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Welcome to Logan City Christian Church Podcast, where we bring God's Word to you weekly.

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We pray what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life.

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Enjoy the message.

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Well happy Father's Day everyone.

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It was a beautiful morning this morning.

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I woke up.

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It was really, really nice and I thought, well it would be great to stay home, especially

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when you know you've got to preach.

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It's all good because not only is it Father's Day for those of us who are fathers, we've

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gathered here this morning to honour our Heavenly Father.

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And it's a really good time to reflect not just as God in heaven, but Abba Father.

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As that song we were singing, such a beautiful song, that Jesus cried out Abba Father and

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we have the exact same access to God as God as our Heavenly Father who loves us as his

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children will always be there for us, will correct us when we need it, will pick us up

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and restore us, will give us everything that we could ever need and want.

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So Father's Day is incredible.

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Happy Father's Day once again and as I said to Christine this morning, happy Mother's

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Day for May.

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So to all the mothers out there, you're not missing out.

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So if we can start with Matthew 1 we're going to read from verses 18 and hold it there because

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we'll get there in about 10 minutes.

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I don't have much time this morning.

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Someone loves telling jokes so this isn't his first rodeo and I knew he was going to

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love it so it's all good.

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Dad, happy Father's Day.

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I feel like it's actually really important for me to acknowledge you publicly because

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when I have a father and an earthly father who chose to serve God in the good times,

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in the hard times, in the bad times and made God his God no matter what the condition,

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he stood up for us as a family.

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I grew up with the covering of God over my life because of the choice of my earthly father

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and I stand, I actually stand here today because of the choices of others.

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And so Dad I just want to honor you.

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So I don't take this morning lightly, I understand the importance of fathers.

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But in Genesis chapter 1, we're not turning there but I'm just going to refer to it, we

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see that, how God created the family.

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In Genesis chapter 2 and we read there along the lines and well really it's in Genesis

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chapter 4 that we see the family unit.

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So God started creating in Genesis 1 and 2 and it was a plan of God to have a man and

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a woman be married and raise a family and that was his goal.

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And we have to understand everything that God does is for a reason.

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God had the man as the head of the home and this is a man's job to take place like my

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earthly father, is that not only did he take the role as head of the home, it wasn't his

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own authority that he operated in.

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But growing up I saw that my earthly father, Pastor Rob, the one with the great jokes,

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he was subject to the authority of Christ.

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And when we see a man, a husband, a man of God, subject under the authority of Christ,

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just like it says in Ephesians, we have the blessing and the favour of God not just upon

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a man but upon a marriage and upon a family.

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And I'm living proof of this, I have had the privilege of experiencing this and it makes

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life a lot easier.

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See when I got married and had kids there was a lot I didn't have to figure out because

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I grew up understanding a lot of godly principles that I could apply into life.

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And I remember my wife and I just saying to each other and knowing that it actually is

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quite easy when two people have grown up in Christian homes and then they get married

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together.

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They both understand, the husband and the wife, they both understand the principles

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of God because they've seen their parents use these principles in the home and when

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the next generation get married and are joined as one, it is the most natural thing for them

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to do is to operate in godly principles.

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We definitely see now that probably I would say, don't hold me to it, but I would say

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one of Satan's biggest targets today is the family unit.

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Because when we see a family unit fall apart, it's not just the damage done between a husband

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and a wife but it extends down to the children.

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Now anyone can go online and research statistics that society is affected by fatherlessness.

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And researching this I found a few that, let's look at what happens to the children is that

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many people have documented that in children who are experiencing fatherlessness, in more

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cases than not, they have a perceived abandonment.

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They experience attachment issues where they are unable to create and maintain healthy

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relationships.

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One interesting factor which I thought was quite incredible but a recent study showed

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that children are more likely than not to experience childhood obesity in a fatherless

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home.

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Crime is a huge one as we would know and I wrote something in here, a quote, it says

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that the more opportunities a child has to interact with his or her biological father,

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the less likely he or she is to commit a crime or have contact with the juvenile justice

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system.

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And we're seeing that a lot today on the news.

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I mean how flooded has our news been with youth crime lately in the past couple of years?

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It's beyond belief and I believe that this is one major factor that we are experiencing

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youth crime.

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I understand that children get caught and they get slapped on the wrist and thrown back

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out but the one thing that most people will say is where are the parents?

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See when there is a husband leading a home and a wife walking alongside of the husband

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and the two are equally yoked and the husband and the wife are in agreement of how they

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will raise their children and when that agreement is based on what the Word of God says, that's

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the biggest thing.

