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Thank you. Good morning again. Some of y'all are harder hearing, didn't hear me

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the first time so I'm glad that we're able to do that. For those of you that

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don't know, Easter is a big deal in the life of the church. I love worshiping on

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Easter. We get distracted all these other times but Easter makes us focus in

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on our hope that we have in Jesus and we realize that we have nothing to fear if

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we follow Him. And I love Easter because it brings so many people to church,

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right? And all those reasons are different. Maybe you are here every Sunday and

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you're a little disoriented this morning because somebody that you don't know is

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sitting in your seat. Maybe you grew up in the church and something happened and

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you haven't been in years but but it almost feels wrong not to be in church

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on Easter Sunday. So here you are. Or maybe you used to worship God. You used

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to spend time with Him. There was this time in your life where you really saw

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God working in your life. You saw Him doing some really cool things but

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somewhere along the line you got distracted. You started trying other

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things and maybe for a season those things brought you more pleasure and so

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you strayed. And I see at every Easter people start to come back and maybe you

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begin to think I miss those days where I used to talk to God. I miss those days

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where I could where I could wake up and He brought me peace. My favorite thing

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about Easter is when I see people get it for the first time. Where

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something just clicks and they get it. I think it's cool that God chooses Easter

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Sunday for that to happen to make things new. I also love Easter because there's

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so much love here. It seems like Easter brings people together. We've got

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family coming from out of town. You're gonna have lunch together and

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as I was thinking about all the Easter services I have been a part of. There's

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always this hope for someone. I hear things. I would give anything if

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this person that I had been praying for, this person that I brought with me today

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that they would just get it. I hear I would give everything I had if it

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meant that they would understand God and they would understand the good news of

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Jesus Christ. And on at least three different occasions this week I have

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been asked do you have anything big planned for Easter? Now I understand,

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listen, listen I understand that my only job here this morning in the

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next few minutes is to try and convince you that following Jesus is

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literally the best thing anyone better than anything else on this earth. Like it

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is so unbelievable to follow Him. That's my job. And I know that you want that.

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You want your friends and you want your family to know that. And so the last few

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weeks and even this morning as I was getting ready I have this feeling that

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I'm not going to be able to pull it off. To explain God in these few

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minutes that we have and for you to get it I'm not going to be able to pull that

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off. At the same time though the Bible says the Bible doesn't put that pressure

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on me. Jesus says in John 6 63 it's the spirit who gives life. The spirit is of

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no help or the flesh is of no help at all. In other words I'm going to tell you

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what God did for you. Drew helped lead us in worship to God and at the end of

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this thing you either get it or you don't. So here's what we're going to do. I'm

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going to invite Charlotte wherever she is. I'm going to invite Charlotte up to

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the stage and she's going to read our passage this morning. Then I'm going to

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give you some bullet points on why following Jesus would be the greatest

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decision of your life and then we will go home. While all of that is going on

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my hope is that the Spirit of God will speak to your heart and you will realize

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that without him your life is going to feel empty. So this morning we're going

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to read from Mark chapter 10. Cross out your notes. I gave Julie the wrong

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verses. We're actually 10 verses later. Alright so we're not doing 36. We're

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doing 46. It's on page 846 in your Bible if you have if you want to grab

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one of those around you. It's on page 846. I would encourage you to stand no

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pressure to as we honor the Lord's word as Charlotte reads Mark chapter 10

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verses 46 through 52. And they came to Jericho and as he was leaving Jericho with

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his disciples and a great crowd Bartimaeus a blind beggar the son of

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Timaeus was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was Jesus of

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Nazareth he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David have mercy on me and

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many rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried out all the more

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son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call him and they

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called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he is calling you and

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throwing off his cloak he sprang up and came to Jesus and Jesus said to him what

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do you want me to do for you and the blind man said to him rabbi let me

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recover my sight and Jesus said to him go your way your faith has made you well

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and immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Amen let's

