, Jesus, oh, Jesus.

586
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:52,120
Oh, God, I bet that they were calling out, Jesus.

587
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,600
Oh, where are you, God?

588
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:55,560
I need you.

589
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,080
And so if you really want Him, you're going to have to let

590
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:00,400
Him know today.

591
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,360
God, I want you, Lord.

592
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:05,080
Lord!

593
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,600
Come on, is there anybody hungry today?

594
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,200
Is there anybody thirsty today?

595
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,040
Is there somebody that just wants to get all of God right

596
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:13,720
now?

597
00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:38,720
Come on, hallelujah.