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When a man and a woman, a husband and wife are raising children according to God's Word,

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we will not see or extremely in extreme rare cases see that children will be committing

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these things.

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Because the same applies to parents, even Christian parents who won't raise or discipline

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their children according to God's Word.

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I remember one time probably about ten years ago this Christian couple had their first

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child and I remember them saying that they are not going to do something that the Bible

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strictly says to do when it comes to raising children.

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And I remember thinking how is it that a person can believe that the Word of God is true,

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100% true, that it is his Word but then turn around and out of the same breath say but

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I'm not going to apply these principles.

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I don't understand that.

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But anyway moving on, further studies and statistics, gang involvement, obviously this

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is an American study and I use this American study because we're not that far behind America,

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amen.

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Mental health issues which is plaguing our society, poor school performance, poverty

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and homelessness and substantial abuse.

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I mean now you can say I grew up in a home with a mother and a father and I've experienced

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some of these things and that's true.

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This study is saying that these statistics are at their highest in a fatherless home.

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So when we are here celebrating Father's Day, sometimes we don't actually know what we're

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celebrating that it's a day that we wake up and we might receive a coffee or breakfast

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in bed and our family, our wife and our kids give us presents and say happy Father's Day

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and we might go out to lunch but I think this morning is a good time to reflect on the very

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importance of a father.

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I believe there is a reason why God the creator of the universe chose to become our heavenly

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father.

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See he could have chosen to be a God that is separate from his people and demanded obedience

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but he loves us so much that he wants to be part of every day of our life.

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He wants to be there and comfort us and help us and support us and give us direction when

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we are lost.

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Now we serve a good loving God that we can come before no matter how bad we feel, no

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matter how many sins we may have committed.

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Our God is so amazing that you and I 24-7 have access to him.

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You might be here this morning and have experienced abandonment from your earthly father, that

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your relationship with your earthly father was conditional, that you had to meet certain

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requirements in order to have access to speak to him or to be loved by him.

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But God is not like that.

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He operates on a whole new level of love.

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God not only has love but God is love.

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And because God is love, that is the most easiest thing for us to receive is his love.

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And I pray this morning that if you, because your earthly father, may have experienced

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this attitude of works in order to please, I pray this morning that you experience the

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unconditional love of God.

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Hallelujah.

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Well, I better keep moving.

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Now when we look at the way God created male and female, we know that God created us with

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the ability to procreate.

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Now when we say procreator, we talk about procreation.

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We obviously know that we're talking about having children, making babies.

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But when we get down to what the dictionary actually says, procreation is a result in

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more of the original.

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And when I look at this, we see that God is the creator, and we know that in Genesis 1

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and 2, and that God created something from nothing.

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But he gave us the choice and the ability to procreate.

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Now Genesis 1, 26 says this, then God said, let us make man in our image according to

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our likeness.

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Right?

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So God chose to create from nothing.

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Psalm 139, 13 and 14 says, for you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's

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womb.

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I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Glory to God.

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So let's look at this, when we become, as parents, not owners, but stewards of our children.

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Because even though you and I had the choice to procreate, it is only God that creates

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life.

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Hallelujah.

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And so when we come together and we get married and we raise a family, I believe the most

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beautiful attitude that parents can have, especially fathers, is to understand that

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sure this is my child, my biological child, but God, when we chose to procreate, you created

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life.

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I can only create something from the original, from me and my wife.

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I can only choose and there is so much that I am limited to, but upon conception, God

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creates life and He is still the owner.

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Because God is in the developing and He is in creation.

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See we sometimes think that creation stopped in Genesis 1 and 2.

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No, God is still creating every time a child is conceived.

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I remember Rohan was showing me this video of that upon conception that there is a light

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that sparks in darkness and yet scientists cannot explain it.

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They don't know what this light is and they have it filmed under a microscope where the

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moment of conception happens that there is a bright light that fills the womb.

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And it is only God.

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Now this attitude of stewardship, being a steward of our children, I believe is best

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seen in the life of Joseph, the father of Jesus.

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Now Matthew chapter 1, 1825, let's quickly read that.

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I've got to quickly find it, there we go.

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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

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After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with

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child of the Holy Spirit.

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Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example,

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was minded to put her away secretly.

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But while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a

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dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife.

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For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bring forth a son

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and you shall call his name Jesus.

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There's a few things that as I was studying this that popped to my mind which I actually

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never thought about before.