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pray Father God thank you for this day thank you for this day and what it

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represents and what we're remembering and thank you for Charlotte thank you for

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her willingness to read your word in front of in front of this congregation I

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pray Father that the words that were read this passage your word will see

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deep into our hearts to this morning I pray God that you'll change us your name

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you pray amen thank you Charlotte. So you you might be thinking what in the

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world does that have to do with Easter and the resurrection and it doesn't on

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the surface but I'm going to try and tie it all together as we go through this

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thing together the first thing I want you to see from this passage is that

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Bartimaeus took advantage of an opportunity now now maybe you can't

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relate to Bartimaeus because you aren't living on the outskirts of society you

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aren't poor or you aren't blind but Bartimaeus is in a desperate situation

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and I'm sure that all of us can relate to that at some point or another have you

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ever been in a situation where there's no way out unless somebody comes alongside

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you and helps you well when I was in high school my grandparents they gave me a

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jeep and it was far nicer than anything I should have been responsible for well

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one weekend my parents were out of town and some friends wanted to go off-roading

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and some sand dunes that were not too far from my house so all of us that had

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four-wheel drive went out and did some off-roading now I know what you're

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thinking I that you would think that somebody growing up in the city that up

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until this point has only driven on pavement would be really good at

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off-roading you would be wrong there are a couple lessons that I learned that

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weekend the first one being that when you get a four by four stuck it gets

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really stuck the second one being not to lock your keys in the car while the

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engine is running while you're getting out to see how stuck you are the third

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lesson was to make sure that you have plenty of gas before you go out on

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such an endeavor now now here's the issue I had plenty of people there to get

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me unstuck but when you're trying to pull someone out of a sand dune and

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their their their Jeep is sunk deep into the ground the Jeep needs to be in neutral

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that was it was impossible in that moment because I couldn't even get into the Jeep

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to put it in neutral I was desperate my Jeep was stuck the keys are locked inside

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while the engine is running the gas light is on and to make matters worse my

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parents are on their way home I was desperate and sometimes when you're

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desperate you don't make the best decisions we cannot relate to that right

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so I knocked out a window which created a whole other set of issues for me later

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but in that moment all I could think of was I have got to get out of the

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situation that I'm in that that's what's going on here with Bartimaeus but the

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difference is he made a great decision out of his desperation he stopped

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caring what others thought he stopped viewing himself as an outcast he didn't

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listen to all those people who were saying that he was out of line that were

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saying he was being annoying or distracting he knew that the solution to

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his desperation was walking in front of him and he took advantage of it you

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being here this morning is an opportunity that I hope you will take

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advantage of but before you leave here before you're distracted again by life

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maybe Jesus is walking in front of you maybe you came in here desperate for

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something to change and you hear the story of Bartimaeus and you can see

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yourself in that position desperate for something to give desperate for

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something to go right desperate for something to change and you were to the

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point where you have nowhere else to turn and your life has been plagued with

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making one dumb decision after the next because you don't know where to turn and

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I think so many times people end up breaking their window thinking that it's

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going to make things better but all it does is get you out of one predicament

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and into a another now I don't believe in co-incidences and I don't believe you

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are here by accident I believe you are here because God has an appointment with

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you now you might be thinking no I'm only here because it's Easter I'm only

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here because somebody invited me or maybe it's because you're here because

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that's what you do on Sundays I'm hoping that as you look at your life you

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realize that something is missing and you are tired of how things have been

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going my hope is that you take advantage of the opportunity that the Lord is

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giving it giving you today don't let this be another day on the calendar

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instead be like Bartimaeus and cry out to Jesus and ask for mercy because as you

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can see Jesus was ready to help think about that situation that was going on

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kind of put yourself in that story Jesus is walking through this crowd there is

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noise all around him people are probably screaming they're they're shoving

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each other to try to get to him but he only responds to Bartimaeus Jesus heard

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the cry of desperation he saw the faith that he had and that the most important