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Because growing up in church and we see the Nativity plays and that, Joseph just goes

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along and that, but have we ever actually thought about the emotions that Joseph was

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feeling?

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I mean he's engaged to Mary, they're about to become married and all of a sudden he finds

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out that his fiance is pregnant.

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Now everyone in their town would have known they were engaged and I could assume that

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at some point everyone would have known that Mary is pregnant and they're not married.

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So here's Joseph done nothing wrong, a good and just man.

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Is trying to think out, Lord what is going on?

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You know the thoughts that we go through as men and as fathers sometimes, I mean could

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you imagine him thinking, has my fiance cheated on me?

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What's actually happened because there is no other way that this can happen.

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Now think about this is before the angel appeared to Joseph because it says here that while

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he thought about these things that there would have been some torment going on in the mind

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of Joseph.

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What's going on?

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Who has she been with?

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What am I meant to do?

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See according to, well when we read in Deuteronomy, I believe it's Deuteronomy or Leviticus that

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if a man wasn't happy with his wife he could write her certificate of divorce.

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So maybe he might have been thinking, well maybe this isn't going to work out, she doesn't

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deserve me, maybe I should divorce her.

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Maybe I should make her a public example.

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But we know that God doesn't make mistakes and that God chooses the right people for

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the right job.

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And in verse 19 it backs it up saying that then Joseph her husband being a just man and

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not wanting to make her a public example was minded to put her away secretly.

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See we always see about the life of Jesus and even Mary the mother of Jesus but we never

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really take the time of how Joseph was actually a godly father.

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Even though he wasn't the biological father of Jesus he took on the role as Jesus earthly

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father.

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For those that are parenting here today that you may be raising children that really aren't

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your own biologically, there is still an anointing on your life to raise those children.

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God has given you an authority as the man of the home and the impact that you can make

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or may have made is awesome.

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The role of a father is so great that it impacts society as we've just previously read.

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I pray that men all around the world start to understand the amazing role that they have

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as a father.

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We see that Joseph received divine instruction and it's the same for us today as fathers.

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Do we receive divine instruction?

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Sometimes we can be going through life as fathers and not knowing what to do.

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How do I handle these kids?

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What do I do with my work and everything else that I've got to do?

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How much input and time do I need to put into my home and work balance and life balance

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and time to myself?

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What do I do?

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Do you know we can get before God and receive every answer to all of our questions?

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In the same way that Joseph received instruction to raise Jesus, we can too.

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And we see that he was a really good man that even taught Jesus a trade.

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So not only was he there to be comforting and loving and support Mary and support his

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other biological children that he had, he was there for Jesus as well.

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Genesis 6, 5 verses 5 to 10, we'll quickly read there and I'm going to try and wrap

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this thing up quickly.

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We're running out of time.

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Genesis 5.

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Genesis chapter 5, we're going to read from verse 5.

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Sorry, Genesis 6.

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See, I was just seeing if you were awake.

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Genesis chapter 6 from verse 5 to verse 8.

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Actually we might read verse 9 as well.

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Now this is about Noah.

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And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent

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of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

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And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart.

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So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth,

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both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I'm sorry that I have made

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them.

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Verse 8 and verse 9 is where we're really going to focus on.

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But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

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Verse 9 says, this is the genealogy of Noah.

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Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations.

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Noah walked with God and Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

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I find that the story of Noah is incredible and I find it very encouraging for me as a

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father because when I read the story of Noah, I see a man of God because it says here that

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Noah walked with God.

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In other words, it wasn't a religious experience with God.

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Noah had a relationship with God.

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Noah knew God.

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Noah's life was transformed by God and because of this, we understand that he found grace

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in the eyes of the Lord.

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We have to understand that is that when we are walking as God, men, when you and I walk

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with our heavenly Father, that there is a grace upon our lives to go beyond what we

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can naturally do.

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And when we go beyond what we can naturally do, we are there to benefit our family.

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In other words, we look at the story of Noah.

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The only reason I believe Noah was chosen was because of his relationship with God.

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And because of his relationship with God, we see that the family of Noah was saved.

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Here's a man that was living in, I'm guessing maybe, the most evil time that this earth

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has ever experienced.

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And yet no matter what was happening on the outside of the violence that was taking place,

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of all the evil that was on the earth at that time, I see that there's a man that could

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stand up for righteousness.

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And when a man stands up for righteousness, it's not just about him, but those who he

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covers.

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Hallelujah.