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thing in his life in that moment was that he had to speak to Jesus Lord have

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mercy on me was his request Jesus didn't respond to the noise he responded to the

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faith that was displayed the faith of a desperate man calling out for mercy is

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what stopped Jesus in his tracks and when Jesus is ready to help the man

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doesn't casually walk over there he springs into action now I think sometimes

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we are desperate but at the same time inconvenienced when there is a call for

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action for instance as you can imagine there's a lot of people that come to the

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church a lot of people to call the church asking for help they're in desperate

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situations a lot of times they they aren't going to be able to pay their

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bills they're on the verge of a divorce or they're hungry or they're stranded and

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what I've learned over the years is that there are so many people in desperate

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situations that are unwilling to inconvenience themselves for help we had

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a call a couple weeks ago that came to the church and there was this girl

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asking for help with her rent and and that her kids needed some food now when

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it comes to children being fed I'm going to do anything I can to make that

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happen so I tell her that we're gonna help her she just needs to come up to

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the church so so we can do that so we can get it her response to me was can you

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just Venmo it to me because I'm not ready for the day and I had to get myself

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ready she wasn't desperate enough she wanted to take the easy route and if

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I've learned anything over the years it's the easy route never leads to

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transformation Bartimaeus was desperate enough and when Jesus saw that he asked

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what do you want me to do for you what do you want me to do for you he already

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knew I mean this is God in the flesh but he still asked the question that is

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the question that he's still asking us today what do you want me to do for you

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what do you want me to do for you do you want healing do you want a better

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relationship with your kids do you want a better situation at work do you want to

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better marriage do you want to overcome your addiction tell him Bartimaeus

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doesn't ask for his sight to be recovered he tells Jesus let me recover my

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sight he tells Jesus because he has faith that it can be done now Scripture

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tells us that that we should have faith like a child because the kingdom belongs

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to such as these I think about my children often and one thing I know

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about them is that they don't hesitate to ask us when they want something they

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ask constantly all the time it's it's a constant I'm hungry I'm thirsty I don't

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want to wear that I want to wear this can I watch a show but I've seen it and

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I are not around they don't tell each other those things there have been many

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times where we have come home and and Riker my youngest acts like he he's

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starving because he hasn't been fed now I don't think his older siblings have

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denied him food I don't think they put a lock on the fridge and said you can't

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eat I think it's because he doesn't trust that they're going to help him he

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doesn't trust that if he asks them they're going to help him but when his

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parents are home he knows that something can get done now as adults we need to

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have that faith when we approach God he has the ability to do something about

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our situation Jesus is ready to help and we just need to tell him what we want

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and have the faith that he is capable to do it now this is not some genie in a

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bottle kind of request because if you've been following Jesus for any amount

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of time you will realize that sometimes you go through hard seasons and wonder

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where he is in the midst of them we don't know how how old Bartimaeus is when

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when we meet him in this encounter but I truly believe that this was not the

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first time that he's made a request to God for him to recover his sight but for

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whatever reason the appointment for his healing was on that day in that crowd in

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Jericho I don't know when your appointment will be could be today but have faith in

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the boldness to tell him and ask him because better days are coming better

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days are coming now I don't know about you but life has been hard at me hard on

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me at times I don't know if anybody can relate to that situation and sometimes in

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the midst of a difficult situation it's hard to see the silver lining it's hard

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to look past my own circumstances even though there's good going on all around

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me and there have been times in my life that I've listened to a preacher say

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that the reason I'm going through difficult times is because my faith

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isn't strong enough I'm not trusting enough because if I had stronger faith

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the Lord would bless me with an abundance of wealth there'd be no more

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sickness and life would just be easy I struggle with that because that's not

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what I read about in the Bible in Genesis chapter 7 things on the earth

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gets got so bad that the Lord sent rain for 40 days and nights to rid the earth

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of evil that that doesn't sound like a fun situation doesn't and Exodus God

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delivers the people from slavery in Egypt and then their leader leaves them