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Okay, so when you and I as men are standing up for righteousness, when we have temptation

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and sin and other people trying to pull us into the world and pull us into darkness,

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when you and I stand for righteousness, that the eyes of the Lord are not only upon me,

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but my wife and my children.

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And that who knows the blessing that will come upon my life?

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That blessing doesn't stop with me, but flows on to generations past.

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Because you know, you and I, because of Noah's faithfulness to God, are alive today.

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We are descendants of Noah.

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So men of God, this morning, as I close, are we standing up for righteousness?

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Fathers, do we even know what we're standing for today?

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Can I encourage you this morning, as I said earlier, that there is a God in heaven that

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loves you so very much.

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He's not a hypocrite.

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He is truth, He is love, and He only wants the best for you and I.

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See a good Father leads by example, and in Deuteronomy 6.5, Jesus commands the people

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at that time, and this commandment stays today.

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It says this, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

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and with all your strength.

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Hallelujah.

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That's what God commands us to do.

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And to prove that He is our Heavenly Father, that leads by example, He shows us His love

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in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever

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believes in Him shall not perish but everlasting life.

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You know how I said God is not a hypocrite?

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He commands us to love Him with everything that we have, but in return, He sent His only

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begotten Son.

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Why?

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Because of the love.

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Do you know the Bible says that while we were still sinners, that He sent His Son.

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While we were still sinners, while we didn't even deserve it, we didn't even recognise

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God, we didn't acknowledge Him, we didn't want to know Him, we were busy with our own

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life and yet He wanted that gift because He loves us.

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See every commandment that God commands us as His children.

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Now listen, this is how good our Heavenly Father is.

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Abba Father.

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Another commandment He gives, hear Israel and be careful to obey so that it may go well

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with you and that you may increase greatly and a land flowing with milk and honey just

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as the Lord, the God of your ancestors promised you.

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See God commands obedience to His Word.

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He commands it.

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He's a Holy God.

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The reason why He commands us so that it may be well with you, with me, with my wife, in

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my marriage, with my children, in our home, in their future, that it may be well.

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As we stand, and I will close right now if we could all stand, I would close on this

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and I include myself in this, that as fathers, if we're not doing it already, that as fathers

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we would make a habit of getting before God and just saying, Lord, how am I going?

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What am I doing right?

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Where can I improve on?

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Lord, as a father, can you show me how to be better?

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I mean, that's an amazing prayer to pray.

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It's a prayer of humility.

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It's a prayer that is just telling us, Lord, I know I don't have all the answers.

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I may be doing my best, but God, I know that You can grow me in this area.

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And lastly, I want to close on the most important thing that could ever happen.

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That if you were here this morning and you don't know God as your heavenly Father, that

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you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that I would like you to come

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forward and I will pray a prayer with you.

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It's going to be a prayer that I prayed the very night that I received Jesus as my Lord

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and Savior.

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I accepted Him into my heart.

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He changed me from the inside out.

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And God, the creator of the universe, became my heavenly Father.

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I can guarantee you this morning that if you come out and you receive Jesus as your Lord

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and receive Him as your Savior, you will never be the same.

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It is impossible for someone who is bound in sin to receive Christ and be filled with

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light and remain the same.

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That's impossible.

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But if this is you, if you would love to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you will

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have a relationship with God, would you come to the front right now as I'm speaking?

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Just come right now as I'm speaking.

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If this is you and you would love to receive salvation for the first time or you may have

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fallen away and want to recommit your life, just come right now.

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Now is the time.

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Just come.

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I'm here ready for you to receive Jesus.

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We are all good.

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Hallelujah.

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Lord, we just thank you for this morning.

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God as we come together as your children, honoring you as our heavenly Father.

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Lord, we pray for anointing upon every man here this morning, even those that their children

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have may have grown up that aren't living in the home.

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Lord, we thank you that there is still an anointing to be a Father upon their lives.

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Lord, we thank you for those that may not even have children to be a spiritual Father

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for those who are new in Christ.

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God, I thank you for an anointing upon this church that there are fathers and spiritual

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fathers throughout this whole place.

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God, we pray a special blessing upon every man, upon every marriage and upon every home

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this morning.

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In Jesus name, and we all say amen.

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We're going to close the service, but if you would like prayer, especially if you're a

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father and you feel like you may have dropped the ball a little bit or want just a fresh

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anointing, I'm here to pray with you.

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If not, yeah, you can head to the back and have a fantastic day.

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Thank you for joining us.

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We pray God's richest blessing on your life.

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If you haven't already, make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com.

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See you next week.