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for 40 days and nights for a camping trip in the mountain and first Samuel this

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giant called Goliath taunts an army and tells them that they are not good enough

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for 40 days in Matthew Jesus fast for 40 days and when he is probably at his

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weakest Satan begins to tempt him now I don't know about you but I've never

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fasted for 40 days but what I do know is that the longer that I go without eating

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the more my standards begin to drop you all know this at the beginning of the

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week you have a pantry and a refrigerator full of food but as the week

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goes on and as that food begins to disappear you you you're finally willing

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to try that box of rice cakes have been sitting in the pantry for over a month

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I'm convinced that that no one sells those things because they're good they

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they sell those things to see how much we're willing to lower our standards I

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was reading through this devotional book a few weeks ago and and the way it was

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written just gave me a new perspective because when we think about the flood or

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we think about Goliath the focus is on the circumstances right Goliath is this

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big massive man who's taunting the people of Israel for 40 days telling them

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they're not good enough telling them that they are weak telling them that they

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are about to be conquered and I gotta believe that somewhere in those 40 days

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there was a temptation to give up there was a temptation to lower standards

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there there was that thought that that that may be under a different ruler

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things wouldn't be that bad those same kinds of thoughts had to be going through

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the Israelites minds when Moses was hiding on the mountain who's who's

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going to replace him maybe we should go back to Egypt I'm assuming that those

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kinds of conversations were going and I think sometimes we get so focused on

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our 40 days of whatever season we are in and we forget that the on the 41st day

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the rain stopped and the Sun came out on the 41st day Moses came down with the

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words of God written on stone on the 41st day Goliath was defeated with a

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sling and a stone and on the 41st day Jesus uses the word of God and Satan

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flees maybe you're in the middle of your 40 days and there is a temptation to

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give up there's a temptation to try things your own way maybe there is a

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fear or doubt but I want you to hear me say day 41 is coming it's coming and

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sometimes we just need that little reminder because it won't be the only

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40 days you go through it's in those moments that our faith is strengthened

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I mean think about the people of God what their mindset must have been like

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during that 40 days that Goliath is taunting them I mean this story doesn't

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even make sense for 40 days beaten down verbally their response is hey let's

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send out this kid that has no battle experience whatsoever just to be safe

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let's let's load him up with armor and a sword because we don't want to get in

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trouble with Oshah right oh the the armor doesn't fit he can't walk with it

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it's too heavy he can't even swing the sword that's okay just send him out

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there with a slingshot and a couple rocks the story doesn't even make sense but

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but that seems to be when God does his best work when things are out of

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control and we have to rely solely on him David had such strong faith in the

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Lord that he's not walking onto the battlefield praying that God would give

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him the strength or ability to get the job done instead he just walked straight

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up to Goliath and he tells him that Lord will deliver me deliver you into my

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hand that's a pretty bold statement isn't it when Goliath fell down dead I

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believe that the faith of the Israelite army had increased because they saw what

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the Lord had done day 41 is coming and the reason I know it's coming is because

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of what Jesus did for us on that cross but more importantly what he did three

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days later because the reality is that anyone can die for you but only one has

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the power to rise from the dead and if you have been in church at any time on

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an Easter Sunday morning you know the story but I think a lot of us missed the

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fact that the cross and resurrection of Jesus places replaces religion with grace

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when I was growing up in church I don't really know where it came from but but I

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had it in my mind that anybody that would drink beer or smoke cigarettes were

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going to hell I don't know why I believe that but I but I really struggled with

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the people that I knew that did those things as I got older I realized that

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the church I grew up in really turned me into a little Pharisee turned me into a

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little legalist now now I don't believe they did that intentionally but but it

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did happen a few years ago seeing and I decided to get a tattoo on our ring

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fingers mainly because I kept losing my wedding ring

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so so I have her name tattooed right there on my ring finger when when my

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kids saw that for the first time we were surprised by how upset they were I mean

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there were tears they began to question our salvation that they were so

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disappointed in us and and I have no idea where that came from because never

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once have we told them if you get a tattoo you're a bad person never once did

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that come out of our mouth I think sometimes churches have focused so much

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attention on what we do that we forget that grace has been poured out on all

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of us our primary ministry at our last church in in La Mesa

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turned out to be to the D church people of in our community people who grew up

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in the church but but but God burned out because they couldn't keep up with all

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the rules can you relate to that everyone at church at the church when

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they were growing out felt the need to pretend that their lives were perfect

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and that they never sinned for someone who's in the middle of a difficult time

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that environment can be intimidating therefore it's it's just easier to stop

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coming but as you begin to understand the cross and as you begin to understand

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the resurrection of Jesus and what he did for us there you realize he didn't

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just die for those who had their life together he died for all of us and not

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only did he die for us but then he tells death hey I'm not gonna stay that way and

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because of that you and I have the chance at abundant life not just in the

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future but right now so so if you've tried church and it didn't go well for

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you because what was given to you was a set of rules that you had to conform to

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I am so sorry that's not why Jesus came to the surf he came to bring freedom

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from sin he came to bridge the gap between a holy God and a sinful people

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he came to show all of us how much we are loved by him and when I learned that

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when I understood that I learned that my sin is just as egregious as the

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alcoholics I learned that my sin is just as ugly as those who have addictions and

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so what you end up with is you end up with a sinner standing on a stage and

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telling you that because I placed my faith and trust in Jesus as my Savior he

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changed my life and he can do the same for you there is no life in religion

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just just rules there is life in Jesus and that is what is being offered to

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you today now again I can't put the right combination of words together to

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convince you of that it's the spirit that gives life but scriptures also say

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that how will they believe in him who they have not heard and how will they

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hear without someone telling them that's why I'm here today I'm here to tell you

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that following Jesus that surrendering your life to him is the best decision

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that you can make no other religion teaches you that the creator of all

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things willingly laid down his life for you so that you can have eternal life

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every other religion will tell you that if you follow these rules if you're a

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good person if you conform to this standard you might have a shot at heaven

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one day where in the world is there hoping that Jesus came he lived a

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perfect life he died on a cross for the punishment of all of our sin and he rose

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again and is seated at the right hand of his father right now because we weren't

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good enough and because he did that because I have surrendered my life to

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him many years ago I tried to live my life in a way that honors him not not to

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follow a set of rules to conform to some religion but because I know that his way

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is better because I've come to realize that his standards are far better than

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mine his path is a path that leads to abundant life so the opportunity is that

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you out of desperation cry out for mercy because better days are coming they

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won't always be easy satan is still on the loose and he will do everything he

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can to distract you he will do everything he can to quiet you he will do

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everything that he can to inconvenience you but my prayer for you is that as

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Jesus walks by you today you see the opportunity to have your life changed

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forever that's my hope what better day for him to make all things new than when

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you surrender your life to Jesus when you confess those things to him and so and

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so my part's done okay I'm going to I'm gonna pray for us our worship team's

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gonna lead us in one more song you have a chance to respond or you have a chance

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to get distracted again

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you have an opportunity to cry out for mercy and with faith tell him what you

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need what can what can I do for you what can I do for you let's pray father I

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pray right now I pray that your spirit will give life

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God our flesh can do nothing but you can bring life and so as we celebrate and

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remember your resurrection you overcoming the grave you willingly laying down

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your life for us father I pray that as your spirit moves in this room that there

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will be those that cry out for mercy

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and so we ask your spirit to fall in this room as we sing as we respond I

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pray father that you will protect our minds that you will protect us from the

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lies the enemy is going to begin to whispering to us father I pray that you

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will overcome every form of darkness in this place and bring the light so father

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we hand over this time to you and pray that you work your name you pray amen I'm

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going to sit right down here if I can pray with you and for anything whatsoever

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will you will you come join me